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Aftermath

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Janet Wright left tiny Graylee, Georgia, at age five, when her mother fled a destructive marriage. Now forty and reinventing herself after a failed engagement, Janet returns as the sole inheritor of her recently murdered father’s valuable estate. Life should be easy, but she can’t resist pulling at the threads of the apparently open-and-shut case. Before long, she finds herself tangled in Graylee’s web of secrets, lies, and scandals—and in fear for her own life.

282 pages, Paperback

First published June 26, 2018

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About the author

George Weinstein

8 books67 followers
George Weinstein is the author of the Southern historical novel Hardscrabble Road, its sequel Return to Hardscrabble Road, the kidnapping thriller Watch What You Say, the amateur-sleuth murder mystery Aftermath, the novel of forgotten US history The Five Destinies of Carlos Moreno, and the contemporary relationship drama The Caretaker, as well as the children's adventure book Jake and the Tiger Flight.

He has always written: by six years old, he had written a collection of superhero plays for his stuffed animals to act out, to entertain his brother and sister. And, his family will attest, he loved telling lies as a youth, even when there was no penalty for telling the truth, just to see what he could get away with and for how long. So, it’s little wonder he now writes fiction.

His work has been published in the Atlanta press and in regional and national anthologies, including A Cup of Comfort for Writers. His first novel, the children’s motivational adventure Jake and the Tiger Flight, was written for the nonprofit Tiger Flight Foundation, which is dedicated to the mission of leading the young to become the “Pilot in Command” of their lives. He wishes that there had been such an organization in Laurel, Maryland, where he misspent his youth.

George is the current Executive Director of the Atlanta Writers Club (AWC) and has twice-served as President. Since 2008, he has directed the twice-yearly Atlanta Writers Conference for the AWC, bringing in acquisition editors and literary agents to help members understand the business of writing and achieve their dreams of publication. The AWC was established in 1914. George was established only a few years later; he has a self-portrait in his attic that looks like hell.

He lives with his wife, her two daughters, and their cats in Marietta, GA.

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5 stars
139 (35%)
4 stars
124 (31%)
3 stars
94 (23%)
2 stars
29 (7%)
1 star
11 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
Profile Image for Tom Walsh.
778 reviews24 followers
June 28, 2020
I met George Weinstein at a Hometown Novel Night event in Hogansville, GA in June 2020. I was impressed by his experience, reputation among Georgia Writers, and the eclectic assortment of books he had written.

I say all this to explain my hesitancy in writing this review. Aftermath is the first of his books that I have read. It is a very fast-moving tale that introduces the reader to the setting, atmosphere and characters quickly, clearly and efficiently. But . . .

I was almost immediately struck by the personality Weinstein assigns to the heroine of the piece. By page four, she has already antagonized one of the pillars of the town she hopes to settle in. Now I am a Native New Yorker and I am well aware of our reputation for brusqueness. This quality may be in stark contrast for the subtler approach to human interaction more common in the Rural South, where the novel takes place. But I’m not aware of a NY reputation for being fools. Her demonstration of either naïveté or idiocy this quickly is just silly. She continues this behavior throughout.

(Also, I have had a certain amount of experience with New York women. Maybe it’s just me but I didn’t find most of them to be quite as horny as Janet.)

On reflection, I finally realized that this was the reason for my mixed reaction to Aftermath. I enjoyed the book and admired the twists and turns throughout Janet’s adventure in small town Georgia and gave it four stars. But the drawing of all the characters seemed rushed and slightly two-dimensional. This seemed more appropriate for the opening page of a screenplay, where the screenwriter gives a two sentence physical description of the players and their relation to others. The actors and director fill in the rest.

Perhaps, Janet’s approach was necessary to hasten the book to its conclusion. I’ll leave that for others to decide. But for me it seemed a little forced. In a thriller of this type I would have expected more development of each character’s motivation and raison d’etre. I found that missing in Aftermath and that detracted from my enjoyment a little. I still look forward to reading Hardscrabble Road and his other work.

Tom Walsh
Profile Image for Sadie Forsythe.
Author 1 book288 followers
October 15, 2019
3.5, round up

I quite enjoyed a lot of this, but also thought it fell into some disappointingly cliched ruts too. There was the femme fatale who was literally described as a Jessica Rabbit clone (even down to the red dress). There was the Colonel Sanders-esque southern lawyer and all of the down-trodden and oppressed minorities that the main character desperately wanted to rescue. (White savior much?) The New Yorker with her brusque attitude and high priced branded clothing. The woman who was apparently obsessed with her relationship status and assessed every man as a potential partner. Etc.

