Long Black Veil

Starred review from February 6, 2017
At the start of this madcap thriller full of hidden identities from Boylan (She’s Not There), a night of goofy postcollege mischief goes horribly amiss in Philadelphia’s shut-down Eastern State Penitentiary in 1980. When human remains surface at the site decades after the party, one of the six revelers, Jon Casey—now a top chef in Philadelphia—is charged, although the gumshoe assigned to review the cold case files senses more than a possible crime of passion has been covered up. In the interim, it appears that another party participant, a friend of Casey’s, may have faked his own death. In rural Maine, freelance writer Judith Carrigan, who knew both the victim and Casey back when, knows the latter to be innocent. But to help Casey would put her family and happiness on the line. Boylan’s bluff, witty prose (“my actual innocence got on his nerves”) charms away any impatience with more far-fetched aspects of her loopy plot. And embedded in the whodunit is a heartwarming midlife love story, in which hard-won candor, tenacity, and a generous sense of humor are the most saving of graces. Agent: Kris Dahl, ICM.

Jennifer Finney Boylan performs her mystery novel, infusing each of the characters with his or her own rhythm, pace, and pitch. In doing so, she makes it easier for listeners to distinguish between the six main characters, their present worlds, and the flashbacks to the day in 1980 on which they experienced a life-altering tragedy. In particular, the story features a travel writer, wife, and mother named Judith and the dilemmas she faces. Boylan is a deft storyteller who displays a range of talent worthy of a professional narrator as she recounts the complex way that one day from the past can undo everything in one's present. Listeners will hang on her every word to see who will protect the innocent. M.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

September 1, 2017

"This was a long time ago," Boylan (She's Not There) begins--August 1980, more specifically. "[N]one of us now are the people we were then." Thirty-five years later, the college friends who trespassed into the boarded-up Eastern State Penitentiary are now "ghosts: two...dead, a third unrecognizable, a fourth suspected of murder." Telling the story of what happened then and what's happening now is the same person--albeit a rather chimerical character who was once a lonely lost soul, who's now an adored wife, mother, and successful travel writer in small-town Maine. Despite lies, betrayal, and murder, Boylan's novel is actually quite an entertaining romp, not least because she narrates in her unique, immediately recognizable staccato voice. Her initial breathiness between phrases adds an effective sense of urgency--we're listening to a murder mystery, after all--and eventually dissipates as she settles into a rhythmic cadence as the intriguing plot unfolds. VERDICT For savvy listeners ready for a twisty-turny thriller with a narrator sure to induce both laughter and tears. ["Boylan's entertaining thriller takes a hard look at questions of identity, love, and trust": LJ 2/1/17 review of the Crown hc.]--Terry Hong, Smithsonian BookDragon, Washington, DC

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.