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by Elena Taylor

You know those mysteries that grab you and don’t let go? I started reading All We Buried just before bed one evening, thinking I would plan to finish it in a few days. I finished it at 2:45 a.m. because I couldn’t stop reading it. 

On its surface, the small town of Collier, Washington, appears to be a lazy little hamlet where nothing happens and very little changes, but just like the lake where no fish live, the currents of danger and deception run deep beneath the surface. 

Six month ago, Elizabeth “Bet” Rivers was an LA police officer aspiring to become a detective. Now, she finds herself the interim Sheriff of Collier, stepping in when her father became ill and passed away. Instead of studying for the detective exam, she is somehow locked in an election campaign with her deputy. 

When a researcher studying a local lake finds the body of a young woman wrapped in a tarp floating in the water, a series of events are set in motion that will change the town and Bet forever. This book is an intense story about the lies that hide under the surface within families and how they come back to haunt future generations. It is also a pulse-pounding, action-packed thriller. Although Bet has her insecurities, she is tenacious, and clever. In addition to the novel’s main characters, past generations, the lake, the mountain range, and the town itself are pivotal characters in the book. Taylor creates such a compelling world that is captivating, scary, and steeped in poor decisions and betrayal.

If you are a fan of small-town crime novels with lots of complexity and intrigue, I highly recommend Elena Taylor’s All We Buried. It was a thrilling start to a series I hope will bring us much more of Bet Rivers and Collier, Washington.