This book was received as an advance review copy from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Seldom does one find a not-so-typical protagonist that keeps you wondering whether you like their character or not. Linda Hammett belongs to this group in this mystery whodunnit tale with a not-so-tidy ending.
Synopsis
Linda Hammett lives in a small town with her husband Terry. She works in a charity shop and loves to keep things clean. Trying to come to terms with a troubled childhood, she still misses her father and feels misunderstood by her mother. Asocial by nature, she struggles to make friends and tries really hard to understand social cues that might help her blend in.
Her monotonous life is changed when she sees the glossy magazines meant for the previous tenant of her house. Looking at a life very different from her own on the magazine’s pages she starts wondering about the previous tenant and her life. She hides all this from Terry, whom she is not particularly fond of. When another girl goes missing in their town where a previous murder has recently happened everyone’s life in the quiet neighborhood is affected as rumors and gossip run rife.
As she starts noticing things out of ordinary about Terry, the townspeople realize they possibly have a serial killer among them.
What’s to like
Linda’s character is an interesting one. As the story progresses, we get to know more about her and about things that make her different. She is not always likable, but the reader sympathizes with her. While the book has some parts that make you want to skim, the story keeps you wanting to know what happens next.
The ending makes this book a great read and surprises the reader when you finally connect the dots.
What’s not to like
The novel like most books has a few pages where the story seems a bit of a drag and you need to push yourself to keep reading, but it is worth it in the end. Everything does not come together neatly in the end. The reader must think back to the story and make sense of the whodunnit part which has its charm in a mystery novel but can seem a bit annoying at first.