Murder echoes across generations

A South Florida neighborhood — and three seemingly unconnected residents — reel from the murder of an elderly woman in Fort Lauderdale in the engrossing debut by author Lauren Doyle Owens.

“The Other Side of Everything” works well as a look at generational concerns, of a once-vital neighborhood on the decline and the far-reaching results of gossip and a festering hatred.

The neighborhood’s changes work as a metaphor of the different stages of life — young, middle aged and the elderly.

“The Other Side of Everything” forcefully illustrates that actions are usually tinged with shades of gray. Owens perfectly captures the atmosphere and feeling of South Florida, especially Broward County, despite setting her novel in the fictional town of Seven Springs, Florida, described as in the “dense suburban sprawl between Fort Lauderdale and Miami.”

Adel lived in the neighborhood for so long that the newer residents don’t even know her last name. She lived there when the neighbors had frequent parties, the houses “vibrant, filled with a sort of 1960s-era optimism.”

Now the houses “hung heavy with regret” illustrating the area’s “failed promise.” It seems inconceivable that Adel would be murdered, especially in the middle of the day.

Cancer survivor and artist Amy Unger lived behind Adel and becomes obsessed with the murder. Newly separated from her husband, Amy finds her artistic “The Other Side of Everything” (Touchstone, 272 pages, $25) by Lauren Doyle Owens

nature reignited as she tries to capture what happened on canvas.

The murder makes the now-curmudgeonly widower Bernard White remember his time as a young father and an affair that almost ended his marriage.

When other elderly women are murdered, Bernard and a few of the other men suggest the single retirees start a buddy system and live together, at least for a while, for safety.

Just 15 years old, Maddie Lowe supports herself as a waitress and tries to be strong for her younger brother because her mother abandoned the family and her father is increasingly distant.

Each character’s reactions to the murders, as well as how the invasion of violence galvanizes the neighborhood, provide for a solid plot. Each realizes a strength, as well as a vulnerability, that they didn’t know they had.

Owens delivers a quiet mystery in “The Other Side of Everything” that expertly uncovers the emotional depth of each character. It’s a terrific debut.