Reviewed by Grant Leishman for Readers' Favorite

Echoes From a Missing Generation by Christina Suzann Nelson is a “whodunit” with a difference. At the height of the Vietnam War, as America’s youth were being called up to serve their country, many questioned what America was doing, sacrificing their young men in a foreign war far across the world. For newlyweds Bristol and Clara Danes living in small-town Oregon, the draft was a horrifying reality. Bristol’s draft number was up, and he was off to take his army medical before induction. As he left their house that morning, nobody, least of all his pregnant wife, realized they would never see Bristol again – he simply disappeared that day. Fifty years later, court reporter Kenzie Danes, Bristol’s granddaughter, is intrigued by the mystery of her grandfather, a story that her grandmother has kept close to her chest all these years. Clara truly believed that the love of her life would return. Kenzie is determined to finally uncover the truth of her grandfather’s disappearance, and with the help of Frank, an experienced investigator, she slowly begins to unravel a litany of lies, secrets, and half-truths in both her family and in the small town of Oscar’s Creek.

Echoes From a Missing Generation is a fascinating read. This is the first time I have read a split-time, cold case mystery, and it was intriguing. Told from multiple perspectives across a fifty-year time difference, we see Clara and Bristol as a young couple, very much in love, with their life being disrupted by an inconvenient and difficult-to-comprehend foreign war. At the same time, we see Kenzie’s perspective, looking at her grandmother today and marveling at how she had coped with the gossip, innuendo, and finger-pointing of the town after Bristol’s disappearance and yet remained loyal and true to his memory. Christina Suzann Nelson has created a well-written, cleverly plotted, multi-layered mystery that will appeal to a wide variety of readers. I appreciated the tight-lipped manner and loyalty to her husband that Clara displayed over the years, despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Her belief in Bristol’s innocence was paramount, and it would take all Kenzie’s considerable efforts to unravel the truth behind his disappearance. By spreading the story across two distinct time periods, the author has produced more than just a cold case mystery. Her recounting of the family and small-town dynamics of Vietnam-era America reveals a complex social commentary on the viewpoints and discussions that were taking place around the dining tables of most households of the period. This is a heartwarming, yet tragic love story that transcends time and place and reminds us that everything is not always as it seems. An easy and enjoyable read that I highly recommend.