Where There's Smoke by E.B. Vickers

Where There's Smoke by E.B. Vickers
Publisher:  Knopf Books for Young Readers
Format:  Hardcover
Number of pages:   336 pages
Published:   December 12th, 2023
Source:  Publisher

Opening Line:  "The day we bury my dad, I am almost a ghost myself."

The story begins with Calli returning home following her father's funeral.  He recently died in a mysterious barn fire, while her mother died a few years before from Cancer.  Calli lives in a small town, where neighbors know neighbors, and everyone looks out for one another.  Her support system includes the three nurses/friends her mom worked with and her uncle, the Bishop of the Church.  It's on the eve of her dad's funeral that Callie finds a young girl hiding under a blanket on her property.  The girl is clearly frightened, bruised, "dirty and wild."  At first the girl refuses to speak, but slowly Calli begins to coax bits and pieces of information out of her, and they agree to refer to her Ash.

Just as Calli starts tending to Ash's wounds, Maggie, one of her mom's friends shows up at the house.  Calli feels very protective of Ash, and she and Maggie begin to argue.  After a few minutes, Maggie agrees to give Calli 48 hours to convince Ash to let them take her to social services and the hospital as there are clear signs that Ash has been abused and neglected.

Calli continues to keep Ash hidden while many friends and neighbors stop by to check on her and offer their condolences.  Soon news reaches the town that a girl from Ash Creek, a religious fundamentalist community about an hour away from town was reported missing.  Could this girl be Ash?  And what exactly has happened to her?

Where There's Smoke is a YA mystery/thriller.  It includes the topics of religious fundamentalism, grief, and the harm of family secrets.  There is a strong emphasis on who is a good versus bad person, ultimately leading to the question of who can you really trust?  Each chapter of the book begins with a short poem that gives you the thoughts the other characters in the story are mulling over.  The story alludes to a monster, and it is reflected in these poems.  The story left me with a kind of disconcerting feeling that we never really know what people's intentions really are and that sometimes we might not really know someone as well as we thought that we did.     

     

Ash gives Calli a purpose after a very trying day.  She pours her energy into trying to keep her safe and to hear her story.  Throughout the book, Calli "hears" her father's voice, as she reflects on biblical verses from his teachings.  She has this inner dialogue that is trying to help her reason out the situation.  Mistrust is thrown at you from many different directions, is it the people who she knows best that harmed Ash, her ex-boyfriend, the police or is it someone from Ash Creek?    The tension is done very well, and you can feel it escalating toward an ending that will keep some guessing.  While the story doesn't end entirely on a happy note, it's satisfying and ties everything up by revealing all of the dark secrets.