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I Did It For You
By Amy Engel
Thriller
July 2023
Dutton
It's been more than a decade since Greer's older sister and her boyfriend were murdered in their small Kansas town while they were making out in his rig. Greer escaped to Chicago and became a school counselor. But it's been a facade of a life. Then two more teenagers are killed in the same way as Eliza and Travis. Greer knows it's time to go home.
In Amy Engel's latest novel, I Did It For You, Greer's return to Ludlow has a big impact on many people who are still there. Her two best friends since their childhood days are there. Ryan has lately returned after his marriage fell apart. Cassie never left. Her parents have atrophied. Her mother spends all day cleaning and the scene of bleach is on her. Her father, second-generation grocer, sold the store and spends all his time with his best friend, bourbon.
The local sheriff, who was head lawman at the time her sister was killed, warns Greer to not start up again with insisting there is something they are missing. When her sister and her boyfriend, were shot, a teenager from the next town over confessed to their murders. Roy Matthews was executed for those crimes. But Greer is certain that there was more to it, because Roy was a hot head and not very clever. Greer knows there is more because, after Roy was imprisoned, a paper heart was slipped under her family's front door. Inscribed on the heart: "I did it for you."
One day, Greer drives past the house where Roy and his brother, Dean, lived with their grandmother. She sees both of them, and they see her. Soon, Greer and Dean have formed an alliance. They both want to know the truth about the earlier murders, and think the latest are connected. Greer tries to keep her budding friendship with Dean a secret from the rest of town, especially her best friends, but secrets are hard to keep in a small town.
Although there is the mystery to solve of who was behind the original killings, and if the two latest murders are connected, I Did It For You has another well-told story behind the plot. The focus of that story is the connections that people in small towns can have to each other and to the town, to the idea of community and the ties of friendship. There also is the acknowledgement that what happened in the past can play an important role in the present. But there also is the knowledge that the present does not have to dictate the future.
Even without the mysteries to solve, this part of the novel is well done and a pleasure to read. The ways different characters have had to deal with grief, including Dean and his grandmother, is handled with compassion for the living and whether to forgive the deceased. The ways now-grown adults are affected by the way they knew each other as teenagers play strong roles in the plot. The pros and cons of living in a small town where everyone knows everyone else, or thinks they do, is another strong part of the story that fits in the overall narrative.
The only quibble is that Greer suddenly remembers something that is very important to the way the story plays out. It would have worked as well, or maybe even better, had she kept this a secret instead of something forgotten.
That drawback aside, I Did It For You is an engrossing, rewarding story. The novel is scheduled to be published tomorrow.
