On page 22 of Where the Crawdads Sing, we discover that Chase Andrews is dead. Was it an accident or a murder? While that’s the question that drives the plot, my main question was: why was this book “the” sensation of 2019? It has sold four-and-a-half million copies and has been on the New York Times’s best seller list for a year. Here’s what I think contributes to its success: old-fashioned talent in creating a compelling character, a well-timed fit with the me-too movement, an interesting mix of genres (“socio-biological thriller”), and the author’s own personal connections to a murder.
Owens, Delia. Where the Crawdads Sing. G.P.Putman’s Sons, 2018, p. 22.