JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin

Claire is only seven years old when her college-age sister Alison vanishes from the luxury resort on the Caribbean island of Saint X on the last night of her family’s vacation. Several days later Alison’s naked body is found in a remote spot on a nearby cay, and two local men, employees at the resort, are arrested. But the evidence is slim, the timeline against it, and the men are soon released. It’s national tabloid news, a lurid mystery that will go unsolved, but for Claire’s family there is only the sad return home to broken lives.

Years later, riding in a New York City taxicab, Claire recognizes the name on the cabbie’s licence, Clive Richardson – her driver is one of the men originally suspected of murdering her sister. The fateful encounter sets her on an obsessive pursuit of the truth, not only what happened on the night of Alison’s death, but the no less elusive question of exactly who was this sister she was barely old enough to know: a beautiful, changeable, provocative girl of eighteen at a turbulent moment of identity formation. As Claire doggedly shadows Clive, hoping to gain his trust, waiting for the slip that will uncover the truth, an unlikely intimacy develops between them, two people whose lives were forever marked by a tragedy.

Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin is a haunting crime novel about a young girl’s mysterious death and how the unsolved case still torments her sister eighteen years later. The book explores grief, family, sisterhood, and illustrates how our perceptions of someone — or our understanding of them — can be inherently misguided.

Claire was seven years old when her sister Alison died on a family holiday to the Caribbean. Her body was found in a nearby cay, but the crime remains unsolved. She’s haunted by the mystery, and she soon becomes obsessed with who her sister was, and what happened to her on that final night of their family holiday.

“The island is turned upside down with searching. Members of the civil service are given days off to join the search. Prop planes loaned from a larger island nearby scan the shallow seas. The lagoon into which, mere days ago, Alison watched the blond boy hit golf balls is trawled to no avail.”

Saint X plays with the concept of voyeurism. Claire thinks she knows her sister — she thinks she understands her. Until she dies, and she realises she never really knew her at all. When she’s older, she starts reading Alison’s diary from the time she died and Claire realises how complex and complicated her sister was.

The novel is multi-layered; it’s not just about Alison’s death. It’s also about social dynamics and human relationships.

Saint X explores Claire’s obsession with her dead sister, and how oblivious she is to her own obsession. The book also explores white privilege and wealth, because the two men who were suspected of killing her were both men of colour. We come to understand how their lives were affected after they were falsely accused of murdering Alison. Life was not kind to them in the wake of their interactions with Alison.

“The eleven-year gap between Alison and me is notable, and requires some explanation. I was not an accident, nor had my parents been trying for years to conceive again…those were her exact words: ‘We decided to have you.’ As if they had known, when they chose to have another child, that the child would be me.”

The pace of the novel is incredibly slow — snail’s pace. Claire weaves in and out of stories really abruptly, but also over-explains and indulges the reader in excessive description. Most of the time, this felt unnecessary and it just felt like Alexis was trying to prolong the story. It’s actually kind of incredible how there’ll be a chapter where nothing really happens and Alexis has managed to draw that out over thousands of words.

Saint X does a fantastic job of highlighting the media and the general public’s obsession with true crime and the murder of young women. After Alison’s death, the media feed off the mystery and there is even a true-crime documentary series created about the mystery. It doesn’t help Claire’s family cope with the tragedy and it doesn’t help the two men suspected of her murder move on with their lives.

“At some point, my father must have taken the rolls of film from our vacation to be developed, because a few months after our move to Pasadena I found the photographs in his home office, in the back of his desk drawer.”

Whilst engrossing at first, Saint X flounders throughout. Truthfully, I don’t think that the ending to this novel is explosive or thrilling enough to warrant such a slow-paced story. If I’m being perfectly honest, I thought this book was okay, but not amazing.

Crime readers will be disappointed with this. Literary readers will probably love the deep characterisation and the slow burn of the plot. I’m not sure any reader will feel satisfied with the ending.

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

Saint X
Alexis Schaitkin
March 2020
Pan Macmillan Publishers

Charlotte Pass by Lee Christine

When ski patroller Vanessa Bell discovers human bones high on Mount Stillwell at Charlotte Pass ski resort, Detective Sergeant Pierce Ryder of the Sydney Homicide Squad is called in to lead the investigative team.

