Tessa Wegert’s new release, The River Runs Black, serves up a mix of compelling ingredients. In the waterside North Country near the Canadian border, we find a tragic teenage overdose pointing to a widespread drug operation, a detective team with children of their own to protect, and old and new players arousing suspicion. And then, to set the suspense clock ticking, another vulnerable character is trapped, alone in a deadly situation.
Dr. Deadly was engrossed, start to finish. In preparing this post, the thought formed: rather than an atmospheric novel where “setting is a character”, the atmosphere in The River Runs Black felt more about its people than the physicality of its environment. The North Country community was like its own character, and this added to the strength of the novel.
From the get-go, as soon as the teen’s death is discovered, the reaction of the detective team – all North Country residents and parents – is fiercely protective and caring of not only their own children, but all the youth in their reach. And the battle wages inside and out; in addition to tracking down the people bringing drugs into the area, the beloved sheriff has been replaced by someone who works harder to promote himself than protect his community.
The further into the book I got, the more I felt desperate to preserve the physical and emotional safety of the people of the North Country! I wanted the nasty drug traffickers out, the dirty sheriff exiled, the kids all back in school safe and sound, and Halloween restored to a celebration of innocent fun, like the annual Punkin’ Chunkin’.
The community became a character, an entity I cared about, and in whose future I felt invested. This got me thinking about other novels I’ve read. Liking a novel and caring about its characters tend to go together. And I can think of novels where the setting – i.e. the physical atmosphere – has an impact on my emotions, whether it’s spooky, or charming, or desolate. I’m having trouble, though, listing crime fiction novels with communities that inspire protectiveness or other strong emotion; I associate that more with horror novels or dystopian fiction, where entire towns or states or nations may be under siege.
I’ll scratch my head over this a bit more tonight. If this brings other crime fiction novels to mind for you, dear reader, please share!
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