MY LIPS, HER VOICE

In a former mining town with a bloody history called Copper City, the most haunted place in North America, four young women—Audrey, Mara, Zadie, and Shirley—are inextricably connected through time itself by the sudden and mysterious disappearance of a local high school student.

Days after Mara is brutally murdered and her body is found in the long abandoned—and reportedly haunted—Copper City mines, her restless and vengeful spirit takes up residence in her cousin Audrey’s mind. While neither girl is particularly thrilled by this sudden possession, especially Audrey, the two are forced to work together when a growing string of disappearances threatens the livelihood and safety of their home town. With the help of Mara’s ex-girlfriend, Zadie, and haunted by their grandmother Shirley’s connections to the supernatural, the girls race to piece together the truth before the killer who took Mara’s life strikes again. Using alternating points of view, Madrid does a flawless job at helping readers to differentiate between each young woman as their collective story unfolds. Each have distinct voices, and all four are deeply flawed and feel undeniably like teenagers trying to find their place in the world. Audrey is insecure and bends to Mara’s will; Zadie is often self centered and unfaithful to Mara; Mara is manipulative and borderline abusive to Audrey; and Shirley struggles to balance her prophetic visions with real life. (Shirley’s chapters unfold 55 years in the past, gradually revealing that she’s Mara and Audrey’s grandmother, though she’s a teenager for most of the story.) Copper City feels like a character in itself, packed with small-town lore and a bloody history that haunts its inhabitants. The result is a sharp and atmospheric whodunit and a queer ghost story packed full of twists that will leave readers guessing.

An intriguing and atmospheric queer mystery that’s peppered with the supernatural.