The Girl in the Maze

Martha Covington Thriller, #1

by

R.K. Jackson

Gripping tale of murder, greed, and mental health set around an endangered Georgia coastal community.

The Girl in the Maze is the first book in author R.K. Jackson’s Martha Covington Thriller series set along the Georgia coastline and featuring a dying Geechee community, the descendants of former slaves. Martha Covington, a young journalism student, had suffered a mental crisis while in school, which resulted in an extended hospitalization. When she was released, part of her easing her return to normal life was a light-duty internship with the Amberleen (Georgia) Historical Society, helping to record and transcribe interviews with the last surviving members of the local Geechee people living on nearby Shell Heap, a small, isolated barrier island along the coast. However, the untouched natural beauty of the island had finally caught the eyes of hungry developers, and the contents of their deep pockets had grabbed the attention of equally greedy county leaders. There was big money to be made if only the Geechee weren’t in the way. Lydia Dussault, Martha’s new boss at the historical society, is an important and politically-connected champion in the Geechee’s corner, and suddenly Martha finds herself smack in the middle of a dangerous, high-stakes fight not only for her hard-won sanity but for her very life. 

Martha is a unique main character who is suffering from debilitating mental health issues and is also receptive to voices and visions from the spirit world. From the start, I wasn’t sure how reliable a narrator she actually was, but her ensuing story made for riveting reading. She’s one of the most game protagonists I’ve ever encountered. Although she feels vulnerable and unprepared for her role, she’s willing to step outside her narrow comfort zone to complete critical tasks for her new employer, uncovering some outstanding clues, and this is before everything goes really sideways. 

The Geechee storyline was a fascinating element of the plot, and some of my favorite characters, Lady Albertha and Jarrell Humphries, were from the community. I really enjoyed the wisewoman aspects of the story. The Geechee people are a real and existing group, found in Georgia and several other southern states. 

The plot moves quickly, with twists and turns that kept me highly engaged, but completely off-balance as I attempted to guess what was really going on, especially as Martha’s mental state shifted. Early on, I began to wonder if what I’d been led to understand was the impact of mental illness was something else entirely. This question, and others, had me reading long and late into the night, and I felt completely rewarded for doing so. I’m delighted there’s a book two! 

I recommend THE GIRL IN THE MAZE to readers of mysteries and psychological thrillers. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours.