Meghan Holloway’s Hunting Ground is her first entry in the crime fiction genre. Suspenseful, dark, and gritty, this is a tautly paced thriller filled with noir characters, breathtaking settings, and shocking twists.

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Evelyn Hutto's new position at a museum is straightforward. She is tasked with ensuring the museum’s collection meets the guidelines of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. What she uncovers in a private donation is something far more sinister—a series of art pieces that hint at a predator hunting close to her new home. Hector Lewis has been searching for his missing wife and daughter for fifteen years. When Evelyn arrives in town, he sees the perfect opportunity to finally ensure justice is served.

 

Evelyn and Hector share the narrative with Jeff, a serial killer hiding behind the guise of an antiquarian book dealer. Jeff’s chapters are sinister and highlight the twisted psyche  of those who fit the serial killer profile. The highlight of the story is certainly the characters of Evelyn and Hector, both morally ambiguous and engaging narrators. Evelyn is a capable, resourceful woman who proves herself to be far more than a victim. Hector is the perfect antihero, a man whose actions are cold and questionable but whose motives are entirely understandable. After reading Holloway’s previous novel, a story that focused on a father searching for his son, I was intrigued to see her take an entirely different approach with the character of Hector. 

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A moving real life current issue undergirds the plot: the high numbers of Native women who go missing and are never accounted for by the justice system. Holloway handles this haunting subject with a deft, sensitive hand. Her writing style is vivid, visceral, and highly visual. The scene setting of the Yellowstone wilderness in winter is poetic and transportive, and the brutality of the land in winter is an echo of the chilling crimes and character of the serial killer. The pacing is driven, and the twists Holloway throws the reader are impactful and staggering. 

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Holloway’s latest novel is as compelling as it is disturbing, as engrossing as it is ominous. Hunting Ground is a story of taking the law into your own hands when the justice system fails you, of women’s vulnerability and strength, and of obsession. The dedication is one of the most haunting I have read, and I was gripped from the first page to the last. 

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Highly recommended for fans of crime fiction revolving around unsolved disappearances and serial killer thrillers underpinned by pointed social justice issues

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Many thanks to NetGalley and Polis Books for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review