When the Corn is Waist High by Jeremy Scott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
**3.5-stars rounded up**
When the Corn is Waist High is confounding to me. I have had the most difficult time trying to determine what my final rating will be. Jeremy Scott, you have left me confused, surprised and at a loss for words.
This story follows our narrator, Solomon Lancaster, who is a Catholic Priest, as well as the Sheriff for his Indiana County.
Although Lancaster seems slightly unprepared to run a murder investigation, he’ll be the first to remind you that the Sheriff is in fact an elected position.
He’s not actually a trained criminal justice professional. He’s definitely more comfortable in his role listening to the confessions of his congregation.
So when bodies start dropping in his community of Crooked Creek, he begins bumbling around like a cowboy at his first rodeo. While the initial body was surprising enough, after the second and then the third, it’s clear the community has an active serial killer on their hands.
The FBI gets called in and they aren’t impressed by Lancaster’s skill set. Nevertheless, he manages to keep himself involved in the investigation.
This book was interesting. I listened to the audiobook and appreciated the narrator’s classic storytelling voice, as well as Scott’s no-nonsense writing style.
I made it through the story in a day and had some highs and lows, but I was never bored. I was definitely intrigued, with one major twist dropping my jaw and having me question everything I thought I knew.
After that point, the intensity continued to climb for me as I began to see things in a whole new light. In my opinion, that was really well played by Scott.
I loved how I was sort of lulled into a sense of complacency, feeling like this was just a normal Police Procedural, but it’s sure as heck not!
Additionally, I did love the ending of this. It left me with that devious little smile on my face I love so much; more than satisfactory. I am wondering if this will be the start to a series, or if this is where Scott is going to leave it?
Generally, I am not a huge fan of religious elements being involved in my stories, and I know others may be turned off by that, but I really don’t see how this story could have worked otherwise.
Thank you to the publisher, Turner Publishing and Dreamscape Media, for providing me with copies to read and review. This was my first novel by Scott and I look forward to picking up more in the future!