Poison Wood picks up after Moorhead’s debut novel, Broken Bayou, with the story of the one of its characters, the ambitious TV reporter, Rita Meade, who did a documentary series on the serial killer of Broken Bayou. She’s pulled into a story based in her own past at a girls’ school in a Louisiana forest. Rita was sent to this “therapeutic” institution by her father after he found in a compromising position. After a series of incidents, including a murder, the school is closed down. Though Poison Wood is a sequel of sorts, it can easily be read independently.
When a former schoolmate from Poison Wood reaches out via text to Rita about these incidents, she initiates the tumbling down of a house of cards, involving Rita’s well-respected father who is a local judge and members of the upper echelons of Louisiana society.
Poison Wood is told in two timelines, 2002 (Rita’s years there) and the present and includes journal entries from the girls in the school. Though it’s a bit slow at the start, Poison Wood quickly builds up speed as secrets are revealed and the tension and danger amp up. The novel combines elements of family drama and psychological thriller as Rita uncovers both long-buried personal emotions from trauma after the death of her mother) and the secrets of the girls and staff of the Poison Wood school.
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Poison Wood (Thomas & Mercer, October 28, 2025) is available through:
Your local independent bookseller | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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You can read my review of Moorhead’s Broken Bayou here.
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