I’m especially excited to feature a review of Mean Low Water by Stephanie Alexander, thanks to Kate Rock Book Tours. This is the page-turning story of two small-town besties who once shared everything. By age thirty-five, one woman is living a seemingly perfect life. The other may be dead. 

Mean Low Water

Stephanie Alexander

Publisher: Red Adept Publishing

Genre: Southern Fiction/Suspense

Publication date: August 6, 2024

Kirkus Reviewed! 

2024 PenCraft Awards 1st place winner

Also available on #KindleUnlimited 

About the Book:

Charleston divorce attorney Lisa “LeeLee” Moretz has a successful career, a beautiful family, and a coveted South of Broad address. But beneath the tranquil surface, her own marriage is crumbling. When her first love, Peace Smith, appears at her office with alarming news about her old friend Ginny Blankenship, LeeLee is catapulted into a missing-person case. She also realizes she’s never truly gotten over Peace, who left town with Ginny a decade ago.

In high school, carefree daredevil Ginny makes no secret of her prophetic powers, but dark addictions are budding under her chaotic charm. When Ginny meets cautious new girl LeeLee, she’s surprised to discover they share the ability to see into the future and the past. Ginny embraces LeeLee and draws her into a tight-knit circle of friends, including Peace, Ginny’s charismatic but troubled boyfriend.

Now Peace has returned to the Lowcountry, but he’s a prime suspect in Ginny’s disappearance. LeeLee must uncover the truth about Ginny, and her own future hinges on Peace’s innocence. Through LeeLee and Ginny’s divergent life trajectories and complicated bond, Mean Low Water explores the power of lifelong relationships.

My Review:

Mean Low Water is my first book by Stephanie, but it certainly won’t be my last. This is the exact kind of southern suspenseful fiction I love to read. After I finished this book, I headed to Stephanie’s website and discovered that LeeLee is a character from the Tipsy Collins Series, so I know what I’ll be adding to my kindle next!

This is a story of best friends from childhood and how bonds connect each other, even when each friend takes a very different path. Hearing the story told from Ginny and LeeLee and moving from past to present, made for powerful storytelling. While the story was page-turning, there are scenes dealing with addiction that are hard on the heart. Thankfully the author handled these with great care. I had to remind myself to slow down when I was reading, because I wanted to know the ending, but I also didn’t want to miss any details.The psychic abilities of both Ginny and LeeLee were fascinating, especially how differently each of them handled such powers. There is much here that would be wonderful to discuss, so book clubs should consider this as a selection.  

Without giving any spoilers, I loved the ending. It was just what I wanted. I’d love to read more stories featuring some other characters from this friend group. 

About the Author:

Stephanie Alexander is the award-winning author of the Tipsy Collins Series (Charleston Green, Haint Blue, Palmetto Rose, and True Indigo) and The Cracked Slipper Series (The Cracked Slipper, The Dragon Choker, and The Glass Rainbow). Mean Low Water is her eighth novel.

She grew up in the suburbs of Washington, DC. Drawing, writing stories, and harassing her parents for a pony consumed much of her childhood. After graduating from high school in 1995 she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the College of Charleston, South Carolina. She returned to Washington, DC, where she followed a long-time fascination with sociopolitical structures and women’s issues to a Master of Arts in Sociology from the American University. She spent several years as a Policy Associate at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), a think-tank focused on women’s health and economic advancement.

Stephanie embraced full-time motherhood after the birth of the first of her three children in 2003. Her family put down permanent southern roots in Charleston in 2011. She published her first novel, The Cracked Slipper, in February 2012. The first printing of the series sold over 40,000 copies. The Cracked Slipper made multiple appearances on Amazon’s bestseller lists, and peaked at #11 in all genres. Stephanie has appeared on local and national media, been a contributor on many writing blogs and in writing magazines, and regularly joins with book clubs for discussions of her work.

In addition to her personal writing, Stephanie returned to the College of Charleston as an Adjunct Professor of Sociology and launched her freelance ghostwriting and editing business, Wordarcher, LLC. She has ghostwritten dozens of books, from novels to memoirs to academic theses. Beginning in the Fall of 2015, as a single working mother, she attended law school on a full academic scholarship, earning her juris doctor with honors from the Charleston School of Law in December, 2017.

She currently practices family law in downtown Charleston. Her personal experience rebuilding her life after divorce inspires both her legal work and her fiction. Stephanie and her husband live in the Charleston area with their blended family of five children and their two miniature dachshunds, Trinket and Tipsy.

You can learn more about Stephanie and her work at www.stephaniealexanderbooks.com, or follow her on Instagram or TikTok (@stephaniealexanderbooks).

Be sure to stop by the rest of the tour: