2 Stars
I read this
book because The Guardian put it on
its latest “best recent crime fiction novels” roundup. I can’t imagine this is one of the best!
The novel
begins with Leonora Shaw (Lee or Nora or Leo) regaining consciousness in a
hospital after an accident. In a series
of flashbacks we learn about the events leading up to it: her receiving an email inviting her to a weekend
bachelorette party for Clare Cavendish.
Clare was Nora’s best friend in school, but Nora cut all contact and
hasn’t spoken to her in ten years. She
chooses to attend though she keeps wondering why she was invited. Nora remembers the party except for things
that happened the second night at the remote house deep in the woods chosen for
the venue.
The plot is
very predictable. The villain in the
piece is easily identifiable and even the motive can be surmised. The novel is very contrived: ten years of misery could have been avoided
with one conversation, the post-accident amnesia seems just too convenient, and
Nora’s withholding the reason for her break with her past is just a way of
manipulating the reader. Keeping secrets
from the reader is not usually a sign of narrative finesse.
The characters
are flat. Each of the guests has one
distinguishing trait. For example, Flo
is devoted to Clare; Nina is blunt; and Melanie is worried about being away
from her infant son. Those identifying
characteristics are given when the characters first appear, and nothing else is
ever added.
Leonora is
a problematic character. By profession
she is a crime fiction novelist, yet her behaviour suggests she knows nothing
about what she shouldn’t do: try to
evade the police and revisit the scene of the crime. Certainly the encounter at the scene of the
crime is totally unbelievable.
The title
is misleading. It suggests that the
novel will have an eerie atmosphere, but it really doesn’t. Actually, the novel has very little to
recommend it.
No comments:
Post a Comment