JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

Half Moon Lake by Kirsten Alexander

‘They said he was their boy. And so he was . . .’


In 1913, on a summer’s day at Half Moon Lake, Louisiana, four-year-old Sonny Davenport walks into the woods and never returns.

The boy’s mysterious disappearance from the family’s lake house makes front-page news in their home town of Opelousas. John Henry and Mary Davenport are wealthy and influential, and will do anything to find their son. For two years, the Davenports search across the South, offer increasingly large rewards and struggle not to give in to despair.

Then, at the moment when all hope seems lost, the boy is found in the company of a tramp.

But is he truly Sonny Davenport? The circumstances of his discovery raise more questions than answers. And when Grace Mill, an unwed farm worker, travels from Alabama to lay claim to the child, newspapers, townsfolk, even the Davenports’ own friends, take sides.

As the tramp’s kidnapping trial begins, and two desperate mothers fight for ownership of the boy, the people of Opelousas discover that truth is more complicated than they’d ever dreamed . . .

Inspired by the real life kidnapping of American boy Bobby Dunbar, Half Moon Lake by Kirsten Alexander is a fascinating crime novel set in the early 20th century.

This book is about many things, not just a missing child. It’s about class and the treatment of black people in southern America in the early 1900s. It’s about reputation and family, and the opinion of others. It’s about making the wrong decision and then being forced to live with it and work with it, because the ramifications of acknowledging your mistake are too damaging to imagine.

“While he hadn’t expected effusive thanks from a man of John Henry’s stature, Tom had thought his kindness to the man’s wife might have elevated him in his eyes.”

The reader is left wanting more. What happened to Sonny? Where is he now? Who took him? What’s going to happen to Mary and John Henry and Grace? The suspense draws the reader in and keeps them turning the page.

The cast of characters all reflect the time and era that the book is set. Mary and her husband John Henry are upper class, wealthy and implement their influence on those lower down. They get away with what they want. Sure, they have their issues — Mary’s mental state has declined since her son went missing and her father treats her horribly and blames her for the disappearance — but they shield their pain from the outside world and put on this act that they’re coping just fine.

Wealth and status can influence justice in this story, and we see it a couple of times. John Henry is on track for a career in politics and is therefore able to manipulate opinion and processes just because of who he is and where he hopes to go. Other people obey him, and are scared of betraying him.

But how far is he willing to go to keep his wife happy? How far is he willing to go to keep his political career on track?

“Esmerelda felt sorry for Mr and Mrs Davenport sometimes. The reunion hadn’t brought them the peace they’d yearned for. She heard their arguments, barely muted by closed doors. And Mrs Davenport’s mood changed at the whim of the child.”

The blurb of this book makes you believe that this boy could be Sonny Davenport, but in actual fact, it’s made clear pretty early on that Sonny’s mother lies. She desperately wants her boy back, so she convinces herself that this little boy — whose real name is Ned — is actually hers.

When the real mother Grace Mill comes forward and the kidnapping trial ensues, the truth starts to seep out.

The book is rich with emotion and pain, as two women fight for the right to claim this young boy. Grace is an unwed mother and very poor, and she is judged because of her appearance and social standing. Mary, Sonny’s mother, is from a wealthy, well-respected family and therefore more people are likely to side with her.

“John Henry decided to stage the viewing after Christmas. If he had to do it – and it seemed he did – he’d not allow it to ruin the Christmas celebrations his wife had put so much effort into.”

I wondered if more attention should’ve been given to the gossipy nature of the town. Given the time this was set, and the crimes that have been committed, the scope of the gossip around town and the number of people trying to insert themselves into the drama felt kind of small. I didn’t get a strong sense of that ‘small town huge news’ atmosphere where everyone is whispering and passing on news and eavesdropping.

Additionally, I was left feeling dissatisfied with the ending, in a way that made me feel like the ending actually weakened the story. It was too abrupt to seem deliberate, too unresolved to be pleasing.

Recommended for fans of crime, thriller and mystery novels.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Half Moon Lake
Kirsten Alexander
January 2019
Penguin Random House Publishers

REVIEW AND AUTHOR INTERVIEW: The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth

Someone once told me that you have two families in your life – the one you are born into and the one you choose. Yes, you may get to choose your partner, but you don’t choose your mother-in-law. The cackling mercenaries of fate determine it all.

From the moment Lucy met Diana, she was kept at arm’s length. Diana is exquisitely polite, but Lucy knows, even after marrying Oliver, that they’ll never have the closeness she’d been hoping for.

