BEAUTIFUL UGLY by Alice Feeney

Like The Plot and Yellowface, this book involves a writer who steals another author’s work.  However, that is not the main storyline.  Grady is unable to write while he grieves the disappearance of his wife, Abby, a year ago.  His agent suggests that he move to an isolated Scottish island where he can perhaps focus on his next book.  However, the island turns out to be full of mysterious happenings, including glimpses of what Grady believes are his wife, plus some gruesome history.  What follows is a suspenseful, macabre tale in which the only lovable character is Grady’s dog and in which revelations expose Grady as a highly unreliable narrator.  This is neither the best nor the worst thriller I have ever read, but I wish the characters had more depth.  Plus, the plot is kind of out there, just like the island on which it takes place, and reliance on a Magic 8 Ball for advice is ridiculous.  If this whole novel were not morbid enough, Grady and Abby always substituted the phrase “I hope you die in your sleep” for “I love you.”  Yikes.  It’s not hard to imagine where this is going, but how we get there is down a twisty, unpredictable path.