’TILL BETH DO US PART, the latest of Rochelle Ransom’s YA Laketown mysteries, has a straightforward, simple plot. Protagonist Peyton hopes to solve her mother Beth’s murder, a crime that occurred more than a decade earlier. Peyton combs through her mother’s old journals takings one last stab at understanding the events of the night her mother was drowned and strangled. She also hopes there will be clues to the true identity of her father, whom she has never met. Peyton, her best friend Tristan, and a recent acquaintance-turned-friend named Chance, team up to evaluate their theories. After several false starts, decoys, and dead ends, Peyton learns the shocking truth hidden in the stacks of paper her mother left behind in the attic. They reveal many in her family have lied to her. Peyton realizes nothing is what it seems in her small-town life.

Ransom’s informal, if basic, writing style is well-suited to her teenage characters. As the book reveals the fears, drives, and dynamics of late adolescence, her teen characters become quite relatable. The reader is drawn in by the dedicated group of friends as they endure the ups and downs of dating and the bittersweet feelings evoked by the end of high school life. Ransom’s adult characters come across as more stereotypical. The book is professionally presented but has a few typos and grammar errors, such as confusing the homonym “ring” with “wring.” Its main problem is the way it marries Beth’s history and Peyton’s present-day, using journal entries for the past and extensive sections of dialogue for the present. The plot flips forward and back in time. The narrative, as a result, can be confusing and disjointed. Long, uninterrupted pages of dialogue used to relate events in the present day seem generic and expositional. Also as the story unfolds, there are few antagonists or obstacles to provide tension and conflict. Ransom’s chapters are brutally short – some just a page long – and many could be lengthened.
The book’s climax, when the truth, however shocking, is finally revealed, is a bit of a letdown. To its credit, the book touches on several serious themes, including aging, dementia, child abuse, loss, and betrayal with sensitivity and grace.

Rochelle Ransom’s YA novel ‘TILL BETH DO US PART combines a breezy writing style with a decades old mystery that deftly touches on some heavy themes.

~Robin L Harvey for IndieReader