Review copy was received from NetGalley, Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Village in the Dark by Iris Yamashita Narrator: Aspen Vincent, Sophie Oda, Blaire Chandler
Series: Cara Kennedy #2
Published by Berkley, Penguin Audio on February 13, 2024
Genres: Mystery, Thriller
Pages: 288
Length: 8 hours, minutes
Format: Audiobook, eARC
Source: NetGalley, Publisher
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On a frigid February day, Anchorage Detective Cara Kennedy stands by the graves of her husband and son, watching as their caskets are raised from the earth. It feels sacrilegious, but she has no choice. Aaron and Dylan disappeared on a hike a year ago, their bones eventually found and buried. But shocking clues have emerged that foul play was involved, potentially connecting them to a string of other deaths and disappearances.
Somehow tied to the mystery is Mia Upash, who grew up in an isolated village called Unity, a community of women and children in hiding from abusive men. Mia never imagined the trouble she would find herself in when she left home to live in Man’s World. Although she remains haunted by the tragedy of what happened to the man and the boy in the woods, she has her own reasons for keeping quiet.
The continuation of the Cara Kennedy series is something I was very excited to read. City Under One Roof introduces us to Cara as a new widow, struggling to put herself together and get answers. The setting of Point Mettier, Alaska with its one big building and so many interesting characters was well developed.
In Village in the Dark, we again had the point of view of three female characters. Cara returns from the first book, a widow and detective from Anchorage on disability leave. Mia is a young women from a very remote village, living in Alaska pretty much her entire life. Ellie, we already know from Point Mettier.
Cara decides to exhume the bodies of her husband and son to see if she can learn more about how they died. This sets her into a new investigation. She has her new relationship with JB to support her emotionally, although people aren’t happy she is investigating.
Mia is a young women who worked at Algmagor with Cara’s husband, Aaron. She grew up in a different isolated village which housed only women, many trying to escape abuse or fled there after an assault. But she left there to make her way in Anchorage.
Ellie is the “inn” owner in Point Mettier, owning several condos and renting them out. Previously she rented to Cara. She gets a notification that her son has died of an overdose.
Cara has photos from a phone from one of the gang members of the last book. There is a picture of her with Aaron and Dylan, and one of Ellie’s son, Timmy, and many others. Cara starts researching to find out everyone in the photos is missing or dead. She and Ellie try to work together, unsuccessfully, then each start on their own leads.
The villains from the previous book are now after Cara. She and Ellie and Mia are all struggling for answers and to survive. Eventually, things come to a head. It’s dangerous and shocking. I loved it so much!
Narration:
I really appreciate how there are three female narrators to handle the three female points of view. Aspen Vincent returned as Cara which felt great. The other two narrators were new to me, handling Ellie and Mia. I thought the performances were excellent and I enjoyed them very much. I listened comfortably at my usual 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
About Iris Yamashita
Born in Missouri, raised in Hawaii and having lived in Guam, California, and Japan, Iris Yamashita was able to experience a diversity of culture while growing up. She studied engineering at U.C. San Diego and U.C. Berkeley and also spent a year at the University of Tokyo studying virtual reality. Her first love, however, has always been fiction writing, which she pursued as a hobby on the side.
Iris submitted her first screenplay to a competition where she was discovered by an agent at the Creative Artists Agency (CAA) who offered to represent her. Her big break came when she was recruited to write the script Letters From Iwo Jima for Clint Eastwood. Letters was named “Best Picture” by both the National Board of Review and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. It received a Golden Globe award for “Best Foreign Language Film” of 2006 and was nominated for 4 Oscars including “Best Picture” and “Best Original Screenplay.”
City Under One Roof is her debut mystery novel set in a tiny Alaskan town where all the residents lives in a single high-rise building. Village in the Dark is the follow-up to the Cara Kennedy series and is set to release in February 2024.
Iris continues to developing for both film and streaming media and has been commissioned to write an audio series for BBC Radio. She has also dabbled in writing a musical for a Japanese theme park with Tony Award-winning composer Jeanine Tesori. She has taught screenwriting at the University of California, Los Angeles and the American Film Institute.
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 24-COYER
This sounds like a gripping series. Right now, I’m needing lots of less dark stuff – I’ve retreated right back into urban fantasy with dollops of romance. But once I’m emotionally stronger, this is a series I might well tuck into. Thank you for sharing:)).
Thanks Sarah. It’s really a great setting in remote Alaska. I suppose it is rather dark, kind of like the Wild West out there. Anyway, it’s an excellent series with the POV of 3 women.
I still need to read the first one! But this one sounds really good.
Really they are both so good. I really like the setting and the twists.
I’m with you on how exciting it was to get this follow up. I know Cara’s backstory cold case is resolved, but I really hope there are more books in this setting and with the Point Mettier group.
Me too! I also appreciate how both books were from 3 different women’s POV, with Cara being one of them on both books.
I was outraged on Cara’s behalf when all came out! I’m happy to have mystery resolved, but I hope we get more Cara Kennedy mysteries in the future. Happy to see you loved it too, Anne!
yes poor Cara. I hope we get more with Cara +2 other women each time. It’s a cool format. Her husband bringing lies, death and destruction everywhere he goes. I get it would have been tough to fight the company, plus wealthy people and corrupt police but he could have done better.
3 narrators!!!??? Certainly a cast indeed!
yes 3 narrators. One for each POV. The Cara narrator is the same from the first book.
I have the first book on my TBR and I’m glad to see this was enjoyable as well. I can’t wait to read it!
I really, really liked these and hope there will be more. If you read the first- you absolutely must read this one too.