But who could fault Diana? She was a pillar of the community, an advocate for social justice, the matriarch of a loving family. Lucy had wanted so much to please her new mother-in-law.

That was ten years ago. Now, Diana has been found dead, leaving a suicide note. But the autopsy reveals evidence of suffocation. And everyone in the family is hiding something…

From the bestselling author of The Family Next Door comes a new page-turner about that trickiest of relationships.

The Mother-In-Law by Sally Hepworth is a complex, emotionally charged novel that will keep readers engaged, entertained and eager for the next page. I loved it.

Lucy shares a rather complicated relationship with her mother-in-law Diana. She’s prickly, to say the least. She’s harsh, blunt and she speaks her mind. At times she makes Lucy feel small and unimportant and like she doesn’t matter. Lucy lost her own mother at the age of thirteen, and she is disappointed that her relationship with Diana is so fraught and tried.

And then Diana is murdered.

“In the three days since Diana died, I haven’t cooked a meal, done a load of laundry or been to the supermarket. I haven’t disciplined a child, helped anyone with homework or hidden any vegetables in spaghetti sauce.”

I loved that Diana’s character never changed. Her personality and her reasons for her decisions may not make a lot of sense to readers, but she’s the kind of person who remains the same person throughout the novel.

Sure, she warms to Lucy and she learns to admit when she’s misjudged someone, but she has values and morals and she sticks to them. She’s an interestingly unique character and I quite liked her, even if some of her decisions had catastrophic results.

The basis of Diana’s difficult behaviour is that she had a really difficult childhood and she had to build her extravagant lifestyle from nothing. She thinks the best thing that she can do for her children is give them no money and very little help, thereby forcing them to build their lives themselves and not rely on other people when in need of help.

“After Tom badgered me for years, I finally relented and allowed Ollie and Nettie to attend schools with term fees high enough to feed an entire Afghan village for a year. Years later, I’m still doubtful as to whether the schools were any better than the local ones.”

The novel keeps you guessing, wondering who Diana finally frustrated enough for them to murder her. Because Diana is, at times, very infuriating. And I imagine being her child would be incredibly difficult at times.

Sally Hepworth builds tension well, maintaining a consistent pace throughout the novel so that the reader feels like they’re getting enough enough information to piece together the story, but not too much that the ending is predictable or obvious.

Sally also illustrates motherhood and parenting really well, showing readers the harsh reality of what it’s like when you’re looking after a baby, especially if you’ve got other children you’re looking after too. The book switches back and forth between present and past and we read about Lucy’s journey into motherhood, but we also read about Lettie — Lucy’s sister-in-law — and her struggles with fertility. She and her husband desperately want children but Lettie struggles to fall pregnant and her and her husband struggle to save the money to pursue alternate means of conceiving, such as IVF or surrogacy.

“She glances over her shoulder, then spins on her stool so she is facing me. She’s lost weight. Her eyes look more prominent in her face. And her hair has a dull look, like it hasn’t been washed in a while.”

This book seems to blend a number of different genres — it’s a mix of literary fiction, but also family saga, crime, thriller and mystery. It’s a delicious concoction that I devoured.

The Mother-In-Law is an astounding book, difficult to fault. Recommended for all readers of any genre.

The Mother-in-Law is available now, Macmillan Australia, RRP $29.99.

***

AUTHOR INTERVIEW WITH SALLY HEPWORTH

Firstly, tell us a little bit about your latest novel, The Mother In Law?

The Mother in Law is a novel about the investigation into the unexpected death of a wealthy matriarch, and mother-in-law. But on a deeper level it is about the relationship between that matriarch, Diana Goodwin, and her daughter-in-law, Lucy, and the difficulties they have as they try to forge a relationship.

Here is how my publisher describes the book:
From the moment Lucy met Diana, she was kept at arm’s length. Diana is exquisitely polite, but Lucy knows, even after marrying Oliver, that they’ll never have the closeness she’d been hoping for. But who could fault Diana? She was a pillar of the community, an advocate for social justice, the matriarch of a loving family. Lucy had wanted so much to please her new mother-in-law.

That was ten years ago. Now, Diana has been found dead, leaving a suicide note. Lucy and Oliver wonder if her treatment for cancer had worn her down.

