by Donna Tartt
First published 2003
In the stifling heat of a small Mississippi town, twelve-year-old Harriet Cleve Dufresnes becomes obsessed with solving her nine-year-old brother Robin's unsolved murder from years earlier. Brilliant and stubborn, she begins investigating local drug dealers and drifters she believes responsible for his death. Her hunt leads her into increasingly dangerous territory, where childhood determination collides with adult criminal networks. As Harriet tracks down potential killers, she risks everything—her safety, her family's fragile stability, and her own innocence—in a relentless pursuit of justice for her murdered brother. Her investigation becomes a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse through the decaying landscapes of the rural South.
Genres: mystery, crime, contemporary, southern-gothic, family-drama
Vibes: dark, emotional, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: family-drama, mystery, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Mississippi
624 pages · Audible Audio · Vintage
Content warnings: death, murder