Summit Lake

Charlie Donlea’s Summit Lake uses the conventions of the small-town murder mystery, which contrast an idyllic, isolated setting with a brutal crime to explore hidden corruption. The novel is set in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains, a region known for its scenic beauty and promoted as a peaceful tourist retreat. The National Park Service labels the area’s Blue Ridge Parkway as “America’s Favorite Drive,” a detail that reinforces the town’s tranquil, idyllic image, which the novel deliberately shatters. This real-world geography enhances the novel’s atmosphere, as the dense forests and sparse population create tangible isolation that heightens suspense and makes the murder more shocking. Upon arriving, investigative reporter Kelsey Castle immediately notes this dissonance, thinking, “It seemed too nice a place for such a thing to happen” (21).

This trope is central to the rural noir subgenre, in which a violent event is a catalyst that exposes the dark secrets lurking beneath a community’s placid surface. Similar to television series like Broadchurch or Twin Peaks, where a single murder unravels the lives of seemingly ordinary townspeople, Becca Eckersley’s death reveals a web of secrets, lies, and systemic corruption in Summit Lake.