by Heather Gudenkauf
Hardcover, 288 pages
MIRA, February 2, 2016
2.5 stars
This is my first book by Heather Gudenkauf, so I went in blind, knowing only that she writes suspense/thrillers. The short summary of this book is this: Jack Quinlan's aunt Julia, who raised him after his mother was murdered and his father disappeared, has fallen down the stairs and is in a coma. He and his wife Sarah rush back to his hometown of Penny Gate, Iowa to be with her and his uncle. When his aunt dies the police suspect foul play and the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of Jack's mother resurfaces, placing the family under scrutiny. Sarah, who is a journalist by trade, finds herself drawn into the awkward circumstance of investigating her husband, sister-in-law, and other relatives for murder. There is a lot of small town drama, several creepy abandoned barns, and scarily dark cornfields involved along the way.
To be honest, this book read like a domestic drama almost as much as it did a mystery. Sarah and Jack do not feel like a couple that have been together for 20+ years with two daughters in college. They seem awkward and uncomfortable when they interact and came across as much younger then they apparently are. They don't seem to have a solid marriage despite there being no real reason they wouldn't prior to Julia's death. That aside, I did like that Sarah was portrayed as a strong female character, though I would have liked to see a bit more from her, especially considering that she's an investigative journalist by trade. She seems to ignore what felt like fairly obvious red flags throughout this book. Also, her strange jealousy over her husband's ex-girlfriend from high school seemed absurd. 20 years and two kids and she's jealous of some girl he was "in love with" as a high school student? It unnecessarily weakened her character and felt like it was tossed in to create drama where it didn't need to be.
The plot was full of twists and turns (some made more sense than others) until the "bad guy" was finally revealed. I found the ending so convoluted and confusing that it dropped my rating an entire star. I thought I knew who did it. The author was pushing readers in a very specific direction (almost too hard) and then the real killer came out of nowhere. Don't get me wrong, I'm all in favor of twisty endings...when they make sense. There were several suspects who had *actual* motives for wanting Julia dead and yet the Gudenkauf manufactured a weird "they're just crazy" reason for her murder. It felt like a stretch and I found it unsatisfying as a reader.
The book was a fast and entertaining-enough read if you're looking for a suspense/thriller that is neither too creepy or too tense. I prefer either a fast-paced plot or thoughtful, well-developed characters and this book had neither. I'll probably pick up another by this author (I own a few, as it turns out) but I'm not in any hurry to do so.
(Thank you to MIRA and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)
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