The British are huge crime fiction fans…me, not so much. So I tried one that was supposed to be literary as well as scary. Well, not so much…
Beatrice receives a call from London when her sister goes missing. She leaves New York and flies over to help. As Beatrice discovers what happened to Tess, she also discovers more about their relationship. The whole story is a report to the police from Beatrice, who has become the detective in her sister’s case. So at the beginning the reader knows that a solution was found, a criminal was caught, and that Beatrice, though shaken, is ok now. Much of her narration is directed towards her sister, speaking to her, which is a bit of an annoying style.
However, I did keep reading and was turning pages because of little reveals and clues along the way. Towards the end there is a surprise and a thriller bit, but for me it was too little, too late. The sisters’ relationship was overly sentimental and seemed contrived. Can you really reconnect in new ways with someone through memory? And though there were plenty of possible bad guys along the way, there was not really enough action. So, I found it lacking on all fronts. If you have read this book and disagree, I would love to hear from you since maybe it was just the space I was in when I read it. That does happen, I did find some good reviews. Goodreads gave it a 3.79, in my opinion that was generous.
Joanne's Reading Blog 