Jane Moody confessed to the murder of her step-father Warren Ingram. His body was never found and the police dismissed her confession. She was just a teenaged girl after all, how could she have killed someone?

Now more than 20-years later, Warren’s body has been found and Moody travels back to Maud Bottoms, Arkansas, to face justice. It’s the right thing to do.

Her mother Diane is virulently hostile, her brother Jason doesn’t respond to texts, Angie wants nothing to do with her, and Georgia Lee, the love of her life, is married with children. Nothing good is going to come of this return.

Real Bad things is a stellar character study of teens with murder on their conscience who grew into adults determined to put everything behind them. Well recommended read.