The Familiar Dark

ONE

I'd had one eye on the clock all day. Had taken heaps of shit for it, too. Every time I'd leaned over the counter to pick up an order, Thomas had swatted at my hand with his grease-spattered spatula. "You got somewhere else you need to be?" he asked, tsking under his breath. "Yeah, somewhere better than this crap hole," I shot back, laughing when he went for me with the spatula again. That was about the only good thing I could find in having worked in this dump for more than a decade: I didn't have to mind my manners anymore.



"It's almost five o'clock," I called out, after watching the minute hand creep around the clock one final time.



"What's your hurry today, anyway?" Louise asked, retying her apron around her thick waist. "You're like a cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Keep it up and you're gonna give Thomas a heart attack. You know he hates it when we're distracted."



I threw a glance back through the pickup window, winked at Thomas, who couldn't quite manage to keep his scowl in place. "I don't know," I admitted. "Antsy, I guess." Maybe it was the strange, unexpected weather. Yesterday had been a budding, whispery green, the air scented with wildflowers. Today snow had splattered against the diner's plate glass windows, tiny swirls sneaking inside every time someone opened the door. But now the sun was starting to peek out from behind the cloud cover, just in time for it to set. Already rivulets of melting snow were forming on the edges of the parking lot. By morning it would be spring again. But that was Missouri for you. Like the old-timers always said, if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes.



"Coulda been those sirens," Thomas offered. "Damn things about drove me insane earlier."



Louise nodded, motioned for me to pass her the half-empty ketchup bottles so she could get to refilling them. "Must have been a heap of accidents. Heard there was a bunch of activity over by the old playground. Nobody around

Amy Engel is the author of The Familiar Dark, The Roanoke Girls and the Book of Ivy series. A former criminal defense attorney, she lives in Missouri with her family.

"From its gripping beginning to its sobering finale, Amy Engel's The Familiar Dark never fails to enthrall with surprising twists."
Associated Press

"The Familiar Dark follows a mother who investigates a dark murder. Sounds simple. It's not. And it's the beautiful writing that knifes through you in this one."
Brad Meltzer, Parade

"[A] harrowing thriller. . . . Without sacrificing any of the narrative s ferocious urgency, Engel gradually discloses a few of Eve s own guilty secrets on the way to some gut-wrenching final revelations. This rural noir stakes Engel s claim to that dystopian terrain somewhere between Gillian Flynn s Sharp Objects and Daniel Woodrell s Winter s Bone."
Publishers Weekly, starred review

"The Familiar Dark is a blistering rural noir brimming with dark secrets and the harsh realities of survival in a hardscrabble town. As Eve Taggert seeks vengeance for her daughter s murder and descends into the depths of her own jagged past, we are reminded that a mother s love is a fearsome thing. A powerful, gripping, heart-stopping read."
Laura McHugh, award-winning author of The Wolf Wants In

A dark, deeply compelling novel with a twist at the end that made me gasp.  
Roxane Gay, Year in Reading (2020)

"Engel masterfully creates a milieu in which women struggle against all odds to provide the best lives possible for their daughters. . . . A stunning conclusion."
Booklist, starred review

"A dark and beautifully written thriller with a haunting ending that will stay with you long after you've turned the last page. Engel s ability to conjure the harsh beauty of the Ozarks is spellbinding. An emotional and powerful read."
Catherine Steadman, New York Times bestselling author of Something in the Water

"Uncompromising, fierce and brilliant."
The Guardian

"In this