Trail of Echoes by Rachel Howzell Hall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I’m not sure I can add anything to what’s been said about Rachel Howzell Hall. But I can confirm it.
If your aren’t reading Rachel, you should be.
Three books in, I can confidently say Rachel is now one of my “auto-buy” authors. Elouise “Lou” Norton is a fantastic protagonist. She’s smart, strong, and incredibly vulnerable in ways I don’t think she recognizes. I love seeing her at work and I want her to succeed – especially when she seems so determined to keep herself from doing so.
Rachel captures the essence of inner-city LA perfectly. I’d imagine I’d see people just as she describes if I were to walk the streets in her book. This is not the “glamorous” LA, but the city is a character as rugged, strong, and vulnerable as much as Lou.
As a mystery, the book is carefully done, tightly plotted, with pieces drawn from current events to your high-school mythology lessons.
I’ve skipped around a bit in that I read book one, then book three, and still have to go back to book two. But the writing was smooth and seamless, and I never felt “lost” because I read out of order.
Eagerly awaiting the fourth book and my only regret is that I have to wait until next August to get it!