The autopsy finds that Diana didn’t have cancer, but it does reveal evidence of suffocation. Someone wanted Diana dead. And everyone in the family is hiding something…

What does a typical writing day look like for you?
I work 10 hours a day, 4 days a week. On those days, my day tends to look like this:
-8am: I arrive at the library, go through my emails and clear my inbox.
-9am: I do any writing related work that isn’t writing (for example if I have an article to write, or a Q&A to complete, or a cover to approve, I’ll do that first).
-10am: I move into the book part of the day. If I’m writing a first draft, I’ll focus on work count—around 2,000-3,000 words a day. If I’m editing, I’ll focus on how many pages I want to edit (3-5 chapters per day). I don’t always get to my goal, but it helps to aim for something.
-1pm: lunch
-2pm: more writing / editing
-5pm: Clear my inbox again.
-5:30pm I walk home.

What do you think is vital when writing suspense and mystery?
Unanswered questions are really the definition of suspense, aren’t they? I think so. I can’t quit a book if there are questions yet to be answered. Maybe that’s just me? Ideally your story should start with one or two unanswered questions, and then more should be introduced as the story goes along.

What element of novel writing do you most struggle with?
Editing. How I loathe editing! I adore creating a first draft, for me that is when I feel the energy flowing. But editing seems to exercise a different muscle, and for me, it doesn’t matter how often I do it, it is a muscle that is out of shape. What can I say? I prefer building to renovating ☺

What element of novel writing do you think is your biggest strength?
I think I’m quite good at keeping the pages turning. I achieve this through short chapters, creating cliffhangers at the end of each chapter, and leaving plenty of unanswered questions dangling throughout the book.

What do you think is key to writing relatable, realistic relationships?
I try to look to my own relationships, and the relationships of people I know, to create situations that feel real. It also helps to step into each character’s skin, see the world through their eyes, and understand what drives them, what motivates them. Writers need to be deeply empathetic to create authentic characters, and be prepared to explore a point of view that is different to their own. They also have to steer away from making a character a villain, simply because they have made a poor choice. The best people (in fiction and in real life) have flaws and strengths, failings and assets.

What have you learnt with each new book you’ve written? Has your writing process improved?
Honestly I’m not sure my process has improved! It feels just as muddled as ever. In fact, I’m constantly plagued by the idea that someone else is doing it better (fortunately all my writer friends also feel like this, so I figure it’s just part of being a writer). As for what I’ve learned, it’s been different for each book, but the most important thing I’ve learned is that eventually I will finish this book (even if it doesn’t feel like it at the time).

Finally, what are you working on next?
I’m currently editing my 2020 book, which is about three couples who end up at a swingers party.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Mother-in-Law
Sally Hepworth
February 2019
Pan Macmillan

The Boy by Tami Hoag

Mother, liar, murderer?

In the sleepy Lousiana town of Bayou Breaux, a mother runs to her neighbour – bloody and hysterical. The police arrive to find Genevieve Gauthier cradling her seven-year-old son in her arms as he bleeds to death.

Detective Nick Fourcade finds no evidence of a break-in. His partner Detective Annie Broussard is troubled by parts of Genevieve’s story that don’t make sense. Twenty four hours later teenager Nora Florette is reported missing. Local parents fear a maniac is preying on their children, and demand answers from the police.

Fourcade and Broussard discover something shocking about Genevieve’s past. She is both victim and the accused; a grieving mother and a woman with a deadly secret. Could she have something to do with the disappearance of teenager Nora Florette?

A unbearable loss or an unthinkable crime? Number One New York Times bestselling author Tami Hoag keeps you guessing in her most gripping thriller yet.

The Boy by Tami Hoag is a crime thriller set in a small town in the United States; the book follows the investigation of the brutal murder of a young boy, KJ, and the disappearance of the boy’s teenage babysitter, Nora.

The book is set in the Cajun country in Louisiana, and Tami encapsulates the setting perfectly. You can picture the small town easily, with the distinct class systems and the gossip and the hidden secrets behind closed doors.

The Boy works really well as a standalone novel, with only a few brief mentions to previous cases and enough information that you can follow along easily.

“The house looked even worse on television than it did in real life. People would watch this and think she lived in a dump — because she did. They would have no way of knowing it was only temporary, that as soon as Jeff was able to give her an office job and she had managed to scape together enough for a deposit and first month’s rent, she planned to move someplace better.”

The plot is twisted and full of mysteries, with fully fleshed characters and plenty of secrets. Nick is a very unpredictable man, with a lot of anger simmering beneath the surface. He’s snappy and unable to keep his opinion to himself.

