The circle of dead girls

Circle of Dead Girls

By Eleanor Kuhns

Take a trip back in time to the late eighteenth century and transport yourself to Durham, Maine. Will Rees is our main character, and he’s hoping for a change and some excitement, as living in rural Maine seems dull, lifeless, and boring. Each family has to fend for themselves, and Will defers his responsibilities to his family’s needs. Not sowing the fields to provide food for his family, he’d rather weave and explore the world and travel in order to sell his cloth.

Meeting two of the Shaker brothers, he learns that one of their group is missing. Searching and hoping to retrace her steps, they find her defiled remains. Shockwaves run through the community, and Will has to make a choice. Will he investigate the murder or take responsibility for feeding his family? Whatever he decides will change the course of his life and impact his wife and children.

Facts come out, and there are many suspects who fit the description of who could possibly have killed Leah. The circus master seems likely—Shem was with her—but had entered the circus and was looking at the horses. Leah was there too, but got bored and supposedly headed back to Zion. The man in jail was seen by Shem—it could not have been him. 

The constable now wants Will to solve the murders, and Lydia has joined the investigation. Rules have to be followed or punishments are dealt out. Brothers Aaron and Shem left, and now Will has to find them. The circus disappears in the middle of the night, but maps and other documents help Will and the others find their path. When they’re found and questioned, he has to bring Shem in to talk to the constable. But when alone in his search he once again faces Zambola and tension rises, feelings he should not have come about, and once again he falls prey to her desires and another reading of the tarot cards. What about his past has to be revealed and solved? What won’t he succeed at? What are the cards really saying, and what danger is ahead? As they retrace the towns where the circus might have passed, were there any other girls murdered?

Paths are crossed. The magistrate claims he wants to make amends, but the plot takes a sinister turn as the author takes us deep inside the circus population. Once again Rees falls prey to Bambola, and the reading is more defined and the meaning quite clear. As David, his son, has come to help, Lydia realizes that Bambola likes Rees. Annie has decided not to join the Zion, and what happens next changes it all. Rees is asked to help with repairing the rope, as is required to change his appearance. So how did some men follow him to the circus, and who were the shooters that took someone’s life?

Deceptions, lies, betrayals, and a revelation by Aaron they did not see coming as a death changes it all, and the search for a dangerous killer looms on his mind.

Truths are about to come out. A killer is hiding in plain sight, and Rees has to come to terms with the future.

Things spiral out of control when Rees decides to return to the circus, and then shots ring out and someone is killed. But was he the intended target? Watching his reaction, and then Bambola and Rees together, triggers his son’s anger.

Then the unthinkable happens and two men are killed, and the spotlight falls on the magistrate and one other.

Just who killed these men, and who killed Leah?

The ending will shock readers, and the person behind the murders is someone hiding in plain sight. Transgressions are not allowed. Perfection is paramount in characters of the Zion. Asher bareback rider Pip Boudreaux and tightrope Walker Bambola are at the heart of this novel. But just who killed all of the girls, and who was behind the murders? When Lydia is taken and the harsh truth behind the murders is revealed, Rees has to look long and hard at himself and choose where he really belongs. Betrayals, lies, coverups. One woman saw it more clearly and would stop murders of the Circle of Dead Girls. Will is persistent, but often blinded and his judgement impaired until the mist is lifted and he faces the hard truths in front of him. What will he decide to do next? Taking care of the land or weaving?

Fran Lewis just reviews