All Good People Here by Ashley Flowers [Book Review]

Book Description:

You can’t ever know for sure what happens behind closed doors.

Everyone from Wakarusa, Indiana, remembers the infamous case of January Jacobs, who was discovered in a ditch hours after her family awoke to find her gone. Margot Davies was six at the time, the same age as January—and they were next-door neighbors. In the twenty years since, Margot has grown up, moved away, and become a big-city journalist. But she’s always been haunted by the feeling that it could’ve been her. And the worst part is, January’s killer has never been brought to justice.

When Margot returns home to help care for her uncle after he is diagnosed with early-onset dementia, she feels like she’s walked into a time capsule. Wakarusa is exactly how she remembers—genial, stifled, secretive. Then news breaks about five-year-old Natalie Clark from the next town over, who’s gone missing under circumstances eerily similar to January’s. With all the old feelings rushing back, Margot vows to find Natalie and to solve January’s murder once and for all.

But the police, Natalie’s family, the townspeople—they all seem to be hiding something. And the deeper Margot digs into Natalie’s disappearance, the more resistance she encounters, and the colder January’s case feels. Could January’s killer still be out there? Is it the same person who took Natalie? And what will it cost to finally discover what truly happened that night twenty years ago?

Twisty, chilling, and intense, All Good People Here is a searing tale that asks: What are your neighbors capable of when they think no one is watching?

From Amazon’s listing for All Good People Here

Overall Thoughts on the Book

I grabbed “All Good People Here” as an Audible book after seeing lots of good reviews for it and having a credit to burn. I typically don’t like to read books where small children are harmed and as a general rule avoid them at all costs. But I made an exception for this one because it is fictional (no matter how real she seems, January is a pretend person – note to myself) and I figured it might be less gruesome because it’s partially a cold case.

I was kind of wrong. If you are like me and avoid content that centers around child victims then you will likely be bothered by this book. While most of the book is pretty mild, the ending does bring us right into the circumstances surrounding January’s death and it is absolutely gut-wrenching.

However, this book is absolutely gripping. There are so many twists and turns that, for once, do feel logical. I liked the main character and we also get multiple other perspectives in the book, which added to the overall story. None of the chapters from alternative perspectives felt like filler. I definitely enjoyed this book and it kept me guessing!

I listened to the Audible narration of this novel and I also felt that the narrators, Brittany Pressley and Karissa Vacker, did a great job. I enjoyed listening to it and there weren’t any areas where I had issues with the audio quality.

The Characters

Margot is the main character in All Good People Here. She’s a reporter stuck in a difficult situation. She is trying to work remotely in order to help care for her aging uncle who has dementia. Her uncle raised her and is really more of a father figure, and you can really feel the tension as she tries to navigate those two things. As someone with firsthand experience of how hard it is to care for aging relatives, I really appreciated this element. Some of the decisions Margot makes in terms of her uncle are iffy. For instance, she left him home alone on multiple occasions with access to things like guns and forgetting her house key. These things added to the drama of the story but also made me question Margot’s judgment.

There is a police officer that Margot knows from childhood who is easily my favorite character. There are also a few other side characters that I really liked after getting to know them more, especially Krissy and Jodie.

The Mystery

The description of this book gives us a very good look into the mystery. Basically, a little girl goes missing and there are some events that happen that connect this missing girl to a little girl, January, who was murdered in the town many years ago. Everyone in the town has a theory, including Margot, and she chases down every thread. There were so many times when I thought the case was solved, just for the scene to turn around and end up proving that person’s innocence. It’s hard to get into the twists without giving too much away, so I will leave this part spoiler-free but the ending was absolutely heartbreaking and unexpected.

If you are looking for a twisting tale of murders in a small town, All Good People Here is for you!