Breakaway Books

Authored by Wanda Morris; Published June 2024; Mystery/Horror/Fantasy

⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️🏖️🏖️

I wasn’t quite sure how to categorize What You Leave Behind—there are some definitive fantasy elements, some horror vibes, but overall it’s a mystery. Although it had some tense moments, it was not my favorite thriller of the season.

Set outside of Atlanta, What You Leave Behind follows the lawyer Deena as she tracks down the mystery of valuable properties in her hometown that always seem to end up in the hands of a nondescript corporate entity—transfers that are accompanied by murders. The plot itself held my interest to some extent, especially as it exposed the real injustices of the heirs property law in Georgia.

At the same time, for me, the writing got in the way of really diving into the story. It felt a little too repetitive, and the way Deena discovered the scheme came off a little too contrived. The plot didn’t progress smoothly, feeling jumpy in places and stagnant in others. I wanted to sink in to the way that history was coming back to haunt those around Deena, but I couldn’t immerse myself in it.

The characters themselves sometimes elicited my sympathy, especially Deena’s stepmother, who seemed to bear only goodwill to all. As for Deena herself, her emotional outbursts, while understandable in the face of the death of her mother, didn’t always sound like natural expressions of her feelings. Even the love story of Deena’s reunion with her high school beau lacked the sparks I would have hoped for. 

I wanted to know more about the Gullah culture and how it impacted Deena as she pursued this mystery. I wanted to know why Deena chased this mystery, seemingly completely unconnected to her, as fervently as she did. I read a lot about how Deena felt—I wish more of her emotions had come through her actions rather than the narrator’s words.

I appreciated the author’s devotion to telling the stories of the injustices of heirs property law. I just wish the story would have drawn me in more.