The Fifth Petal - A Review

Published - January 2017, Random House
Author - Brunonia Barry
Title - The Fifth Petal
Format - ebook, paper
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About the book (Goodreads):
When a teenage boy dies suspiciously on Halloween night, Salem's chief of police, John Rafferty wonders if there is a connection between his death and Salem’s most notorious cold case, a triple homicide dubbed "The Goddess Murders," in which three young women, all descended from accused Salem witches, were slashed on Halloween night in 1989. He finds unexpected help in Callie Cahill, the daughter of one of the victims newly returned to town. Neither believes that the main suspect, Rose Whelan, respected local historian, is guilty of murder or witchcraft.  But exonerating Rose might mean crossing paths with a dangerous force. Were the women victims of an all-too-human vengeance, or was the devil raised in Salem that night? And if they cannot discover what truly happened, will evil rise again?

My Thoughts:
I'd never heard of this author before. But when I saw it was available to review, both the cover and the back cover copy drew me in, so I thought "why not." 

I had no idea what to expect from this book. I was drawn in quickly. I was curious to see how all of the puzzle pieces were going to line up. 

Reading about a modern day witch hunt in Salem was interesting on several levels. First I vaguely remember learning about them in my history classes in school. Second, it made me think about how we live in a society today that could easily have such a thing happen. 

Would this have been a book I'd have tried if it wasn't a review copy? Probably not. Am I glad I gave it a chance? Absolutely. Would I read books by this author again? Maybe. I'd have to see. If I were in a mystery kind of mood, then yes. 

Overall, this book was an unexpected surprise that I found myself enjoying.

I received a copy of this book for free from the Blogging for Books program. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Rating - 4 stars