Intriguing fictional account of a historical mystery

This debut novel by Ariel Lawhon is a biographical historical fiction book that tells an imagined account of what happened to New York Supreme Court judge Joseph Force Crater when he disappeared in 1930. The case of his disappearance has never been solved, although many have speculated as to what happened. I had never heard of Crater or of his disappearance before discovering this book, although the case was heavily publicized in the national news for awhile. Lawhon has very cleverly woven a story together that imagines the roles the three most prominent women in Crater’s life might have had in his disappearance. Other reviews have critically mentioned that the novel needs a better structure, perhaps due to the non-chronological presentation of events. I don’t feel that this is a negative aspect of the book; to the contrary, I think Lawhon successfully used this narrative device to allow the reader to piece together the mystery’s details and “solve” the case alongside the characters. Leaving out any spoilers, the novel ends with the events wrapped up in a neat little package, which I always appreciate in a book. If you want to learn more about Crater’s disappearance, or of 1930’s New York, or if you like fictional accounts based on actual events, then you might like this book. After reading the story, make sure that you read the author’s notes at the end to learn what was fact and what was fiction, and read the epilogue to get the final bit of how it all turned out.