Rainy Day Women is a groovy blast from the past! Kendall’s new-adult murder mystery is set in the flower-power era of the late Sixties.
Austin Starr, a new young mother, is once again drawn into drama as she races to give support to her best friend, Larissa, who is under suspicion of murder. Although Austin promises her husband she will remain uninvolved, she nevertheless becomes entwined in solving the murder case and clearing her friend in the process. But what starts as one homicide quickly escalates into more violence, with Austin and Larissa both targets.
The story is woven into the fabric of 1960’s America and Canada – Austin and her husband David moved to Canada to avoid the draft in opposition to the Vietnam War. And Austin’s friend Larissa has become highly involved in the women’s liberation movement. What is now frequently taken for granted, we get a glimpse of the struggle for equal rights endured by courageous women of that pivotal era. But at what cost to those fighting for equality?
With the novel set in the late Sixties, it’s interesting to again experience the world as it was then – less digital, no cell phones but only landlines; less security, with loved ones able to see you to your gate at the airport; no requirement for infant car seats; easy crossing over borders from one country to another. Kendall has done an excellent job of reminding us of both the innocence and the turbulence of our world almost five decades ago.
I recommend Rainy Day Women to readers who would enjoy a good murder mystery, with the built-in bonus of a time capsule of our unique history which was the 1960’s.
