Have You Seen Dawn?   by Steven Saylor

When big-city dweller Rue Dunwitty returns to her sleepy hometown of Amethyst, Texas to visit her grandmother, she is troubled by all the posters of a missing girl, Dawn Frady. Girls just don't disappear in a town of only two thousand souls. Luckily for Amethyst, there's a new sheriff's deputy in town, one with previous experience with these types of cases. When Rue herself finds the body of the missing girl on her grandparent's land, she immediately leads police to the spot, only to find that the body has disappeared. At this point, everyone starts to look guilty. Why does everyone in town seem to already know Rue's new friend from San Francisco? Has he been here before? Rue hasn't seen her father for years. Why has he been signing in at the local hotel under another name? Why is Rue's brother lying to his wife as to his whereabouts? On top of all this, the locals keep warning Rue to get out of town.

 This novel of small-town murder is well-written, if a little unbelievable at times. The new deputy's name is-get this-Justice Goodbody. Now, who's going to believe that? Nevertheless, the author is skilled at dropping clues here and there to implicate certain people in the crime. The victim's twin brother is an out-of-control oddball with a loaded gun. Dylan, Rue's friend from San Francisco, is a liar. Rue's brother Reg seems cruel in her childhood memories, and is hiding quite a lot from his wife. Rue's father is taking great pains to conceal his movements around Amethyst. An old friend's husband turns out to be a crass lecher, and folks are more than happy to keep secrets from a hometown girl. Suddenly it seems that Amethyst, Texas is no longer a sleepy little town with fond memories around every corner and no need to lock the doors. It is the hideout of a killer. Saylor keeps the flickers of doubt going in the reader's mind even as the main character experiences them. In an abandoned farmhouse, events build to a dramatic confrontation between Rue and someone she has always trusted.

Saylor is also the author of the Roma Sub Rosa series of books set in Ancient Rome. Have You Seen Dawn? is one of Saylor's few attempts at contemporary fiction, and is his most autobiographical work thus far. He grew up in a small Texas town not unlike Amethyst. For more on Steven Saylor and his other books, surf his website at www.stevensaylor.com.

Highland County District Library
Highland County, OH