Review copy was received from Author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Spring Melt by Lori Duffy Foster on March 10, 2026
Genres: Historical Mystery
Pages: 281
Format: Paperback
Source: Author
Goodreads
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple
As a doctor’s wife in a thriving Adirondack village in the 1920s, Ella Devine seems to have an ideal life. Her husband grew rich catering to New York City socialites who wanted to hide their TB diagnoses from their friends. Their marriage is devoid of emotion, but so is she, having learned long ago to quietly accept whatever life offers. But all that changes when three men are charged with a nineteen-year-old murder, and the long-buried crime that shaped Ella’s childhood is exposed.
Spring Melt draws on the rich and fascinating history of the Adirondacks, where hikers who see only low hills and lush vegetation fail to perceive the hidden dangers and lose their lives by stepping two feet off the trail. Since the late 1800s, the wilderness that is the Adirondacks has been both a frontier to be conquered only by the hardiest of humans and a playland for the wealthy. When these two worlds collide, the resulting explosion can be fatal.
The beauty of the Adirondack mountains of 1920’s is background to an upcoming murder trial for a death that occurred around twenty years in the past. Lori Duffy Foster’s historical suspense drew me in from the opening lines and I read cover to cover in two-sittings.
George is the defense attorney who is representing three men on trial for the murder of a rich drunk guy who raped a nine-year-old girl in a time when no justice could be had in that county for the victim. He’s up against perpetrators who do not deny they had something to do with Roth being crushed under logs at his wealthy parent’s lumber camp and a district attorney who sees this case as his big chance to jump into a senate seat.
Ella, who has since moved to live with adopted parents, married well, and started a new life far from the logging camps where her parents worked, is now caught up in all that comes from everyone learning her secret, that she was the rape victim and now must give testimony to help her deceased father’s friends who were always her protectors. Her husband wants nothing to do with her now that her “shameful past” is known, but Ella takes the hit and shows her resilience by starting a new, content life even in the shadow of the trial.
The past is dredged up and the truth is about to come out at last.
I had an immediate connection with Spring Melt as soon as I began reading. The Adirondack mountains, forests, and lakes setting and the people who live there including the indigenous tribes was an amazing backdrop to the plot. The plot was told by multiple narrators and the past story was pieced together slowly as Ella thought back over the course of her life leading her to this point. I found the characters of George and Ella, the primary characters to be nuanced the more of the story I got. The climax around the courtroom drama was taut and had me flipping pages rapidly to a heartwarming denouement.
All in all, Spring Melt was a satisfying historical suspense in a 1920’s rustic setting that had vast appeal and I can easily recommend to other readers.
As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing.Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many wonderful books, authors, and narrators.Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance.Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.
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OH wow! This sounds really intense. Glad it was a hit for you. thanks for the review.
There are gentle, reflective moments, too, to balance it out. It was really good.
Ooh, I love mysteries with multiple narrators. This sounds great!
Yes, it gave the story a nice multi-faceted feel and allowed for a more complete story.
Her husband sounds like a jerk. This sounds like a compelling story.
He really was. Like having your wife raped as a young girl is going to tarnish your reputation. I was glad she moved on and left him far in her rear-view mirror.
Adirondack mountains of 1920’s! Love!
Oh yeah, Chef’s Kiss to historical era and setting.