River Road by Carol Goodman

River Road by Carol Goodman


Review by Lauren


source: copy from publisher; all opinions are my own


Official Summary: Nan Lewis—a creative writing professor at a state university in upstate New York—is driving home from a faculty holiday party after finding out she’s been denied tenure. On her way, she hits a deer, but when she gets out of her car to look for it, the deer is nowhere to be found. Eager to get home and out of the oncoming snowstorm, Nan is forced to leave her car at the bottom of her snowy driveway to wait out the longest night of the year—and the lowest point of her life…

The next morning, Nan is woken up by a police officer at her door with terrible news—one of her students, Leia Dawson, was killed in a hit-and-run on River Road the night before. And because of the damage to her car, Nan is a suspect. In the days following the accident, Nan finds herself shunned by the same community that rallied around her when her own daughter was killed in an eerily similar accident six years prior. When Nan begins finding disturbing tokens that recall the death of Nan’s own daughter, Nan suspects that the two accidents are connected.

As she begins to dig further, she discovers that everyone around her, including Leia, is hiding secrets. But can she uncover them, clear her name, and figure out who really killed Leia before her reputation is destroyed for good?


Review: I’m not really sure why, but I often enjoy books set on or around a university, as does River Road. As the summary above states, creative writing professor Nan Lewis hits a deer coming back from the holiday faculty party one night. She gets out but doesn’t see the deer anywhere. The next morning, she finds out that one of her students, Leia Dawson has been killed in a hit and run and Nan is suddenly one of the suspects, as her car looks suspiciously like she hit a person.

River Road was a fascinating mystery, definitely full of suspense and a little chill. Nan Lewis is a character that you can definitely feel sorry for, as she lost her own daughter years before in a hit and run. She’s not doing so well with her life at the time of the accident, but she’s a good person and she is obviously distraught over the death of Leia, who she always saw going on to do great things. The town easily turns against Nan, believing her to have run Leia down and leaving her to die in the snow. Strange “tokens” are being left at the death site, making Nan wonder if Leia’s death is related to her own daughter’s death.

I won’t say more as I never want to spoil a book. These details already shared are revealed in the summary or early on in the novel. I would definitely recommend this one. If you’re still dealing with snow and cold weather, this is certainly an appropriate book to cozy up with. Not because it is cozy, by all means, but because the weather will perfectly mimic the book.

I will say though that I figured out the culprit about halfway through the book. There is a moment that occurs and I was suddenly thinking “It has to be this person” and I ended up being correct. That doesn’t mean everyone will correctly guess the culprit, or that it’s a big deal even, since there are other secrets and reveals that occur throughout the book to keep things interesting and mysterious!

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