Book Review: A Cry in the Night

Author: Mary Higgins Clark
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Type:  Fiction

I find Mary Higgins Clark’s works quite engaging and I need not say this is a suspense thriller and set in the 1980’s.

The plot starts with Jenny, a divorcee and a mother of 2 kids, who works in an art gallery. Her ex-husband Kevin is a struggling actor and often leeches off on Jenny for money. She meets Erich the painting artist during his art exhibition and he sweeps her off her feet with his charm and warmth. Within a month they get married and she moves from New York to his mansion in Minnesota. He is rich and has people working for him to cater to his every whim. Jenny slowly realizes that Erich is a perfectionist and very possessive. Slowly her life turns into a nightmare when weird incidents begins happening. At one point, Jenny feels she is entrapped in the mansion. Does she escape her nightmare and the answers to why strange events keep happening.

The author takes her time to set the premise before the creepy events unfold. At one point the book feels like a horror story. The pace is quick and there are so many unsolved questions which are answered at the end. There are several other characters attributing to suspicious circumstances and make us shift our doubts to every other person. The final reveal is a good one.

The primary point by which Erich is besotted by Jenny is that she is almost a replica of his dead mother Caroline. Jenny realizes that she and Caroline have more than physical similarities. But one question that bothers me is how does any woman, let alone a mother of two, decide to marry a person she knows only for a month and knows basically nothing of his life. I even thought that Jenny has some psychological issues. Also, she invariably tolerates Erich’s annoying acts and felt maybe she should not be this naïve.

Verdict: Overall the book an engaging easy read and is a mix of romance, thriller and horror. It keeps you hooked till the end.

Book Review: A Stranger in the House

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.

Book Review: The Murder at the Vicarage

Author: Agatha Christie

Genre: Mystery, Thriller

Type: Fiction

This is the first book on the famous fictional detective Miss Marple. Being an ardent fan of mystery and thriller plots, I cannot believe I haven’t read the Agatha Christie books ever. I chose this for the Popsugar prompt No. 30 - a book featuring an amateur detective

Colonel Protheroe is murdered at the Vicarage while waiting to meet the Vicar and almost everyone in the village is a suspect including the vicar. He is not a person loved by all in the quiet neighbourhood of St Mary Mead and everyone thinks the world is better place without him. The inquisitive old Miss Marple tries to find the missing pieces of the murder mystery.

With so many suspects on the list, the plot is engaging and we are not given any hints on who might be the killer. Most characters have a backstory. Entwined with the murder are 2 separate crimes which come to light as the story proceeds. The story is told from the Vicar’s point of view and though a central character we do not have heavy doses of Miss Marple’s appearance. And when she does appear, she just throws in simple statements and questions. The old lady is a relief from the conventional formula for detective characterisations.

When I started this book I noted down the characters, their movements during the murder. At one point I even stopped reading and reflected on who could be the murderer. But all in vain. I could never guess what happened. This is not a story where the answer was right there but we didn’t see it.  I don’t know if this is Agatha Christie’s style. So if you read this book, do not try to solve it by yourself.

Verdict: After reading this I am yearning to read more of Agatha Christie’s novels and this is a great read for all 'whodunnit' fans.

Book Review: Original Sin

Author: PD James
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Crime
Type: Fiction

This was my first ever book of PD James. When I started this book, I thought I was going to witness some quick, intelligent, crime solving. Sadly, the author took her time to plough the field for murder and spin the motive for the string of suspects. The story was set in an era where telephones were the quickest means of communications and everything moves at a snail pace. The author also elaborates on every character, their life, thoughts etc. I think the author was besotted with architectures. She gives quite an elaborate note on every other building in the story which I think could have been brief and I had to skip a few descriptions. The style of writing was similar to some of the abridged versions of classics I have come across. The vocabulary was way out of my league and wanted me looking for synonyms of certain words. The long sentences took time to comprehend and makes this story no light reading.

Some novels make us linger on it even after we have completed it but this one does not make my list. I liked how the characters were portrayed and the intelligently the murder was committed. The revelations in the end were also neat. All the loose ends of the plot and tied together in the end, except, I was not convinced by the climax. I wanted it to be more dramatic and I could not conclude if the murderer was right or wrong. 

Verdict: Do not read this if you need a thriller with goosebumps moments.