Arriving in the isolated, snowed-in village with Winterfest celebrations underway, Ryder soon determines that the bones are those of Celia Delaney, a young woman who disappeared from the ski resort in 1964 during the biggest winter storm in Australian alpine history.

When a second murder takes place, Ryder suspects that the deaths are related, and that the person responsible is still in the village. Amid the escalating tension, Ryder is desperate to make an arrest before the stakes rise even higher.

Set within the stunning Snowy Mountains, this intriguing mystery uncovers deadly, long-buried secrets in the valleys and mountains of this iconic area.

After publishing six romantic suspense novels, Charlotte Pass is Lee Christine’s first crime novel, set deep within the Snowy Mountains and spanning 55 years from 1964 to 2019.

In 1964, the young Celia Delaney goes missing on Mount Stillwell and in 2019, local ski patroller Vanessa Bell discovers her bones. The Sydney-based Detective Pierce Ryder arrives to investigate and what results is a fast-paced, break-neck search to discover who murdered Celia Delaney 55 years ago.

Setting is a strong character in the book, taking readers on a journey through the isolated Snowy Mountains region of Mount Stillwell. You could feel the cold, secluded atmosphere as you read each page. Lee Christine is really skilled at capturing a setting and making the reader feel like they’re really there. What a nice escape this book has been, away from the extreme weather conditions we’ve been experiencing here in Australia.

“The estimate Vanessa had given Ryder turned out to be spot on. In the daylight, he could see where the groomer had worked the day before, smoothing out the snow for the tube run some fifty metres from where she had discovered the bones, down the slope from the snow fences.”

Charlotte Pass is a fascinating read, a truly fabulous crime novel that had me guessing until the final page.

Lee builds tension and suspense with an intriguing premise and engaging characters. Clues are given sparingly and subtly, so by the end of the novel you feel like there are multiple people who could’ve possibly killed Celia five decades earlier. The resolution is not as foreseeable as some crime novels.

Vanessa and Ryder are strong protagonists — gutsy, brash, but also compassionate and understanding, sympathetic and empathetic. Ryder has never really recovered from a family tragedy years earlier, and until now, Vanessa has been functioning on her own without any real need for a significant other.

Both of these characters find something in the other that they didn’t even realise they needed.

“Libby and Detective Ryder were of the same mind when it came to the snow. Libby wasn’t here because of her love of the mountains. She’d followed a boyfriend to Charlotte Pass. A week after she’d taken the job at the kids’ club, he’d broken up with her. Libby now spent most of her time trying to avoid him.”

Romance builds between Vanessa and Detective Ryder, adding another layer of complication to the ensuing investigation. Readers will love the crime and thriller elements of the book, but there are moments of romance injected into Charlotte Pass at intermittent moments and so Lee Christine’s fans will be pleased to know she hasn’t completely strayed from her previous works.

Charlotte Pass features a large cast of dynamic characters — including the setting — but Lee crafts them all with such vivid detail and description that readers will have no issue following the story and engaging with the plot.

The conclusion of the novel is satisfying and realistic, and not predictable. Lee wrapped up the story really well, and I think her existing fanbase will rather enjoy this new direction she’s taking with her work.

“A Tiffany cigarette case wouldn’t have been an easy thing to get your hands on back in 1964, especially for a young dental nurse from Newcastle and her musician husband. They hadn’t exactly been rolling in money, according to a statement Lewicki had taken from Nigel. If not for his gigs, they wouldn’t have even been at Charlotte Pass.”

I think the cover does the book a disservice — it’s designed similar to a lot of historical fiction and romance fiction books. And whilst this may have been a deliberate choice to maintain interest from Lee’s existing fans, I think it may deter crime fiction readers from picking up the book because they won’t realise that it falls within the crime genre.

Atmospheric, suspenseful, and a really enticing read for all ages. Charlotte Pass is recommended for fans of crime fiction, mysteries, and psychological thrillers.

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

Charlotte Pass
Lee Christine
February 2020
Allen & Unwin Publishers

The Museum of Desire by Jonathan Kellerman

ONE WILD PARTY. FOUR COUNTS OF MURDER.

