Cynthia Ruchti's They Almost Always Come Home ~ Reviewed

THEY ALMOST ALWAYS COME HOME
By Cynthia Ruchti
Published by Abingdon Press
ISBN# 978-1-4267-0238-9
300 Pages

Back Cover:

When Libby's husband Greg, fails to return from a two week canoe trip to the Canadian wilderness, the authorities soon write off his disappearance as an unhappy husband's escape from an empty marriage and unrewarding career. Libby enlists the aid of her wilderness savvy father-in-law and her faith-walking best friend to help her search for clues to her husband's disappearance, if for no other reason than to free her to move on. What the trio discovers in the search upends Libby's presumptions about her husband and rearranges her faith.


REVIEW:

“Do dead people wear shoes? In the casket, I mean. Seems a waste.

Then again, no outfit is complete without shoes!”

The first sentence startled me, but kept me reading. I was so happy to receive a review copy of Cynthia’s thought provoking and honest debut novel.

Libby’s husband Greg, went camping and hasn’t returned. How long do you wait to report someone missing? Cynthia Ruchti has the reader experience all the emotions and thought process someone might go through when they discover their husband is missing; but Libby has a little bit of a twist to her tale—honestly, she wanted to leave her husband before this camping trip. Libby thought she’d kept this little secret hidden. Now this might reveal it!

Jen, Libby’s best friend, tells her the police have come to her door and asked questions. Libby’s worried and wants to know exactly what they asked? They can’t discover what Greg and her relationship was really like! Would she be a suspect?

The police think Greg might have left Libby for another woman, it’s a natural conclusion. Libby thinks this, “If he were planning to leave me, couldn’t he have had the decency to tidy up after himself and clear out the closet?”

Frank, Greg’s father says he’s starting a search for his son--something’s wrong… he had to get to the bottom of it. Libby goes along with things because, after all, isn’t that what a caring Christian wife would do? No one would have to know she was miffed at the fact she didn’t get to leave Frank first!

There was more to this story than I suspected. Cynthia kept it suspenseful and had me guessing about Greg—the whole novel, I wondered if he was alive or dead. She did an amazing job of making me care for and understand Libby, as she goes back over things she wished she would have done differently and she finally discovers what’s important in a relationship with God and her husband. This is powerful!

Reviewed by: Nora St.Laurent
The Book Club Network