WE BURY NOTHING

Keira is attending a prestigious museum summer program at Camp 43 in the small Canadian town of Westonville. Her winning project and the focus of her summer involves solving the murder of Erich Stein, a German POW from World War II who was held at the camp. When Keira meets her fellow participants, she feels like she doesn’t belong. Asha, who’s South Asian, and Ephram, who’s Black, seem to come from rich families, and Keira feels snubbed by them. Ruth, who’s white like Keira, is pushy but “magnetic,” and Keira falls in with her. When Ruth is found dead, Keira wonders if it really was an accident, as everyone believes—or whether her death might have something to do with the camp’s history. This double murder mystery takes place in timelines that unfold in Westonville during the 1940s and the present day. The narrative attempts to address the complicated question of what actually makes someone culpable as a Nazi. The original premise is marred by the large cast of characters, both past and present, many of whom are involved in their own dramatic subplots, which makes them difficult to track. While the circumstances surrounding Erich’s and Ruth’s deaths are resolved, Kiera’s own story feels unfinished.