A mansion in Beverly Hills is leased out to host an event wild enough to herald the end of days.

The next day there isn’t a living soul to be seen.

But in the driveway sits a super-stretch limo, unlocked, with four bodies inside it. Nothing links the victims together. Each has been killed in a different way.

Now it’s up to brilliant psychologist Alex Delware and LAPD Lieutenant Milo Sturgis to begin their grisliest and most baffling case yet.

As they struggle to make sense of the mass slaying, they will be forced to confront a level of evil that nothing can prepare them for.

The Museum of Desire by Jonathan Kellerman is complex crime fiction that investigates five victims found in a chauffeur car in the backyard of a rental mansion, with no solid connection between any of them.

Jonathan Kellerman is skilled at presenting a unique premise and crime scene, and drawing the reader in without giving too much away. I was swept up in the misery and truly couldn’t guess the killer; I found myself surprised by the twists of the novel. There are enough clues laid down that make the killer plausible, but not too many that you can guess the character. That’s really hard to accomplish in crime fiction.

There were many layers to the crime — the five victims who, in the first instance, don’t seem to have a connection with each other, and also the significance of the Beverley Hills rental property where their bodies were found. Kellerman weaves through each complexity with appropriate pacing and attention, so the reader doesn’t feel too overwhelmed with how quickly the plot is moving.

“Mary Jane Huralnik, fifty-nine years old. Much younger than I’d thought. She’d looked elderly for a decade of progressively sadder mug shots. No felony arrests but plenty of misdemeanours up and down the state over a thirty-year period.”

Whilst the premise and the crime are intriguing and will interest readers, there are too many players involved for the storyline to be succinct and easy to follow.

Firstly, there are two main detectives and five victims. After the first few chapters, I started mistaking the victims for each other and couldn’t keep track of who was who. And for each victim, there was a family member or two being interviewed, a suspect or two, and then eventually we get to a convoluted conclusion regarding the culprit.

Whilst I found the conclusion surprising and satisfying, it was also very complex and messy and hard to understand, even for a seasoned crime reader.

“Nothing remotely nasty in either woman’s background. Perfect driving record for McGann’s five-year-old Nissan Sentra, Bauer had gotten a few speeding tickets in her Porsche Panamera GTS. The 101 North. Heading home in a hurry.”

What lets this book down is its complete lack of prose or internal monologue. The book is 99% dialogue, and even in a crime book that’s too much. I got no real sense of the detectives’ personalities or their state of mind, particularly the protagonist Alex Delaware.

The book is written in first person, and yet, there was no voice. There were no emotions or thoughts, it was just dialogue and action and when there are five victims, even that gets confusing at times. Truthfully, I felt the writing was really weak. The crime is interesting, and the pacing is well down, but the writing lacks any voice or characterisation. Kellerman just moves through the motions of a crime story without any real depth or care for the characters and their development.

“Nothing on knife-attack victim Contessa Welles but the computer was more than happy to tell me who owned the house on Clearwater.”

People who read crime novels and only crime novels? They’ll love this. It’s all about the plot and procedure and plot and procedure, and, more plot. But people who dip in and out of crime like me? People who are also looking for some depth to the characters? Maybe skip this one.

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

The Museum of Desire
Jonathan Kellerman
February 2020
Penguin Random House Publishers

Our Dark Secret by Jenny Quintana

From the author of The Missing Girl, Jenny Quintana’s gripping novel, Our Dark Secret, tells the story of two girls, two deaths and two decades of silence . . .

The crazy girls, they called them – or at least, Elizabeth liked to think they did. As a teenager in the late 1970s, she was clever, overweight and a perfect victim for the bullies. Then Rachel and her family arrived in town and, for Elizabeth, it was as if a light had been switched on. She was drawn to the bright and beautiful Rachel like a moth to a flame.

Rachel had her own reasons for wanting Elizabeth as a friend, and although their relationship was far from equal, Elizabeth would do anything for Rachel.

Then the first body was discovered.

Twenty years on, Elizabeth wants nothing more than to keep the secrets of her teenage years where they belong: in the past. But another body has been found, and she can’t keep running from what happened.

