The Red Bird Sings by Aoife Fitzpatrick

The Red Bird Sings by Aoife Fitzpatrick
UK Publication: April 2023
Reviewed by: Book Worm
Rating: [★★★★]

This ARC was provided by Little Brown Book Group UK (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.

One word review – Compulsive.

Synopsis from Goodreads: West Virginia, 1897. When young Zona Heaster Shue dies only a few months after her wedding, her mother Mary Jane becomes convinced that Zona was murdered – and by none other than her husband, Trout, the handsome blacksmith beloved in their small Southern town.

But when Trout is put on trial, no one believes he could have done it, apart from Mary Jane and Zona’s best friend Lucy, who was always suspicious of Trout. As the trial raises to fever pitch and the men of Greenbrier County stand aligned against them, Mary Jane and Lucy must decide whether to reveal Zona’s greatest secret in the service of justice. But it’s Zona herself, from beyond the grave, who still has one last revelation to make.

The Red Bird Sings is to be read with your heart in your mouth and chills down your spine to the final, haunting page. It also explores important questions which we are still asking to this day. Who is listened to and who is ignored? Why are women so often not believed? And what does justice truly mean?

My Thoughts: Before picking up this book I had never heard of the Greenbrier Ghost and if you are the same I would recommend keeping it that way until you have read the book.

This is a fictional account of the murder of Zona Heaster so it doesn’t actually necessarily follow the real life facts, being fictional allows the author to play around with the thoughts and feelings of the characters so that what the reader gets is a representation of how things could have been in real life. Fitzpatrick handles this really well and all of the characters felt real to me. I particularly loved the trial scene and the background details provided about how the law worked at the time the case was brought to court.

The book is compelling and it took me a very short time to plough through this one as I couldn’t wait to see what came next and boy it didn’t disappoint.

Is the ghost real or not..you know what I think, what you believe is up to you.

Who would like this? I would recommend this to readers who enjoy true crime or historical fiction as this has elements of both. I would also recommend to anyone who enjoys a good fast paced story.

We want to hear from you! Have you read this book? What did you think?