THE KINGDOMS OF SAVANNAH

4 stars out of 5

Ever since I read John Berendt's wonderful book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, I've had a bit of a fascination for the city of Savannah, Georgia (the heat, humidity and rumors of creepy-crawly things in the Spanish Moss trees notwithstanding). Couple that with a love of the mystery/thriller genre, and I was delighted to get my hands on a copy of this book (that it arrived in paperback format instead of Kindle notwithstanding).

It turned out to be an intriguing, engrossing story, although I must say the sheer number of characters - no matter how interesting they were - was a chore for my aging brain to keep straight. At the center is Morgana Musgrove, one of Savannah's prominent ladies, who has four adult children who also play significant roles. Inexplicably, the elderly Morgana oversees a detective agency and is hired to do some sleuthing on behalf of a wealthy developer who's been arrested for the murder of a local man.

At the same time, a well-known local woman has turned up missing - a woman who often is called in to do archeological digs to make sure properties under development don't contain remains of the past (mostly meaning dead bodies). One person who's especially concerned is Jaq, Morgana's granddaughter; she hears tales that the missing woman has found some kind of "treasure" on a nearby island - one rumored to have been inhabited by a long-ago generation. Whether the woman has been kidnapped or is in hiding because of it remains a mystery - one Jaq is determined to solve as she probes the city's historic past that includes an extensive maze of sewer tunnels that for the most part are known only to the homeless. Along the way, Jaq looks to others for help getting to the truth; problem is, it's nearly impossible to know who to trust - and all the evidence suggests the answer is no one.

All in all, well worth reading and a revealing look inside the city's dark history. Thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy.

The Kingdoms of Savannah by George Dawes Green (Celadon Books, July 2022); 304 pp.