Synopsis

The Heaven Spot is a modern-day mystery set in Palm Beach, Florida, that depicts opioid addict Maggie Robert’s desperate attempt to come to terms with her estranged daughter, Lilly’s, murder.

When divorcée Maggie Roberts stumbles into her Virginia bookstore for the last time to close up shop, she expects the morning to be rough. The business failure is hers alone. She took all those opioids. She relapsed. She vows to stay clean and regroup. But as she packs up her books, two cops appear and inform her that her estranged daughter, Lilly, has died in West Palm Beach.

Heartbroken, Maggie heads to Florida to find out why Lilly passed and how she lived. But when she arrives in the Sunshine State, she barely recognizes the young woman in the morgue.

​Maggie doubts she’ll ever forgive herself for her past mistakes with Lilly but believes that if she remains local, she can push the detective to focus on Lilly’s case and learn about her daughter. But as she connects the dots, Maggie wonders the unthinkable—could she have played a part in Lilly’s death while relapsing and blackout-high? Can she live with herself if she did?

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Review

I was sucked into this mystery like a runaway freight train.

Maggie’s life is not what she wants it to be, thanks to an opioid addiction. While she is trying to kick this addiction and stay clean, she receives a visit from the police that her daughter was murdered in Florida. This is miles away from where she lives, and it sets into motion a chain of events that will lead you down a path to the killer and a wave of regret for Maggie.

Maggie is a semi-likable character. She has made some bad choices in her life, but she isn’t a bad person. However, it might appear that way from the details and evidence that continue to mount in her daughter’s murder investigation. She thinks that she can unearth the truth before the police, and she might be right, but at what cost?

While this is a mystery, the book also has a strong family presence. Even though Maggie and Jonathan are divorced, they both still care about their daughter. Maggie was blocked from knowing anything about Lilly for the last three years, but that was because of the addiction. The fact that she was just barely taking care of herself says a lot about her mindset and condition. It boils down to the connection between Maggie and Lilly, even if they aren’t speaking.

I found myself intrigued by the mystery and trying to decipher the clues. Not all is as it seems, but I was unsure how the story would end. I had inklings near the end of who was really behind the murder, but I had nothing concrete to put my finger on. Detective Martinez is sure it is Maggie, but is it her? There is a lot she cannot account for due to a blackout. There were times I felt like he was being a bully, but I suppose that is how they work to get to the bottom of a crime. It doesn’t help that Maggie inserts herself into the investigation and potentially into harm’s way.

I really enjoyed this book and had a hard time putting it down, even when I was falling asleep! We give this book 5 paws up.

About the Author

Mary Frances Hill was born in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. The daughter of a music professor and an elementary school teacher, Mary obtained a master’s degree in counseling psychology and worked as a therapist before raising two children. Though Mary currently lives in Southern California with her Russian Blue and Scottish Straight cats, her Pyredoodle puppy, her golfer husband, and her adult son and daughter, she spent many happy vacations at her house on Palm Beach Island—the setting of her most recent novel, The Heaven Spot. Mary is an avid dog walker and home renovator and loves binge-watching true crime documentaries and mysteries. Mary’s debut novel, The Worm Man, was published in 2022.

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