A Killing Among Friends by Toni Morrow Wyatt

Sennie Lacefield has always felt safe at her family’s peaceful mountain lodge…

The only break in her tranquil life was the death of her boyfriend Patrick Devon, which left her heartbroken and unable to understand Patrick’s sullen, withdrawn brother Lonnie. But when her best friend Reatha Alcoker disappears, her sense of security is shattered. With the help of Reatha’s boyfriend Milo Durham, she launches a search for her friend.

More girls disappear, and bodies begin turning up…

When one of the missing girls is found dead in a swamp with a symbol burned into her forehead, Sennie focuses on her growing list of suspects. She can’t count on help from the lazy, lecherous Sheriff Warford Cackley. She also has suspicions the sheriff’s son Rex and his nasty friend Ottis know more than they’re willing to share.

Someone is watching Sennie’s every move…

Refusing to believe Reatha is dead, Sennie and Milo continue their frantic search, and Sennie is plagued with threatening messages. When another girl’s body is discovered, she and Milo visit the site and find evidence that Reatha has also been there. Some aerial photographs might hold a vital clue…if they can find them in time.

As Sennie unravels a tangled web of secrets, arson, burglary, and murder, could it be that a desire to help Sennie has warped the mind of a murderer?

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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Veronica – ☆☆☆☆
Girls are going missing in small town Arkansas, but no one seems to be doing much about it. I found this strange. When Sennie's best friend Reatha goes missing, she starts investigating on her own because it is assumed that she ran away to Little Rock.

I really liked the diversity of characters in the small town. The differences between the rich side of town and the poor side were good and we have a pool of suspects from both sides. Girls continue to go missing, other crimes are committed, and there was enough going on that I wasn't sure I knew who the guilty party was. A Killing Among Friends is a very good mystery. I'll definitely read books by this author again.


Erica – ☆☆☆
3.5 stars
Toni Morrow Wyatt is a new-to-me author.

A Killing Among Friends starts off strong, pulling the reader in and engaging them with good pacing and an easy flowing writing style. As an adult reading a novel geared more toward late teens, I had to suspend belief to fall into the story after solving the mystery early on. I tried to read the rest of the novel through the eyes of its intended audience, and I feel that a younger person would be engrossed and riveted to the unraveling of the mystery's plot.

The setting of the small Arkansas town lent to the overall dark and creepy feel of the storyline. But I do wish there was more of an indication of the era of which the story took place.

Recommended to those who love a who-done-it type mystery, where you're gritting your teeth as the narrator digs through clues to solve the mystery, but not for those who are quick to solving the mystery before the narrator does.

Genre: Mystery | Young Adult | Who-done-it |

As a child, Toni Morrow Wyatt’s family spent nearly every summer visiting relatives in a small, rural community in Arkansas. Finding magic in this place, it is the setting for many of her novels. Her love for southern fiction led to the writing of A Killing Among Friends and Return to Rocky Gap. Her work has appeared in From the Depths Literary Journal and Belle Reve Literary Journal. She writes an eclectic blog titled, A Pinch of Me, on Tumblr. She was previously an independent bookseller, owning and operating Kindred Books for seven years. She makes her home in a small North Carolina town with her husband and two children.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of A Killing Among Friends by Toni Morrow Wyatt to read and review.