Daugherty nails the newsroom culture

THE ECHO KILLING Christi Daugherty Loot.co.za (R288) Minotaur

YOUNG adult author Christi Daugherty’s debut as a writer of adult mysteries launches a series about a Savannah, Georgia, crime reporter haunted by her mother’s unsolved murder that shows great promise.

When she was 12, Harper McClain discovered her mother’s body when she came home from school. That was 15 years ago and not a day goes by that she doesn’t think about her mother and that day. She could “walk through every second of the day her mother died any time she wished”. Those memories become even stronger when Harper covers the murder of single mother Marie Whitney and spots too many similarities to her mother’s demise. Harper especially feels a connection to the woman’s 12-year-old daughter Camille, who, like her, discovered her mother dead on the kitchen floor.

As Harper covers Marie’s murder, she also uses her reporter skills to look into her mother’s unsolved death, which few of her friends or co-workers know about.

A former crime reporter, Daugherty delivers an insider’s view of journalism from the adrenaline rush of covering a major story to the drudgery of delving into the background behind a story. She also nails the newsroom culture from the humorous banter to the serious work and shows how lay-offs and cutbacks have affected the way journalists cover their community.

The Echo Killing shows that Harper has the potential to head a series. Daugherty’s affection for Savannah with its “verdant town squares,” antebellum architecture and its ongoing gentrification of old buildings further elevates the book. –