The Only Suspect by Louise Candlish
The Only Suspect by Louise Candlish
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book opens in the present where Alex is married to Beth. Beth announces her plans to reopen a countryside trail, but this does not impress Alex, as apparently this threatens to expose something he has done in the past. All the reader is told is that a murder has taken place, and that he had some involvement in it.
The book then flashes back to 1995, where Rick starts an affair with Marina, despite her being married. Marina starts talking of how her husband Drew is abusive to her, even showing up occasionally with scars on her. Eventually she tells Rick that she is going to attempt to run away from Drew. About two-thirds of the story takes place in the flashback, as the Rick/Marina relationship develops.
There are a whole bunch of things that experienced armchair detectives will start guessing quite early on in the book, and for a while I was tempted to give this book a 3/5. I started to think that there was an obvious plot twist that was very guessable. However, the book started throwing in plot twists that came out of nowhere, and then near the end came out with a revelation that I should have predicted, but somehow didn't.
The other reason for me giving the book a 4/5 rating was that the storytelling was very enjoyable. First off, the characters are very believeable; Marina feels like a classic film noir type Femme Fatale. Secondly, I really enjoyed Louise Candlish's writing style, with some language that felt like it could have been from the pages of an Edgar Allen Poe story.
The only real negatives for me was that firstly, the truth about what was really happening put me in mind of a certain Alfred Hitchcock film (you'll guess which if you read this), and secondly that at times it felt a bit too long-winded and laboured.
Overall, I enjoyed this, and was glad I took the trouble with yet another blind read.
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Here's a book with a word beginning with "O" in the title, and I think 3 out of 10 is all I can manage for October's calendar of crime - so posting November's prompts too.
January: 3/10
February: 4/10
March: 2/10
April: 3/10
May: 3/10
June: 4/10
July: 2/10
August: 3/10
September: 3/10
October: 3/10
October list
1. October in the title
2. Author's birth month
3. Primary action takes place in this month
4. Hallowe'en
5. Other October holiday (are there any?)
6. Original publication month
7. Book title has word starting with O
8. Hallowe'en related image or Autumn scene on cover
9. Year of the Rooster
10. Costume/disguise or mistaken identity
November list
1. November in the title
2. Author's birth month
3. Primary action takes place in this month
4. Thanksgiving
5. Other November holiday (Bonfire night I suppose, Armistice Day or St. Andrew's day?)
6. Original publication month
7. Book title has word starting with N
8. Turkey, family dinner or poppies - something else month related maybe: Fireworks, Scottish flag or tartan perhaps
9. Year of the Dog
10. Family relationships play a major role