A stylized literary thriller and family mystery.
Nicky Hunter is somewhat an expert in mysteries and detective fiction, and she has been corresponding with a famous novelist, Sebastian Trapp, for years. Now that he is dying, she's invited out to San Francisco to meet him. He says he wants her to write his final story, sort of a biography, of his life. When she arrives at the mansion, she meets his current wife, Diana, his daughter, Madeleine, and some other extended family. Sebastian hints that the two, while working together on his story, might solve an old mystery -- perhaps to finally reveal what happened to Sebastian's first wife and his teen son who vanished on New Year's Eve in 1999.
This was long. And wordy. Other than that, the plot was interesting, and the characters were mysterious and somewhat hard to figure out. Not fast paced, it takes ages to get to the big reveals and I must admit there were a few surprises. There are lots of references to the works of other famous mystery writers of old, and many quotes. I read along while listening to the audiobook which was done well although it would have been even better with multiple narrators.
Genre - mystery, secrets and lies, family drama
This is a standalone and is not part of any series.
No comments:
Post a Comment