Archer Sullivan’s second PI Annie Gore mystery, Brimstone Hollow, is due out next week, and it sounds so intriguing I wanted to go back and read the first one, The Witch’s Orchard. However, I may have a hard time reading them so close together. The voice, together with the atmosphere, is so strong that Annie Gore and her story is emotionally draining. The Witch’s Orchard‘s action is riveting, but it’s Annie Gore’s voice and the descriptions that are powerful.
When Max Andrews hires Annie, they both know it’s going to be a difficult case. Ten years earlier, three young girls disappeared from Quartz Creek, North Carolina. Max was only eight at the time, but he’s been saving his money to hire a PI to try to find his sister, Molly. Why Annie Gore? Annie grew up in aa holler in Southern Kentucky. She knows the people and the suspicions of Appalachia. And, it doesn’t take her long to know she’s in over her head.
One girl disappeared in June ten years ago, one the month later. She came home, then Molly Andrews disappeared. People searched, talked, had suspicions. The sheriff is angry when Annie shows up to ask questions. And, she stirs up trouble. A body is found. Annie’s cabin is ransacked. A meth lab explodes. When another little girl disappears, it seems suspicious that the local church is the place where three of the four girls disappeared. But, in a small Appalachian town, the local church is a focal point of the community. Despite a man’s pleas to let it go, Annie has to try to connect kidnapped little girls, applehead dolls left in their place, and mountain folklore, stories of witches and crows.
I can’t praise The Witch’s Orchard highly enough. I seldom read for voice and atmosphere, but Sullivan has it all. Annie Gore’s voice, her knowledge of the people and land, along with fascinating characters and a gripping plot bring the story to life. I’m eager to pick up Brimstone Hollow, but maybe not immediately.
Archer Sullivan is a ninth generation Appalachian. Like Annie Gore, she knows the people and the communities. It shows.
Archer Sullivan’s website is https://www.archersullivan.com/
The Witch’s Orchard by Archer Sullivan. Minotaur, 2025. 320p.
FTC Full Disclosure – I own a copy of the book.
