Publication Date: April 15, 2025
A lake with mysterious properties. A town haunted by urban legend. Two women whose lives intersect in terrifying ways. Welcome to Soap Lake.
When Abigail agreed to move to Soap Lake, Washington, for her husband’s research, she expected old-growth forests and craft beer, folksy neighbors and the world’s largest lava lamp. Instead, after her husband jets off to Poland for a research trip, she finds herself alone, in a town haunted by its own urban legends.
When a young boy runs through the desert into Abigail’s arms, her life becomes entwined with his and the questions surrounding the death of his mother, Esme. In Abigail’s search for answers, she enlists the help of a quirky cast of friends to unearth Esme’s tragic past, the town’s violent history and the secret magic locked in the lake her husband was sent there to study. But as she gets closer to the truth, her own life may be in danger, too.
A sweeping, decade-spanning mystery brimming with quirky characters and puzzle-hunt scenarios, Midnight in Soap Lake is a rich, expansive universe that readers will enter and never forget.
A remote area in the Pacific Northwest serves as the location for a small-town murder mystery.
Author Matthew Sullivan delivers a dual timeline with Midnight in Soap Lake. Abigail, recently wed and new to the area, finds herself alone when her scientist husband gets assigned a project in Poland.
Abigail’s character reveals a solid, no-nonsense sort of woman who isn’t quite sure what she’s doing alone in the desert. When she rescues a little boy, the storyline shifts to the past and focuses on his mother, Esme.
While interesting, her back story references an urban legend bogeyman named TreeTop. As Abigail tries to learn more about Esme, she faces a number of unexpected challenges.
While the author has a solid grasp on developing a unique cast of characters, the story itself was difficult for me to embrace. Part of it can likely be traced to the somewhat mystical aspects.
Midnight in Soap Lake draws upon the history of a community full of urban legends to showcase a twisty mystery.
Matthew Sullivan is the beloved author of Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore, an Indie Next Pick, B&N Discover pick, a GoodReads Choice Award finalist and winner of the Colorado Book Award. He received his MFA from the University of Idaho and has been a resident writer at Yaddo, Centrum, and the Vermont Studio Center. His short stories have been awarded the Robert Olen Butler Fiction Prize and the Florida Review Editors’ Award for Fiction. His writing has been featured in the New York Times Modern Love column, The Daily Beast, and Shelf Awareness amongst others.
