Baby Queen

 

Baby Queen by Ty Landers
11/17/26; 320 pages
Harper Perennial 

Baby Queen by Ty Landers is a very highly recommended Southern family crime drama set in Alabama. This is a great debut novel and not to be missed.

Natalie (Nat) Link has return to Noccalula, Alabama, and is back living with her irascible Grandmother Lana Link, who has declining health, on the family's honey farm. Nat's mother became Vivien "Green," ran off to Hollywood as a teen, and left an infant Nat to be raised by her grandmother. Now Nat has sold the horse farm her mother loved to finance her new endeavor. She used the money to start making honey-based skin care products. When contractors cleaning up the farm find a well-preserved body in a 55 gallon drum of honey, Sheriff Ed Sorter identifies it as that of Tom Rath, Nat's father, who went missing in 1988 at age 21. Nat learns about this when promoting her products on a local TV show, "Morning Y'all."

At the same time Adam Harmony and his brother Boy, used car salesmen and hired killers, are introduced, along with former detective Bob Sauk, current private investigator, who has a grudge and has been keeping records on the Link family, especially Lana, for over 20 years. Sheriff Sorter even calls Sauk when Rath's body is found. Suddenly Nat realizes that her grandmother has likely been involved in a criminal business enterprise with questionable partners for years. Nat is increasingly threatened to continue the operation, or else, and may need Sauk's help. 

In this well-written, entertaining Southern noir there is a plethora of things going on simultaneously in the fast-paced plot, and most of those things are clearly illegal or morally dubious. There are several major plot twists and plenty of action in the narrative. Expect family secrets, grudges, murder, scheming, drugs, shady people and a whole lot of dysfunction. There is something going on throughout the entire novel that will keep you glued to the pages as you keep reading as fast as you can. There is some offbeat humor to off-set all the power struggles, action scenes, and family trauma depicted. 

Nat is a great character. Clearly she had no idea what her feisty grandmother was involved in and how the family made money. She just wants to start her skin care business. Instead, she is presented with what is seemingly a non-choice, go along with the present set up or risk losing her life. She is a fully-realized character with strengths and weaknesses. You will be wishing her the best, even though it is not certain she will survive. Bob Sauk is also a fully-realized character who clearly has many flaws, but there are also some strengths and skills still there. 

Baby Queen is a excellent choice for those who enjoy crime dramas, Southern noir, and dysfunctional family dramas. Thanks to Harper Perennial for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.