Weight of Blood (McHugh)

Book Reviews
In this clever, multilayered debut, McHugh deftly explores the past of an Ozark Mountain family...with plenty to hide and the ruthlessness to keep their secrets hidden.... This is an outstanding first novel, replete with suspense, crisp dialogue, and vivid Ozarks color and atmosphere
Publishers Weekly


(Starred review.) Debut novelist McHugh comes out swinging with this gripping tale set in the Ozarks of Missouri.... Her prose will not only keep readers turning the pages but also paints a real and believable portrait of the connections, alliances, and sacrifices that underpin rural, small-town life in Henbane. —Amy Hoseth, Colorado State Univ. Lib., Fort Collins
Library Journal


McHugh sets her first novel in a starkly rendered fictional Missouri town located in the Ozarks.... [A] suspenseful novel, with a barn burner of a plot...[and] despite some missteps, McHugh shows herself to be a compelling writer intimately familiar with rural poverty and small-town weirdness; the best is yet to come. —Joanne Wilkinson
Booklist


A teenager investigates a friend's murder and learns much more than she bargained for.... McHugh's evocation of the rugged setting and local speech patterns starkly reveals the menace lurking beneath Henbane's folksy facade.... An accomplished literary thriller.
Kirkus Reviews