The Space Between Trees by Katie Williams

Evie mostly keeps to herself. She doesn’t have any real friends and can’t find it in herself to find some. There are mainly two things that Evie likes: her newspaper route and Jonah Luks. That’s why every Sunday, Evie takes her time on her route so that she can run into Jonah. But one Sunday is different from all the others because Jonah finds something in the woods—a body. It turns out to be Elizabeth McCabe, Evie’s childhood friend; she’s been brutally murdered. Evie is just as stunned as the next person, but that doesn’t explain why she lies and tells Zabet’s father that they were friends. This is the start of a strange relationship with Mr. McCabe and Hadley, Zabet’s best friend. Evie finds herself on a wild goose chase with Hadley after Zabet’s killer. Evie doesn’t really know what she’s doing anymore, but she does know Hadley’s erratic and paranoid behavior is sure to land the two in serious trouble.

The Space Between Trees is a murder mystery, but from a new angle. Evie isn’t closely connected to the person who was murdered but still finds herself involved with people who are. Her partnership with Hadley to find Zabet’s killer seemed to me a halfhearted one; Evie craves the companionship more than a desire for justice. This makes the actual investigation rather lackluster and story sometimes boring to read. I found it difficult to like Evie; she cares about very little and seems to not understand the meaning of friendship, and her awkwardness is not endearing at all. In the end, all I could really take away from this story was the futility of it all. Evie goes after Jonah, but gives up pretty easily when things go wrong; Hadley wants to find Zabet’s killer but fails miserably; and during all of this, Evie doesn’t change one bit. I was disappointed with The Space Between Trees because I really wanted to like this story, but unfortunately, I found this hard to accomplish.

The Space Between Trees may be enjoyed by readers who also liked Low Red Moon by Ivy Devlin, Wish You Were Dead by Todd Strasser, and Death at Deacon Pond by E.M. Alexander.

Rating: 3.0

Review copy from Amazon Vine