I also didn't understand some of the events. Why exactly did Janet try and help Tara? That seemed beyond stupid. Why exactly did the inn keeper get so mad at Janet? The reaction seemed out of proportion and misdirected. Mostly, however, I thought the particular version of evil engaged in by the father was cliched and over-used. I had hoped for something a little more original.

Having said all of that. I did find it engaging and I liked the characters a lot, especially Tim. And the narrator did a wonderful job of bringing it all to life.
Author 47 books739 followers
June 8, 2019
A small town. A big secret.

After the death of her father, Janet doesn’t know what she’s walking into. All she knows is the way that the townspeople look at her. As she begins to slowly learn the town’s awful secret she finds herself in the middle of a dangerous web of lies, the same one that led to her father’s death.

This audiobook was enrapturing from the beginning. I loved the way the author created so drastically different personalities for all the characters. The MC was both funny and determined, a real delight in this little mystery/suspense audiobook.

The narration was perfect for the story.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.
Profile Image for Leslie Lippa.
26 reviews
April 6, 2017
Absolutely a must-read! As soon as I opened this book, I was transported right back to the small town I grew up in and this book continued to deliver. Fast-paced and funny at times, I couldn't put it down and read it the entire day. Every time I thought I had it figured out, something happened to change my theory. Highly recommend!!
Profile Image for Spencer Rich.
216 reviews25 followers
December 4, 2025
Usually I don't give best-seller thrillers 4 stars, but I grew up in High Point NC and have lived in Athens GA most of my life. Not that Athens is anything like this town, but I have driven through plenty. Wouldn't be surprised if this was based on Greensboro GA. Anyway, I was thoroughly emersed. Liked the suspense. Liked the characters. But mostly liked the atmosphere.
855 reviews41 followers
August 14, 2017
What a story!! Small town Georgia at its best or worse – you decide. That may depend on just how sarcastic you can be! Janet Wright is a person whose mouth can get her in a lot of trouble, but I love her! I would want answers just like she did. Whoa, what a surprise some of those answers were! It makes a great book, let me tell you. The characters are all believable, even if you don’t want them to be sometimes. If you’ve ever lived in a small town, you’ll be able to see some similarities in some of the “going ons”, thankfully not all of them. We chose this book for our book club. I cannot wait for the discussion I know we’ll have! When you start the book, have some time, cause you’re going to want to know what is happening next!
Profile Image for Deedra.
3,933 reviews41 followers
July 24, 2019
Wow!What a twisty book! Janet comes back to the small town she left at a young age.Her mother had moved them away from her dad and she never saw him alive again.The man that killed her father was also killed.Everyone in town hates her and she has no idea why. What she finds is beyond imagination. Amy Deuchler was a fine narrator. I was given this book by the narrator,author or publisher free for an honest review.
549 reviews6 followers
May 16, 2019
This is a well-written mystery thriller with fully developed, compelling characters. And Amy Deuchler gives accurate and distinctive voices to these characters. The story is relatively realistic and suspenseful. It's an exciting listen.

Note: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
Profile Image for Roger.
6,103 reviews30 followers
Read
October 17, 2019
Aftermath, my first read from author George Weinstein. Well-written, slow-developing mystery/suspense with stereotypical main characters. Narrator Amy Deuchler’s narration added to the book’s enjoyment. I would read another book by this author. I was given an Audible copy of this book & am voluntarily reviewing it. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).
Profile Image for Alma.
38 reviews
January 6, 2024
Aftermath

I loved the book but could tell it was written by a guy! It had plenty of suspense. I would still recommend reading this book. The truth about a father she didn't even know since she was 5 when her mother took her and her brother to live far from him.
5 reviews1 follower
March 5, 2024
Love a good mystery!

I love mysteries! This, I truly enjoyed. I chose this because I had read Hardscrabble Road and the Return and was not disappointed. I wanted to read from an author I knew could write well.
2 reviews7 followers
May 12, 2017
It was a page turner I'll say that for it. But to be a good book for me I have to learn something I didn't or gain understanding that I didn't have.
6 reviews
September 28, 2026
This book was amazing. The flow of the story was fantastic and made it a great read. I didn’t want to put the book down. I actually met the author when I purchased this book and he was so friendly. I will definitely read more of his books!
Profile Image for Ciara Hartman.
Author 21 books60 followers
November 18, 2025
So I did enjoy Tim’s character and there was a little bit of fun banter in the book, but overall it wasn’t my cup of tea.