His wife Annie is warm and comforting and is a much more approachable character. She helps calm her husband down, trying to make him see reason so that he doesn’t piss off the wrong person and get himself fired. Their dynamic works really well, and I thought they were both great protagonists.

I certainly didn’t see the ending coming, and all my guesses were wrong. I ploughed through this book so fast, completely enraptured by the mysteries of this small town.

The Boy switches between character POV, allowing the reader to find out different information about the victims. Slowly, information is revealed and you can start to form your own opinions about who killed KJ and where Nora has disappeared to.

Tensions builds throughout the whole novel, delivering the reader to a really intense finale. The ending is as satisfying as the lead up.

“As he rose, he reached out and gently touched her uninjured shoulder in a gesture of sympathy and reassurance. She seemed as slight as a bird. It was hard to imagine her fighting off an armed assailant, but people often found physical strength beyond imagining when faced with the choice of life or death.”

The book touches on many societal issues that people will recognise — bullying, suicide and class. Nora is from a poor family that have a very unconventional home life. Her single mother never really knows where Nora is, nor her other children. She cares about her children and she loves them, but isn’t able to always be there for them or support them in the way that they need. They’re left to their own devices a lot, and they’re really irresponsible. Nora’s brother Dean is a bully and really abusive, and a couple of Nora’s sisters are young single mothers who are also struggling.

Most of the people in the town judge them and shun them and refuse to let their children hang around the Florette family. A lot of people also judge KJ’s mum Genevieve because she’s a single mum and she’s poor and living in a rundown rental property.

“Still young enough to be momentarily intimidated by authority, the boy’s expression sobered as Annie walked up to him with her hands jammed on her hips. He was about the same size as her, she thought, and he was still more little boy than young man.”

In the first 100 pages or so, the dialogue between the detectives — in particular, Detective Nick Fourcade — was very cliche and over the top. It was antagonistic and actually made me cringe on many occasions. This seemed to mellow out as the book progressed, though.

Something else I disliked about the book was the unrealistic, overly sensitive inner monologue that both Nick and Annie shared. Sometimes their inner dialogue — in particular when they were thinking about how much they loved the son — read identical, like they were the same character. This was a point in the novel where I felt like the author’s voice, and her own feelings towards her family members and how she’d feel if anything happened to them, was coming through the page. The lovey-dovey thoughts of Annie and Nick actually made me cringe and roll my eyes, and it really jolted against the pacing of the book.

A fast-paced thriller novel with more than one mystery to solve, crime readers will be turning the pages desperate to find out the ending.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Boy
Tami Hoag
January 2019
Hachette Book Publishers

Greenlight by Benjamin Stevenson

Four years ago, in the small town of Birravale, Eliza Daley was murdered. Within hours, her killer was caught. Wasn’t he?

So reads the opening titles of Jack Quick’s new true-crime documentary. A skilled producer, Jack knows that the bigger the conspiracy, the higher the ratings – and he claims Curtis Wade was convicted on flimsy evidence and shoddy police work. Millions of viewers agree.

Just before the final episode, Jack uncovers a minor detail that may prove Curtis guilty after all. Convinced it will ruin his show, Jack disposes of the evidence and delivers the finale unedited, leading to Curtis’s eventual release.

Then a new victim is found bearing horrifying similarities to the original murder. Has Jack just helped a killer walk free?

Determined to set things right, Jack returns to Birravale looking for answers. But with his own secrets lurking just beneath the surface, Jack knows more than anyone what a fine line it is between fact and fiction. Between life and death.

Now there’s only one option left. The truth.

Greenlight by Benjamin Stevenson is a rural crime thriller about the long-solved murder of backpacker Eliza Daley.

It’s an interesting premise — a well-known television producer and presenter helps cast enough doubt on a convicted killer that he is released from prison. But perhaps this man was indeed the killer after all?

Benjamin’s writing is polished. The dialogue realistic, the characters are three dimensional and well-developed, and the mysteries of this rural town are enticing enough to keep the reader turning the page. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story, and churned through the pages of this book.

“The shoe grew heavier in his mind every day. Jack knew what it was like to make a decision that you can’t take back, even if you want to. Some small, inconsequential choice that grows and grows into something monstrous when everyone is watching. Why had he been fine with hiding the shoe?”

Jack Quick is flawed, but he’s also determined and compassionate and desperate to find out the truth. He puts himself in dangerous situations and is able to see things that others probably wouldn’t be able to see.

He starts to piece together what happened to Eliza Daley, and also the second victim who is murdered after Curtis Wade is released from prison.

