REVIEW: Hell Swamp (Susan Whitfield)

[Apex Reviews]

Hell Swamp
Susan Whitfield
L&L Dreamspell
Reviewed By Renee Washburn

Official Apex Reviews Rating:


Clara Banoak has many enemies – specifically hunters. The reason? She’s a fervent animal rights activist, and what hunters consider to be sport she sees as the slaughter of innocents – and she has no qualms about letting them know. Every time one of them appears in the local paper proudly displaying their latest hunting “trophy,” soon after they receive nasty, threatening letters from Clara, accusing them of being cold-blooded murderers and condemning them to damnation for their evil deeds.

So, it comes as no surprise to anyone when Clara is found murdered in her home one day; what does come as a shock, though, is the horrific way in which her life is ended: strung up and gutted like an animal – much the way a hunter would dispatch his quarry…

SBI agent Logan Hunter is then dispatched to the scene, and she soon finds herself caught in the middle of – to say the least – quite interesting circumstances that only seem to grow stranger over time. Unsettling characters and a host of bizarre rituals combine to complicate Hunter’s investigation, and her resolve is further tested by emergent problems in her personal life. To top it all off, the simultaneously beautiful and deadly Hell Swamp, the daunting backdrop of all the action, adds its own mysterious flavor and mystical lore to the mix.

In the third installment of the Logan Hunter Mystery Series, Susan Whitfield doesn’t miss a step with Hell Swamp. Action-packed, intriguing, and rife with suspense, Hunter’s latest adventure through the heart of rural North Carolina exposes the reader once again to the particular folkways and mores of a mini-society that proves to be quite compelling. Not one to engage in exaggerated satire, though, Whitfield is to be commended for framing her characters in a realistic light, exposing their adopted habits and lifestyles without turning them into caricaturish, backwoods rubes.

Hell Swamp also solidifies Whitfield’s status as a true master of mystery. Her prose is tight and engaging, and her suspenseful writing style leaves the reader no choice but to turn page after page in anticipation of the latest unexpected twist.

Followers of Susan Whitfield will surely not be disappointed with her latest effort, and it will most certainly be successful in drawing even greater numbers to her ever-growing fan base. An enjoyable, recommended read.