A compelling crime novel, written with literary smartness, subtle character development, and expert plotting, The God of the Woods deserves all the accolades it is receiving. The Van Laar family, enjoying great inherited wealth as proprietors of the primary banking firm in Albany, NY, own a grand chalet in the Adirondacks, named Self Reliance, brought over from Europe and reconstructed at the direction of Peter Van Laar, or Peter I. We enter the story in the 1950s, when Peter II agrees to the marriage of his son, Peter III to Alice, the latest in a line of slender, pretty, and forgettable Van Laar wives. This novel compares and contrasts class differences, how opportunities come to those who have money, and harmful consequences for bad choices are easier to avoid. Those with no money must rely on their wits, and ruin is one foolish choice, or piece of bad luck, away.

Peter and Alice, the third generation, suffer two dreadful losses within fourteen years. Eight-year old Bear Van Laar, their beloved son, goes missing during their annual posh July party, never found until 1975, when their thirteen-year old daughter, Barbara, also goes missing. Peter I created Camp Emerson on the Van Laar Preserve, an eight-week camp experience for children aged eight up to teens, intended to teach woodland survival skills and build self reliance. Barbara requests to attend camp this year, and goes missing in the last week.

Camp Emerson was built and operated by Vic Hewett and his daughter TJ, the last of a family of Adirondack guides. Expert in all manner of survival skills, they manage the Camp each summer, and maintain the Preserve all year, living in a cabin on the premises. Catering to the Van Laar family allows them to live their lives in nature, apart from social conventions and demands. A steady theme throughout this novel is the concessions each person makes, the price they pay for what they believe they need or want, for the life they desire. We see what each compromise costs, and no one is exempt, regardless of social position.

Those wealthy families in the Van Laar orbit attempt to shield themselves from the investigation, as money can go a long way in buffering consequences. People of the local town of Shattuck, those who serve the Van Laar family in various capacities, try to protect themselves by deflecting attention, ducking down, staying mute. The Van Laars have no loyalty for those employees and others, all too happy to sacrifice them to protect their reputations and futures. The story becomes very interesting when Inspector Judyta Luptack, the newest member of the squad of detectives who report to the Van Laar Preserve to investigate Barbara’s disappearance, begins to uncover what the Van Laars have worked hard to hide.

Moore moves back and forth between Bear’s and Barbara’s disappearances, as well as between various characters’ viewpoints, a skillful juggling act, aided by a timeline beginning each chapter that shows which decade and year you are in. It is a complex plot, but I mostly felt grounded. There is much to reflect on with this novel: does inherited wealth snuff out the building of character and virtue? What amount of difficulty in life is the right amount to challenge us to rise up and improve our circumstances? Or is it really a personal matter of inner strength, with the right amount of love and nurturing? Each character has received some, or little support, and each has varying degrees of strength and integrity. But what is the right recipe, or is that impossible to discern?

This is no simple crime novel. It will stay with you, spring to your thoughts, require pondering. Highly recommended.