“Does a Shaman ever really die, Justine?”
I shrugged, defeated. “I don’t know.”
“In body, yes—we all do. But his spirit was different than yours or mine. His spirit lingered. And still does.”

Abandoned by an eccentric father on the eve of her twelfth birthday, Justine Cook has lived with her fair share of unanswered questions. Now, ten years later she leaves her life in southern Michigan and heads north to the mysterious town of Lantern Creek after seeing his picture in a local newspaper. Once there, she discovers her father had been leading a double life and meets the autistic brother she never knew—a young man who is mute but able to read her mind.

When a local girl who looks like Justine is mysteriously murdered, she joins forces with sheriff’s deputy Dylan Locke to capture the killer. But the more they dig for clues to the past, the closer they come to discovering a secret someone will kill to protect. Justine begins to show signs of supernatural power and eventually must stop an immortal enemy that has hunted her family for generations.

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I liked the first part of the book, the second, not so much. It starts off well, with a girl’s quest for her missing father. Her mother is not divulging any info that might help and the only thing she can go by is a picture in a newspaper. Going to this remote town felt like playing Life is Strange 3 : True Colours once again. You don’t know anyone and who’s a friend and who’s not.

She finds a half brother there, Adam, who is only 10 – and his birth coincides with the time her dad took off.

Here’s where the story gets messy and the second part of the book begins – not so much supernatural thriller but bad boogieman in the forest type. Justine finds out she can hear her brother’s thoughts.

The story flashes between the present and the past. The pas is full of old curses, Indians and secrets. The present, a mystery, a bogeyman and a all too handsome local Sheriff who will do anything to protect Justine. Together they discover haunting secrets about the town and their families.

More than a mystery, Evening in the Yellow Wood is commercial fiction walking the high wire of romance strung up by the paranormal.

My only complaint is that the paranormal part wasn’t done very well and it stumbles a lot as to what it wants to be. Meh rating.