cover image The Goat Woman of Largo Bay

The Goat Woman of Largo Bay

Gillian Royes. Atria, $15 trade paper (320p) ISBN 978-1-4516-2741-1

Journalism teacher Royes (Sexcess: The New Gender Roles at Work) makes her fiction debut with this disappointing first in a suspense series set in Jamaica. Reformed criminal Shadrack “Shad” Myers, who tends bar in the community of Largo Bay, has a reputation for getting problems solved. One presents itself in the form of a strange figure on a small island across the bay. Shad at first thinks it’s a goat, but when he and his American businessman boss, Eric Keller, who happens to own the island, travel there, they discover it’s a pretty woman in her 40s, “her skin the milky brown of a high-born Kingston lady,” who calls herself Simone. Simone explains she’s taken refuge on the island to escape personal tragedy and human contact. But after this promising setup, the plot meanders, and the only suspense is the wait for something to happen. Strong characters and vivid descriptive passages offer only partial compensation. (Oct.)