Carolina Moonset by Matt Goldman
New York Times best-selling and Emmy Award-winning author Matt Goldman new stand-alone mystery, Carolina Moonset, examines family, memories, and long-held secrets. Like his other series, Gone to Dust featuring private detective Nils Shapiro, Carolina Moonset doesn’t waste time. At the onset, we’re introduced to protagonist Joey Green, who returns to North Carolina to care for his father, who suffers from dementia, so that his mother can have a break and participate in a weekend pickle ball tournament. Soon after his arrival, his father begins to recall long lost memories about a murdered friend – and suddenly, his father is implicated in a new murder and being questioned by the police.
Joey is a bit distracted by a matchmaking effort to hook him up with a family friend’s daughter. Joey and Leela embark on an experimental, prolonged date. Neither of them expects the date to last beyond their visit home. They live far apart and both have children. The complications are numerous.
Goldman writes a novel like he might write a script – the action is propulsive, the relationships explosive, and the complications add a twist to the story that you might not be expecting. Secrets have a way of resurfacing, relationships continue to evolve, and memory can be elusive. All these components coalesce into a mighty fine read.
Recommended for mystery Southern fiction fans intrigued by family and small town dynamics. Listen to my interview with Matt Goldman on August 25 at 7:00 pm on Superior Reads, WTIP Radio 90.7, or stream it from the web at wtip.org.
