Thank you to ThrillerBookLovers Promotions, William Morrow, #partner, for a finished copy of Lay Your Body Down in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: William Morrow
Published: June 27, 2023
Summary:
A young woman returns to her rural Minnesota hometown, where a radical evangelical pastor has poisoned everyone’s minds—and may be covering up a murder.
After Del Walker fled her small hometown and its cult-like church, she vowed to never return. The man she loved, Lars, left her to marry the local golden girl Eve, and their romance is now the focus of Eve’s viral blog espousing the pastor’s conservative philosophy about women and marriage. But six years later, Lars is suddenly killed, and she’s convinced it couldn’t have been an accident.
When Del returns to her hometown for the funeral, she discovers the now mega-church—and the insidious, patriarchal teachings of Pastor Rick Franklin—has grown not only in size but in influence. Eve was clearly discontent in her marriage, despite the carefully constructed “Noble Wife” positivity of her blog posts, and Del knows better than anyone just how far she will go to get what she wants. Del is determined to cut through the church’s lies and corruption to find out who killed Lars—even if it means confronting the religious trauma she’s spent years trying to bury.
My thoughts:
This is the first book I’ve read by Amy Suiter Clarke but it will certainly not be the last. I had already heard great things about her debut novel, Girl, 11 and now I will be adding that to my reading list immediately!
I was immediately pulled into this story. I am so completely fascinated with books that delve into cults and religious fanaticism, which this one most certainly does. I just cannot fathom being so engrained into that type of life, yet reading this book, especially the blog entries that we get glimpses of throughout called “Noble Wife” really are quite eye-opening to what this life is all about.
This book was so hard to put down once I started reading it. I was captivated by how well the author was able to create a creepy, chilling story that instantly makes you feel for certain characters. I loved Del. She left not only the church, but and the area, and is now back because she just knows there is more to Lars’s death than what she’s been told. By being back, we come to learn about the past trauma that sent her fleeing in the first place. I also felt for Eve, who writes the blog entries for “Noble Wife.”
The thriller element of this book kept me engaged throughout. I loved how all the pieces came together. There were quite a few twists and turns and I found myself on edge as the book moved forward. While I was not completely shocked at who was ultimately behind everything, I was shocked at how it did all play out.
I loved this book and highly recommend! It’s such a layered story that kept me engaged and fully immersed from start to finish. If you like books about cults, religions or even small-town murders, definitely pick this one up!
