Author: Shari Lapena
Genre: Mystery, Crime, Thriller
Type: Fiction
I picked this book as I liked the previous book 'The couple
next door' by the same author.
The plot is about a murder that drags a couple Tom and Karen into it. The wife Karen gets in an accident in a troublesome neighbourhood right around the same time when a murder takes place very close to accident spot. As a result of the injury, Karen doesn't remember anything from the day of the accident. Evidence makes the detectives suspect that Karen was at the murder scene. Adding fuel to the fire is the over-indulgent neighbour Brigid who has nothing but to watch the couple from across the street but seems to be the close friend of Karen. The couple become paranoid when the detectives start drilling with questions.The whole story revolves around who, what and how. Any further details would be a spoiler. So I am curtailing myself there.
The characters are very few. Karen is secretive, smart and is guarded in her thoughts and actions whereas Brigid is manipulative and nosy. I was a bit disappointed with Tom's character. For a person who's wife is in a grave circumstance of being charged for a murder, he is so indecisive and meek. I felt most of the time he was rolling in self-pity and was immature. The plot started off interestingly but after a few chapters the story fell flat. There was too much of redundant question of 'what happened that night' passing though everyone's mind. I felt a few pages could have been reduced to avoid the redundancy. The author maintains the 'whodunnit' suspense throughout which makes us keep going.
I did not expect the double twist at the end. The hint of a subtle cliffhanger is good and maybe there could be a sequel. I The premise was promising but writing was not as good as I expected. In fact, a few places were predictable which is a bummer for mystery genre.
Verdict: I would recommend it as a one-time read if you don't want a serious or intelligent mystery story.
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