The FMC has basically inherited a town after her estranged father dies and leaves everything to her. The town is in Georgia, she’s been living in NYC for years. There’s racism and the whole northern attitude vs southern attitude throughout the story. Her father’s murderer was killed at the scene of the crime, yet somehow she comes to the conclusion that it’s a cover up and the murderer is still out there. 75% of the book is her getting to know people in the town and trying to prove she’s different from her father and will be better for the town than he was, also she’s checking out every man she comes into contact with trying to see what options are available to her, especially since she prefers older men. The story moves very slowly, not much happens, the FMC is downright rude at times, then she acts completely reckless when she almost instantly takes in the girlfriend of her dads supposed murderer, even after the girl pulls a gun on her! So yeah… it didn’t even feel like there was a mystery until the last 20% maybe? And then the last 10% of the book a ton of stuff happened and it was like whiplash. Nothing, boring, droning, nothing, still nothing really and then BAM. That happened. Lol that’s how I felt while reading. And the hidden reasons behind her fathers death weren’t that surprising. There was one little twist I didn’t see coming that involved another one of the FMC’s relatives that had already passed away, but that was really the most interesting thing.

I do have another book by this author and I still plan to read it and see if it perhaps moves at a faster pace and maybe isn’t so dry.

2.5 stars for this one.
Profile Image for Shari Ring Wolf.
562 reviews
May 27, 2021
Awesome

I was having trouble getting into any book I picked up and tried to read—I just couldn’t connect with anything. Then almost by
mistake I heard the audio version of this book’s first pages. I immediately liked the main character and the flow of the unfolding story. The plot became interesting so I switched to reading so I could take it in faster. I finished the book in less than a day.

I’m amazed to find the story was created by a male author! He has female insecurities down pat. He writes in first person as the main character, Janet, with a perfect balance of plot action and growth of the main character, with humor thrown in.

I switched from audio to reading and back, and at first I liked the narration. Towards the end when I tuned in to audio, the narrator did what I’ve came to believe most narrators do: read in a hushed, breathless, almost desperate tone. I find it irritating and distracting, but not so much that I didn’t listen to the story while driving.

I look forward to reading more by this author. He wrote a page at the end of this book about a prologue and an epilogue to the story. I hope I can find both of them. I’m hooked into this character and her little Georgia town.
Profile Image for H.W. Bernard.
Author 25 books107 followers
November 8, 2016
In AFTERMATH, the masterful George Weinstein spins an engrossing tale of a Southern “expatriate,” Janet Wright, returning from her adopted home of New York City to her childhood abode in the New South, where she quickly finds herself entangled in a small town web of deceit, moral turpitude, and acute danger.

Weinstein ratchets of the tension inch by inch and keeps you turning the pages as the story morphs from one bearing the quiet pace of a “cozy mystery” into a dark drama that explodes in a violent climax . . . ironically on a Christmas Eve.

Weinstein crafts fully developed, believable characters and places them in settings that capture the nuances of the New South in pitch-perfect tones, including the description of a rare Southern snowfall and residents’ reactions to it.

For mystery readers, AFTERMATH is a novel you don’t want to miss. For any reader, I would add, George Weinstein is a writer you don’t want to miss.
Profile Image for Sharon.
74 reviews
July 17, 2020
I really enjoyed reading "Aftermath" and it kept my interest throughout. The characters were each well developed, yet the author was able to still retain a bit of ongoing mystery as to their ultimate part in the main story until skillfully unwinding the interwoven threads at the end. Meanwhile, the story took some wild turns as the main character, Janet Wright, kept digging up dark secrets. I look forward to taking the author up on his offer at the end of the book to provide reviewing readers with Janet's Prologue and Epilogue. This book left me wanting to know more about how Mr. Weinstein envisioned Janet's early life and how it would shape circumstances that resulted in her being the only surviving heir of her estranged father. I also really want to know how Janet's life story progressed following the strange aftermath of that heirship (pun intended!) Aftermath is a great Southern Murder Mystery that I would definitely recommend.
247 reviews2 followers
September 11, 2020
I don't know what to think of this book. Over halfway through and nothing makes sense, the characters are irritating and I haven't figured out whether this is supposed to be a romance or crime thriller.

Janet comes into town to take over her late father's estate after his murder. She immediately gets the hots for the local cop, so much that she is jealous of the fact that he's had or has a romantic relationship with a local author, who she also seems to be interested in. Meanwhile, her rental car gets vandalized by someone unknown.

