Staff Review: HEATHER

HEATHER by Caitlin Mullen
9781250400574
6/9/26
Celadon Books
Fiction / Crime

Caitlin Mullen’s HEATHER is a propulsive mystery, as incisive as it is forgiving, centered on a small-town police chief who reopens a cold case from 1994.

Callie, a former North Jersey narcotics detective in her 30s, has recently returned to her hometown to care for a friend following an accident. Her appointment as the new police chief has already ruffled feathers among the veteran male officers, but the tension peaks when Callie’s mother, who has a long history of addiction, suddenly vanishes.

While the department is quick to dismiss the disappearance, Callie overhears a conversation suggesting her mother is linked to an unsolved case from decades ago. Determined to find the truth, she dives back into 1994 to understand her mother’s past. Set against the atmospheric backdrop of the New Jersey Pine Barrens, the story explores a community riddled with secrets, a systemic drug crisis, and a chilling history of missing women.

This book is brilliantly written. I was drawn instantly into the ensemble of characters surrounding the mystery, all pulled together by our main “discoverer of secrets,” Callie. As I read, I pictured an eerie, overcast town with an uncanny discomfort coursing through it. Each scene felt deliberate, playing out like a prestige crime drama. It is a haunting, expertly paced dive into a community that has been hiding the truth for far too long.

I highly recommend this if you love a story you can obsess over! One full of evidence and generations of women grappling to find themselves. For readers who loved the gritty, localized tension of THE GOD OF THE WOODS, HEATHER delivers a similarly distinct setting where the landscape is as much a character as the women trying to survive it.

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“A haunting exploration of how far people will go to feel seen, a searing indictment of a man who exploited the most vulnerable, and a powerful testament to the devastating consequences and the remarkable strength and resilience that follow. This powerful novel will appeal to fans of Allen Eskens, Elle Marr, and Brad Parks.”—Library Journal, starred review

“If you enjoyed Mare of Easttown, you’ll love HEATHER. A gritty cold-case detective story, vividly and insightfully written. Not just a story of murder, it’s a thought-provoking and moving meditation on mothers and daughters and the long-reaching consequences of the choices we make.”—Alex Michaelides, #1 New York Times bestselling author of THE SILENT PATIENT and THE FURY