Dirt Cree by Hayley Scrivenor

 

This is a remarkably mundane mystery novel, the events in it could happen just about anywhere, just about any time--it's set in 2001, but I think that's more about giving some of the POVs in it the ability to look back with some distance and perspective than it is about trying to constrain the kind/s of technology available to the characters--and what actually happens is tragic but not unusual. The creativity here isn't in the events of the story but in how it's told, a kaleidoscope of POVs, some plausibly less reliable than others (though there's less of that particular game than that might imply, and the book isn't playing at Fair Play in any event). The characters are crystalline and purely distinct, and it's clear the author has empathy for more of them than many (most?) readers likely will. The ending manages to wrap and resolve most of the pending stories, and feel like a bit of a punch in the face, and leave some interesting questions open for the reader to consider. It's kinda relentlessly grim, but it's a wonderful novel.