First Chance

Chance moves to Hopeful, Texas, to step out of her father and stepmother’s shadow and build something of her own. How does her past shape the way she approaches the case and the people of Hopeful? Was she ready for a case like this? Would you have taken it?

Darla comes to Chance because the official investigation into her sister’s death went cold. When the system moves on, it’s the women of Hopeful who refuse to. What is the book saying about who gets justice, who gets forgotten, and what it takes to be heard?

Every woman in First Chance carries her mother with her — Tia’s addict mother, who couldn’t care for her, Izzy’s murdered mother, and Chance’s alcoholic mother. Meanwhile, Chance’s stepmother offers something closer to what she’d hoped for as a child. What is the book saying about understanding the women who came before you? Did any of these relationships feel familiar?

Zeke and Henry’s violence traces in part back to their abusive mother, while every murder devastates the victims’ own mothers and families. How does the book use motherhood as both a source of healing and of harm?

Chance, Tia, and Izzy form an unlikely team. How does the idea of found family show up in the story, and what does family mean to each of them?

Hopeful is hardscrabble Texas, a town of eccentrics and hard workers. How does the setting shape the story?

Chance doesn’t solve the case alone. Characters like Billie Jean, Joe Dean, and Martin Jackson each nudge the investigation forward in their own way. Who was your favorite, and why do you think they are willing to help her?

Did the reveal that Zeke and Henry were brothers catch you off guard? Looking back, does anything about them read differently now that you know?

Zeke and Henry grew up with an abusive mother and a murderous father, then shed their names and built new lives. Can you find any sympathy for them, or did their history stop mattering once they became killers?

Both Chance and the brothers are trying to outrun the families that made them — Chance by leaving her father’s shadow and her mother’s neglect, Zeke and Henry by becoming different people entirely. Is starting over ever really possible?

“Nose forward, ears back” — Chance’s father’s advice, borrowed from a stubborn plow mule, echoes throughout the book, even printed on the business cards he made for her. What does the phrase come to mean to Chance by the end? Do you have a saying like it in your own family?

Let’s talk about Sissy! In the end, it’s Sissy — a female German shepherd, another woman in the mix — who takes down Henry and saves Chance’s life. What did you make of the dog getting the hero moment, and what does Sissy mean to Chance beyond being a loyal companion?

Chance has no love interest, and romance never takes center stage. Why do you think the author made that choice, and what does the story gain from it?

The title First Chance works on more than one level. What meanings did you find in it after finishing the book?

Imagine First Chance as a film or television series — who would you cast as Chance, Tia, Izzy, and the brothers? And what case would you want Chance to take on next?