The small town of Amaryllis, Mississippi, has been
terrorized by a serial killer for the past three years.
Other than the five victims being woman, there seems to be
no discernible pattern -- they have been old, young, black,
and white. The killer has been dubber The Closet Killer as
he (or she) always places the victim in a closet. As GONE
TO GROUND opens, a sixth murder has taken place; another
victim has fallen prey to the Closet Killer.
Each chapter in this book is told from a different
character's view - Tully, a pregnant woman who is abused by
her husband; Cherrie Mae, a church-going housecleaner; and
Deena, a hair stylist with a developmentally disabled
brother. In a town the size of Amaryllis (population 1700),
most everyone in town knows each other and knows everyone
else's business. So it's a little surprising that each of
the three women is secretly positive she knows who the
Closet Killer is. The problem is that each woman suspects a
different person (Tully knows her husband is guilty, Deena
is sure her brother did it, and Cherrie Mae has evidence the
town mayor committed the murders).
The man each woman suspects certainly has motive and
opportunity, but will the police listen to someone with only
a gut instinct and no physical evidence? The issue gets
compounded when the police arrest Deena's brother. Were
Tully and Cherrie Mae wrong? Or did the police arrest the
wrong person? At a town hall meeting, the women figure out
that something is amiss and start to work together to figure
everything out.
GONE TO GROUND really picks up once the women start
working together. Unfortunately, part of the book is a bit
too obvious. In other words, one of the men the women
suspect is clearly not the Closet Killer and I thought
this was obvious from the beginning. I will say, though,
that I only figured out who the actual culprit was mere
pages before it is revealed in the book.
Another criticism I have is that Ms. Collins wrote Cherrie
Mae's chapters in a distinct dialect, which made this
character seem uneducated, although it is clear that she
isn't. Cherrie Mae can quote Sir Conan Doyle, Tennyson,
Shakespeare, and Sophocles. She does not, however, know the
difference between "of" and "a" and refers to a "door" as a
"doh," for instance. Not only was this immensely
distracting, but I found it disrespectful as it seemed like
a way to "other" someone who is already "othered" enough in
her community. There are certainly ways for each character
to have a distinct voice other than to be written in
particular dialect.
Overall, GONE TO GROUND is a good read for the suspense and
intrigue, but the writing style is not something that I
would seek out again.
Amaryllis, Mississippi is a scrappy little town of strong
backbone and southern hospitality. A brick-paved Main
Street, a park, and a legendary ghost in the local cemetery
are all part of its heritage. Everybody knows everybody in
Amaryllis, and gossip wafts on the breeze. Its people are
friendly, its families tight. On the surface Amaryllis seems
much like the flower for which it's named-bright and
fragrant. But the Amaryllis flower is poison. In the past
three years five unsolved murders have occurred within the
town. All the victims were women, and all were killed in
similar fashion in their own homes. And just two nights
ago-a sixth murder. Clearly a killer lives among the good
citizens of Amaryllis. And now three terrified women are
sure they know who he is-someone they love. None is aware of
the others' suspicions. And each must make the heartrending
choice to bring the killer down. But each woman suspects a
different man.
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