Greenlight does follow a bit of a stereotypical trope found in rural fiction — someone arrives in a small town and they are neither a policeman or a detective, and yet they’re able to solve a crime that the cops couldn’t? I’ve read quite a few crimes novel lately that feature a protagonist like this.

“Jack scanned the paper. The front page had a close-up picture of Curtis, red letters splashed diagonally across him. Of course, the sub-editor had added the question mark — The Nailbiter Killer? — to protect from defamation.”

The prologue of this book is completely unnecessary. It’s from the point of view of Eliza, shortly before being murdered and it gives away too much. It makes it very clear that she’s being kept underground, which allowed me to guess one of the twists in the novel long before it was revealed.

Despite that, this is one of my favourite crime novels from this year. There are many different mysteries to solve, not just the murder of Eliza Daley, and tension builds slowly until the reader grows very anxious about what’s going to happen.

Greenlight is utterly compelling and engrossing — an absorbing mystery with more surprises than I thought possible.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Green Light
Benjamin Stevenson
September 2018
Penguin Random House

All the Hidden Truths by Claire Askew

This is a fact: Ryan Summers walked into Three Rivers College and killed thirteen women, then himself.

But no one can say why.

The question is one that cries out to be answered – by Ryan’s mother, Moira; by Ishbel, the mother of Abigail, the first victim; and by DI Helen Birch, put in charge of the case on her first day at her new job. But as the tabloids and the media swarm, as the families’ secrets come out, as the world searches for someone to blame… the truth seems to vanish.

A stunningly moving novel from an exciting new voice in crime, ALL THE HIDDEN TRUTHS will cause you to question your assumptions about the people you love, and reconsider how the world reacts to tragedy.

All the Hidden Truths by Claire Askew is a debut crime novel about a horrific college shooting in Edinburgh. Thirteen women are killed, and the gunman — Ryan — commits suicide before the cops can arrest him.

The shooting shatters the local community, but it also ruins many families — the families of the victims, mostly. But also Ryan’s mum. She was his only family, and after Ryan’s death, Moira is demonised by society for what her son has done. She is threatened, abused and tormented.

Novels that are centred around public shootings are always tough to read, because they feel so real. Shootings happen so often, particularly in the US, and Claire Askew focuses on the aftermath and what a shooting does to the people left behind.

Claire builds suspense and tension and she causes the reader to question many things — are the parents responsible when their child murders another? Can they really say they didn’t know what their child was capable of? And if the child uses their parent’s weapon, is the parent at fault as well?

All the Hidden Truths forces the reader to really second guess their moral compass and rethink where the blame lies in a situation like this.

“She couldn’t quite believe that there were people out there who might want to kill her…but then, she could also believe it just fine She tried to imagine what she’d have felt if the roles were reversed — if someone had walked into Three Rivers College that say, and killed Ryan.”

The most heart-wrenching account is that of Ishbel, the mother of Abigail, the first victim of the shooting. Ishbel is an incredibly relatable character, and I imagine a lot of mothers would read this and see themselves in her. She cared about her daughter, who at times was reckless and rude and stubborn, and she struggles to move forward after Abigail’s death. Isabel’s chapters are very haunting for the reader.

“Ishbel wasn’t sure how she’d got there herself. She had no memory of the short drive over, though she knew she had done it: right now she was leaning against the back corner of the car to cover up the shaking in her legs. This was the first time she’d changed her clothes in two days, and she’d taken them from the drawer and put them on without really looking at them.”

I felt that a key element missing from the novel was any sense of who Ryan really was. I expected the reader to — through the lens of the other characters — find out more about him and what events really drove him to do what he did. At the very least, I wanted to understand him as a person a little better. But, we’re offered very little. Not even that much about his personality or his manner or his personal life.

Even his mother’s POV chapters don’t provide any insight, and as a result Ryan seems like a cardboard cut-out character, the stereotypical college shooter. The blurb implies that you’ll find out why Ryan shot all those women, but I don’t think you do. And it’s a bit of a letdown.

“They cut to a picture of Ryan’s face. His last school photo, a few years old now: Ryan in his navy school sweater, the stiff white collar of his shirt sitting wonky in its pilled V-neck. He was smiling, but he didn’t look happy — a handful of years back he’d decided he hated having his photograph taken.”

This is a character driven story, not the plot driven narrative you think you’re going to get. All the Hidden Truths explores family, love and the trauma and heartache of lives interrupted.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

All the Hidden Truths
Claire Askew
August 2018
Hachette Book Publishers

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