4.0 out of 5 stars The bond between sisters can be very strong..., June 15, 2011
It's very difficult to write a review of a book that doesn't allow the reader to discuss particulars that would be spoilers for anyone wanting to know whether or not to buy a book. I will make every effort to avoid giving anything away.
To be honest, however, I must say that I have a pet peeve -- and that is with books that have an ambiguous ending (or a non ending). I don't like them. This is that sort of a book. Despite that aggravation, I must say that if you like a good mystery story with an unusual twist, you will like this book.
Reminiscent of Chevy Stevens' Still Missing and Never Knowing, author Rosamund Lupton has her main character, Beatrice, use both a letter format and a lawyer with the Crown Prosecution Service to tell her story. (Chevy Stevens uses therapy sessions notes and a therapist). The plot is simple -- Beatrice gets a call from her mother that her sister Tess is missing and she leaves New York to go to London to find out what happened. The narrative, in the form of a letter to her sister, describes what Beatrice found when she arrived and her own investigation into her sister's death. The police have ruled it a suicide but Beatrice knows her sister and knows that she would never have done that. Her discoveries about the life her sister was living give her pause; she wonders if she really did know her sister as well as she thought she did. Was the death of Tess really a suicide or was it murder? If so, who did it? Beatrice tells Mr. Wright, the lawyer for CPS, step by step what she finds as she delves into the mystery. Multiple suspects provide Beatrice with many avenues to explore. Lots of red herrings and a few surprising twists as discoveries are made and truths are uncovered.
There is foreshadowing and melodrama as the story comes to a shocking conclusion (you know something is off, but not quite sure what it is) and the reader is left momentarily holding her breath at the end. And then the reader says -- what the heck???
I liked most of the book really well, but I did not like how it concluded. If you like a gripping, dark and gothic type thriller, I think you will enjoy this book.
To be honest, however, I must say that I have a pet peeve -- and that is with books that have an ambiguous ending (or a non ending). I don't like them. This is that sort of a book. Despite that aggravation, I must say that if you like a good mystery story with an unusual twist, you will like this book.
Reminiscent of Chevy Stevens' Still Missing and Never Knowing, author Rosamund Lupton has her main character, Beatrice, use both a letter format and a lawyer with the Crown Prosecution Service to tell her story. (Chevy Stevens uses therapy sessions notes and a therapist). The plot is simple -- Beatrice gets a call from her mother that her sister Tess is missing and she leaves New York to go to London to find out what happened. The narrative, in the form of a letter to her sister, describes what Beatrice found when she arrived and her own investigation into her sister's death. The police have ruled it a suicide but Beatrice knows her sister and knows that she would never have done that. Her discoveries about the life her sister was living give her pause; she wonders if she really did know her sister as well as she thought she did. Was the death of Tess really a suicide or was it murder? If so, who did it? Beatrice tells Mr. Wright, the lawyer for CPS, step by step what she finds as she delves into the mystery. Multiple suspects provide Beatrice with many avenues to explore. Lots of red herrings and a few surprising twists as discoveries are made and truths are uncovered.
There is foreshadowing and melodrama as the story comes to a shocking conclusion (you know something is off, but not quite sure what it is) and the reader is left momentarily holding her breath at the end. And then the reader says -- what the heck???
I liked most of the book really well, but I did not like how it concluded. If you like a gripping, dark and gothic type thriller, I think you will enjoy this book.
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