‘Through Any Window’ by Deb Richardson-Moore

Published by Red Adept Publishing,
30 July 2024.  
ISBN: 978-1-95823141-8 (PB)

Riley Masterton hopes that by moving from Mobile Alabama to South Carolina she will be able to put a recent tragedy behind her.  Cousin Mikala Hardy and her husband Luke have offered Riley an annex attached to their home in Greenbrier where she can stay over the summer.  The area has been gentrified over the past few years and charming, but dated, properties have been snapped up and remodelled to accommodate well-heeled professionals.  The one thing that bothers the new set on Gunter Avenue is a less than salubrious building at the back of the Hardy residence.  The owner of this shabby edifice prefers to let out the rooms rather than sell it to Savannah Darwin, who is a land developer. 

This isn’t Riley’s problem though, and she can hardly believe her good fortune when she arrives at Mikala’s elegant house.  She soon settles into the neighbourhood and begins to meet the wealthy residents of Greenbrier including Savannah, her wife Cate and their teenage son Isaiah.  The incomer secures a waitressing job nearby and she feels she has landed on her feet.  Before long, however, it becomes clear that Riley is not the only person in Greenbrier who has something to hide.  The veneer of respectability and compassion for others is also challenged when some residents complain about the nearby Greenbrier Gospel Mission as it seeks to care for homeless men in the area.  Indeed, the theme of co-existence, familial and societal, runs through the novel as it considers success and failure, wealth and poverty.  Redevelopment, whilst providing opportunities also creates tensions and the “window” of the title is a reminder that your take on gentrification depends on whether you’re looking through the window from the inside or the outside. 

The novel depicts a fascinating range of characters, all are three dimensional, all have strengths, flaws and foibles.  Riley and her younger sister Rayanne provide a study in how siblings from the same starting point can end up taking very different paths as they grow older.  Similarly, the lives of two young men are charted as the narrative unfolds.  Isaiah lives in comfort with his two mothers, Savannah and Cate, both successful professional women.  Caleb, by contrast, is trying to overcome his poor start in life and working as a dishwasher at the same local restaurant where Riley finds casual employment. 

The question is, who amongst them is a murderer?  Because, whilst the narrative deals with a range of socio-political and domestic issues, it is at heart a murder mystery.  This is apparent from the very first page of a story that holds its secret close as it twists and turns towards the dénouement.  Again the “window” motif comes into its own when Greenbrier residents witness things they weren’t meant to see, whilst others fear that they have been seen doing things they shouldn’t have been.  And, because the story unfolds through multiple perspectives, the reader must also decide whether what has been glimpsed by the different characters is innocent or illicit!

Through Any Window is written with sensitivity and style.  It is compelling, thought provoking, thrilling and, at times, chilling.  Highly recommended.
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Reviewer: Dot Marshall-Gent

Deb Richardson-Moore was a reporter for "The Greenville (SC) News," for 27 years, winning three national writing awards and routine recognition from the South Carolina Press Association. She then took over the religion beat at "The News" and enrolled in a nearby seminary to learn more about it. Her life was never the same. She left the newspaper and earned a Master of Divinity degree. Because jobs for clergywomen were scarce in her own Baptist denomination, she accepted a job as pastor of the non-denominational Triune Mercy Centre, a crumbling, inner-city mission church to the homeless. 

https://debrichardsonmoore.com/

Dot Marshall-Gent worked in the emergency services for twenty years first as a police officer, then as a paramedic and finally as a fire control officer before graduating from King’s College, London as a teacher of English in her mid-forties.  She completed a M.A. in Special and Inclusive Education at the Institute of Education, London and now teaches part-time and writes mainly about educational issues.  Dot sings jazz and country music and plays guitar, banjo and piano as well as being addicted to reading mystery and crime fiction.