The Orchid Tattoo, by Carla Damron – Book Review

Set in the author’s home of Columbia South Carolina, this exciting and well-crafted story features an interesting, vividly-drawn protagonist whose determination and grit drives the action forward at a blistering pace.

Georgia Thayer hears voices and has a history of psychiatric disability. She is also a valued social worker at her town’s general hospital, a woman with a satisfying, if far from perfect, life that is turned upside down by the disappearance of her younger sister. Georgia refuses to accept the police conclusion of suicide, and she’s beset by guilt for failing in her older-sister responsibility to look after her.

When the police seem ready to believe that her sister would abandon her husband and four-year-old daughter, she is forced to investigate herself. She discovers that her sister’s graduate school research project led her away from her initial academic focus, and following the threads of her recent contacts leads Georgia away from her comfortable life into the cruel world of human exploitation.

The twists and turns that put her and her quirky friends in danger are convincingly crafted and peopled by a diverse and interesting cast of characters. Damron’s genius lies in the economy with which she crafts richly conceived, unique characters, all with their own yearnings and flaws, whose collisions drive the action. She manages to explore social justice themes without preaching or in any other way sacrificing the suspense and pacing of the story, while somehow making it look easy. In the course of this wild ride, we learn about the evil lurking beneath the surface of a mid-sized southern city along with the people working to combat those forces and heal their victims. At the end, the reader emerges breathless and satisfied. At least, this one did.