Ada is 46 and depressed when she starts sneaking into the caves and exploring Ruby Falls, a natural wonder turned tourist attraction named after her friend, who is the wife of the man who discovered it. But it’s the Great Depression, and the attraction, like everything, is struggling to stay afloat. When a stunt with a psychic is set to revive failing ticket sales, a murder is committed, and Ada, with her knowledge of the caves, must bring everyone by back to the surface, while knowing one of them must be the killer. What secrets will come to light and will the killer strike again?

Gin Phillips is the popular author of 7 novels which have sold in 29 countries, including The Well and The Mine, her debut novel which won the 2009 Barnes and Noble Discover Award. She grew up in Montgomery, Alabama, which I mention because every source I looked up to find out more about her mentioned it, which I found more amusing than pertinent. I had heard of her before, but this is the first of her novels that I have read.

The Ruby Falls of the title is a real place, a waterfall inside a mountain cave system. It also really is named after the discoverer’s beloved wife, a detail which I really liked. The facts about how the cave is found and how the finder turned it into a tourist attraction are all pulled from life and history. After finishing the book, I had a good time looking it up. I can see why Ada and the author both were drawn to them.

There were things I liked and didn’t like about this one, perhaps some of them being down to personal taste. Firstly, from the description of the book, you’d think it was a mystery story, but it’s a very slow burn with the mystery not starting til very late in the book. The opening 40 pages describe Ada’s life and the opening of the caves and things, and it really could have been covered in a few paragraphs or a few pages, dropping us more neatly into where the action of the story starts. With the murder part of the plot coming in so late, it reads more like a character study, with a romance subplot. With the most dramatic points of the story being things like a psychic, a murder and the notion of a killer in the caves, it feels like the focal or most compelling points of the story are off centre really, by being pushed to the back.

Secondly, the format is disjointed. Ada is the main character, so it’s written from the third person perspective, following her. Then, after 60 pages, when we’re all settled in, it randomly changes and has other characters names at the top of the chapters, like “Quinton” for example, and then writes, in third person, from their perspective. It’s totally unnecessary to do this when you’re in third person anyway, but it’s also just bothersome to start doing this so late in the flow of the story.

Phillips has been careful to research her subject and it’s era. The book is littered with details, like the correct flashlights and recently introduced school bus systems. I think she’s worked hard to create a world that feels real, contains no anachronisms, and I think she’s mostly successful. The world feels like it has depth and is well realised, though it felt in tone and character more like the 50’s than the 20’s. (Actually, the premise of the book had me thinking of the film The Ace In The Hole from 1951, which, while about very different themes, also has a media circus revolving around a cave system, the tourist dollar, and the impending demise of one character at it’s heart. Great film.) She also creates a great atmosphere. I found the book quite readable on the whole, other than the slow pacing, and most especially so when the characters were in the cave systems. It feels dark, cold, you can smell the dampness and feel the grit under your feet, the weight of stone pressing down on you. It’s really very nicely handled and adds a layer of tension to the mysterious aspects of the story.

The mystery part of the story is fine. I think some readers will guess the ending or the twist, while others might not, but on the whole, it works and the players involved, psychic, his wife, his devoted follower, the journalist… all have little things they add to the mystery that make it intriguing.

This book has some really good writing and is clearly well researched. It’s atmospheric and has it’s points of interest. For me, the things that hooked me in didn’t pay off til so late in the book, I found it a bit dull and slow, so not a stand out for me.

Read It If: the stoty or the time period appeal to you, I just found it all a little dry and too slow for my personal taste.

With thanks to PGC Books for the ARC of this book for review.