I was on the hunt for my book of the month on Goodreads, browsing through recommendations based on books I had already loved and stumbled upon this book by Clare Leslie Hall, Broken Country, a highly rated one. The synopsis alone had me hooked right away.

“The farmer is dead. He is dead, and all anyone wants to know is who killed him. Beth and her gentle, kind husband Frank are happily married, but their relationship relies on the past staying buried. But when Beth’s brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn’t realize that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives.”

As someone who lives for thrillers and plots that keep me guessing, I was convinced the high rating was well-earned before I even turned the first page.

Then I started reading and the starting pages felt like a familiar love triangle story. My first reaction was somewhere along the lines of “wait, this is not quite the story I was expecting.” Sure, the synopsis hinted at a romantic thread, but the beginning leaned into it so openly that it felt like the whole point of the book. For a brief moment, I wondered if I had misjudged the book.

I kept reading anyway because Clare Leslie Hall’s writing style holds me by the hand and refuses to let go. The prose pulled me forward even when the plot felt like it was still warming up. Then the second half arrived and everything shifted. The twists unraveled, the mystery deepened, and suddenly I was racing through the pages with a string of questions burning in my mind. Who is who? Who is standing trial? Who committed the crime? Who was the victim? What actually happened? Aaaaaaa..

Broken Country is MAINLY a love story, and yes, a love triangle at that. Probably the type you have seen in countless romance novels and films. But Hall takes that familiar story and fills it with something else, a wonderful one. The writing is precise and emotionally rich. The characters feel lived-in and real, their feelings bleeding off the page in a way that made me genuinely invested in every single one of them. The way Hall weaves in the murder and the courtroom scenes is what truly elevates this book, layering tension and depth into every chapter until the whole thing feels complete and utterly satisfying.

I read Broken Country in one sitting. And by the time I closed it, I felt that feeling you only get from a book that has truly delivered: heart, mystery, and all. It was so good that this book deserve book of the month in my personal reading journey.

My Favorite Bits

• Lives should be measured in intensity.

• You have to fool yourself into thinking you already are the thing you want to become.

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Author: Clare Leslie Hall
Publication date: 4 March 2025
Number of pages: 319 pages

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