Someone has slashed Daniel Sutherland’s throat. Miriam, who lives in the houseboat next to
his, discovers the body. As it turns
out, Daniel was not a nice guy, and several people may have wished him
dead. The police suspect Laura, as she
was seen, covered in blood, leaving Daniel’s place the morning of his
murder. However, Daniel’s family members
raise our suspicions as well. His Aunt
Carla and her ex-husband, Theo, lost their 3-year-old son fifteen years ago
while Carla’s alcoholic sister, Angela, was babysitting. The toddler fell to his death from Angela’s
balcony while Daniel was still a child, and forgiveness has been hard to come
by. Angela preceded Daniel in death by just
a few weeks, presumably as a result of a fall, so that we can eliminate her as
a suspect. Miriam’s best friend Lorraine
was brutally murdered when the two girls were abducted as teenagers, and Laura
has issues with anger management, due to a brain injury she suffered as a
child. In the middle of all these deaths
and traumatic injuries is Irene, who befriends Laura, and Laura can definitely
use a friend. I liked this novel so much
better than
The
Girl on the Train. The
plot is easy to follow, and most of the characters who are not dead have some
redeeming qualities. All of the women,
except poor Angela, are pretty feisty.
Laura’s occasional violent outbursts mostly seem warranted as
self-defense, while Miriam lives with survivor’s guilt, wondering if she should
have made an effort to save Lorraine. Irene
almost goes too far in trying to solve the various mysteries at hand on her
own. Confrontation with possible
murderers is never a good idea, but Irene uses her reputation as a silly old
woman to good effect.
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