I was unable to finish this because I found the main character and another character too irritating to listen to.
Profile Image for Renee.
272 reviews25 followers
August 15, 2016
Aftermath started off really well and I was drawn right into the story. Pretty quickly, however, I started to notice the bizarre sarcastic dialogue between Janet and Tim. It was sort of cute at first, but this level of sarcasm cannot be sustained throughout an entire book without totally grating on the nerves. The dialogue just felt so unnatural with every single character. The mystery was interesting enough to keep me reading, but I nearly quit this one a few times because I couldn't stand the dialogue! A big thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the copy!
Profile Image for Brie Miller.
1 review
January 6, 2020
I picked up this book from the author, locally and selected it based off the genre alone. I love when a story paints such a visual picture in my mind of every detail. I could see each scene in color of the small Georgia town where Janet landed. From the homes and roads, to the police station and Mexican restaurant. Everything felt so real.
At times I wanted to jump through the pages and scream- don’t trust them! Or Janet, stop being so brazen! This was a page turner for me I can’t wait to read the prologue and epilogue!
Profile Image for PD Scullin.
Author 2 books1 follower
November 5, 2016
For all readers who feel they've been there-done that, here's a fresh story told in a fresh voice about mysteries in a small town in Georgia. From the opening page, you're captured and thrust forward on an enjoyable ride with an intelligent and witty character as she tries to solve the age-old question, "What the hell is going on here?"

Easy to imagine this novel as a film, and hopefully, it will be one some day soon.
Profile Image for Kim Conrey.
Author 6 books50 followers
November 20, 2016
I found this book engrossing! As a previous reviewer mentioned, I could also see this as a film. It's definitely one of those books that keeps you guessing. For me, the hallmark of a good book is whether or not I'm thinking about it after I walk away from it-I found myself trying to puzzle out this mystery in my car, washing dishes etc. It held my interest from start to finish, and it isn't a genre that I'm usually drawn to. Bravo!
Profile Image for G.S..
Author 5 books2 followers
November 22, 2016
George Weinstein is an amazing writer. I have read all his books. AFTERMATH involves a New York City girl who goes to Graylee, Ga, (a town below the gnat line) after her estranged, rich father is murdered. A lot of weird things are happening in that town which make the book an interesting and delightful read. I enjoyed the unique characters Mr. Weinstein has created. I also enjoyed trying to figure out which was the killer. You'll enjoy it, too.
Profile Image for Mark All.
Author 9 books21 followers
Read
January 16, 2017
Aftermath is a delightful, eminently readable, suspenseful page-turner about a woman returning from NYC to a small Southern town. The characters become part of your life, and her fish out of water relations with the townies are delightful--and scary. She can't leave well enough alone, and her efforts to get to the bottom of a decades old scandal uncover murder--and a bang up ending with satisfying surprises.
1 review
February 12, 2017
This was my third novel I read by George Weinstein.
I enjoy his writing style and sense of humor he injects into his characters as the story goes through serious situations.
In "Aftermath" I liked the way Janet Wright uses her New York attitude to solve the mystery of Graylee and her Dad.
Thanks George - it was a great read.

Neil
jatgmt@aol.comGeorge Weinstein

15 reviews1 follower
March 12, 2019
Read in 2 day's

Good read. Kept me interested as Janet went from one plot to the next......had to read the next chapter.....like now! Enjoyed all of the characters and could see their faces in my mind with the authors description which definitely kept me interested as I wanted to see what happened to each of them. Especially loved Tara and Tim. Thought Cindy was a hoot the way she kicked out Janet! Really enjoyed this book and hope to read more stories from this plot!
1 review1 follower
March 31, 2020
It was good to read a book with a different premise. Janet Wright inherits her father's home and businesses in a small town. He's been murdered. I don't want to reveal the plot but her husband was a despicable man. Janet gets interested in what happened and gets in serious danger herself as she learns more and more. Janet had not known her father since she was small. As you reach the middle of the book it's impossible to put down.
1 review
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April 28, 2022
I am a big fan of Mr. Weinstein’s books and this was no disappointment. It was full of twists and turns, villains galore and I loved the secret, writing room!
Having met and talked with him at length at local book signings and enjoyed his presence at a Bookmiser book club several years ago I especially value the time and research he pours into each story.

I look forward to the next Weinstein winner!
Carol
Profile Image for Kim.
Author 3 books7 followers
March 8, 2026
Janet Wright hadn't seen or spoken to her father since she was five-years-old. After her father's murder, she goes back to the small town in Georgia where she was born as the sole heir of her father's estate. His business holdings in the town of Graylee are so vast, he almost literally owns the town. She can tell immediately from how the townspeople treat her, that her father was not a popular man. Why? And why was he murdered?

A fun, interesting, and different who-dun-it.

Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews