The Devil Walks in Mattingly by Billy Coffey

The past can certainly haunt people. Guilt and shame can drastically change how a person acts in a certain situation and what he or she thinks reality is. In The Devil Walks in Mattingly the characters are forced to face their past, learn the truth and move on to be able to grasp the fullness life can really hold.

Jake Barnett is the sheriff in the small town of Mattingly. Mattingly is a sleepy town, where there is not usually too much trouble. But all of that changes the day Taylor Hathcock comes to town and commits the most brutal crime in the town’s history, Jake is forced to step up and do what a sheriff really needs to do. But, events of the past haunt him and his wife. They both blame themselves for the death of classmate twenty years ago. Jake has tried to hide behind his job, while his wife Kate helps the poor in the town. But little do they know that there was a third person in that mess of twenty years ago. And it now time for the truth to come out and forgiveness to reign.

This was a very interesting read. I thought the author, Billy Coffey, did a great job giving just enough details to the back story of the death twenty years ago to keep the reader hooked. I like how there are hints of the truth throughout the story, but it all doesn’t come together until the end. I do find it a bit hard to believe that this small town didn’t know more of the story of that day twenty years ago until now, but the characters were interesting. I did like this book better than Coffey’s first book When Mockingbirds Sing. I would certainly read more of this authors work as it comes out.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

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April 1, 2014 at 6:12 AM

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