Where the Crawdads Sing

Abandoned as a child, Kya Clark raises herself in the marshes of the North Carolina coast, dismissed by the nearby town as the Marsh Girl. When a local golden boy turns up dead, suspicion falls on her. Delia Owens braids a coming-of-age story with a murder mystery and a naturalist’s eye for the wetlands. Taylor Swift said she got absolutely lost in the book, and later wrote and recorded “Carolina” for the film adaptation.