After reading Fate Can Toss a Boomerang: A Murder Mystery by Carolyn Summer Quinn, I can say it’s a mystery that sticks with you for more than just its plot. At its core, the book follows Detective Knox Wanamaker, who is called to investigate a murder in his small Wyoming town. The victim turns out to be Petra Turkett, a long-feared and loathed gym teacher with a dark, abusive past, a predator who managed to evade justice for decades. As Knox peels back the layers of Petra’s history, we’re drawn into a town’s underbelly and a personal reckoning that ties back to his own teenage trauma. The mystery unspools through sharp dialogue, emotional memory, and slow, gritty uncovering of truth.

I was impressed by how bold the writing was. Quinn doesn’t shy away from ugly topics or watered-down feelings. Knox isn’t your slick, emotionless detective. He’s wounded, he’s angry, and he carries his past like a second badge. His voice is raw and real. It felt like listening to a guy telling you his life story. The writing’s straightforward and personal, not fancy or overly stylized, which works here. And the small-town setting, all claustrophobic and cold and oddly cozy, adds to the pressure-cooker feeling. I was invested not just in solving the mystery, but in how Knox would come out the other side.

The story is emotionally heavy. This isn’t your clever-whodunit-with-a-twist kind of mystery. It’s soaked in anger, regret, and trauma, especially around child abuse and how communities fail to deal with it. Sometimes that made it hard to read, especially when the past crept into the present in vivid, painful ways. I found myself torn between cheering on justice and wincing at what justice actually costs. Petra isn’t just a victim, she’s a monster, and the book never lets us forget that. But that raises complicated feelings when you’re rooting for her killer to stay free. It’s messy. But life’s messy, too. I appreciated that honesty.

I’d recommend this book to readers who like character-driven mysteries with emotional depth and moral gray zones. If you like stories that push buttons and leave you chewing on them after the last page, this one delivers. It’s angry and heartfelt and kind of exhausting, but in the best way.

Pages: 174 | ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0FDDCJ1RW