The Wrong Good Deed

March 3, 2023

One Sunday morning, 70-something Muffin Morgan flees church, claiming she sees a dangerous man from her past. Clemmie, her friend and neighbor, thinks Muffin is overreacting. But when Muffin tells Clemmie a horrible story from her life in the pre-civil rights South, Clemmie realizes her friend has been keeping a terrible secret. The events that unfold bring the pasts of both women to the forefront of their small retirement community, revealing secrets that come with life-threatening consequences. Unfortunately, Cooney's sequel to Before She Was Helen falls short of the author's well-known positive reputation. The premise is intriguing, beguiling readers into thinking they've picked up a thriller. Even so, the narrative moves confusingly from one character to another, the pace is stagnant, and the climax is sudden and unrelated to the plot. Most disappointing is the tone-deafness of the dialogue and the ignorance toward the continued racism in the characters' actions--or lack of action. VERDICT A huge swing and a miss. Libraries and readers should skip this one.--Carmen Clark

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 13, 2023
Kind, quiet Clemmie Lakefield, the protagonist of this uneven mystery from Cooney (Before She Was Helen), is everyone’s friend at the Sun City retirement community—she gives rides, hosts Bible studies, prepares snacks, and provides a shoulder for neighbors to cry on. She’s shocked when her friend Muffin Morgan insists they leave church one Sunday because Muffin spots someone from her past who she’s afraid might want her dead. Flash back to 1964, when newly married Muffin prevented her husband and three of his friends from lynching journalist MacBurton Ward, who was in their South Carolina town to write about segregation policies. Muffin got MacBurton to safety, then disappeared, changed her name, and established a new life. Clemmie has a shady past herself, but doesn’t take Muffin’s concerns too seriously—until somebody turns up dead. The timeline alternates between the present and the ’60s, never generating enough tension in either setting, and Cooney’s characters are mostly thin and unconvincing. A gut-wrenching final chapter compensates only in part for a shallow plot throughout. Cooney makes a valiant attempt to tackle the South’s history of racial bigotry but comes up short. Agent: Kerry D’Agostino, Curtis Brown.