Can she?

Our Dark Secret is a psychological thriller about buried secrets, hidden pasts, and the bond between two girls who are hiding a dark secret.

The story follows a dual timeline and switches between 1978 and 1999, slowly revealing the story behind Elizabeth and Rachel’s friendship. From Elizabeth’s point of view, we understand that in 1978 she was lonely, overweight and in desperate need of friendship and companionship.

When she meets Rachel, she grows obsessive — watching her, following her, and desperately trying to find common ground with her. The two do become friends, over time, but it’s not out of loyalty. It’s out of shared trauma and eventually, a terrible crime that ties them both together forever.

In 1999, Elizabeth is similar to how we knew her before. She’s still overweight, lonely and anxious. She receives a phone call from an old neighbour. A body has been found in her old town, and the police suspect foul play. Elizabeth is terrified.

“People around me narrow their eyes as though I’ve done something terribly wrong. Usually it’s my size that affronts them. Sometimes it’s my clothes: mid-calf skirts and buttoned-up blouses. (I’ve never known how to dress).”

Elizabeth is an unreliable narrator — she lies a lot, twisting the truth to capture the attention of her father. And Rachel feels like a mythical character. We never really feel that we understand her because we only meet her through Elizabeth’s POV. Rachel seems to keep to herself, both in the physical sense and also in the social sense. She functions alone, and she doesn’t need companionship like Elizabeth does.

Elizabeth’s characterisation has the most depth, but she’s also the most flawed character. Her parents split up, her dad runs off with another woman, but Elizabeth only seems to care about herself and her non-existent friendship with Rachel. She’s not a great person, and not one that you’d want to be friends with, but I did enjoy reading about her in the book.

The mysteries within the book are enough to keep you engaged and interested in the story. A body has been found in Elizabeth’s hometown and slowly, we find out how Elizabeth and Rachel are connected to that character. Do I think this is the best crime/thriller novel I’ve read in this past year? No. I thought it was fine, but it wasn’t amazing. This is the kind of book you’d pick up at an airport and read on a flight.

“I was still angry with Melissa — the way she’d insulted me. She was only nine. Who did she think she was? It was bad enough at school when people my own age called me names, and then there was the stuff about Mum. Dad would be furious if he knew Mrs Wright had called her prissy.”

Personally, I felt that the 1999 storyline was unnecessary and didn’t add any value to the story. The majority of the book takes place in 1978 and if anything, the 1999 storyline (when it did happen) just detracted from the tense, fast-paced action of the other timeline.

Recommended for fans of thriller, crime and mystery novels.

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

Our Dark Secret
Jenny Quintana
February 2020
Pan Macmillan Publishers

Mr. Nobody by Catherine Steadman

When a man is found on a Norfolk beach, drifting in and out of consciousness, with no identification and unable to speak, interest in him is sparked immediately. From the hospital staff who find themselves inexplicably drawn to him; to international medical experts who are baffled by him; to the national press who call him Mr Nobody; everyone wants answers. Who is this man? And what happened to him?

Neuropsychiatrist Dr Emma Lewis is asked to assess the patient. This is her field of expertise, this is the chance she’s been waiting for and this case could make her name known across the world. But therein lies the danger. Emma left this same small town in Norfolk fourteen years ago and has taken great pains to cover all traces of her past since then.

But now something – or someone – is calling her back. And the more time she spends with her patient, the more alarmed she becomes.

Mr Nobody is a seductive, psychological thriller novel from British author and actress, Catherine Steadman.

When a man with a head wound and a missing memory walks out of the water on Holkham Beach in Norfolk, England in the middle of Winter, people are fascinated by his story. Who is he? Where did he come from? Why can’t he remember anything? London-based neuropsychiatrist Emma Lewis is sent in to investigate the man’s bizarre symptoms — she can’t resist the possibility that this could be a fugue case, and solving the mystery could be a big break in her career.

But, in order for her to meet the man and investigate his injury, Emma must return to her home town. She left 14 years earlier when a catastrophic incident thrust her family into the spotlight. But now she has a new name and a new life. Will people find out who she really is?

“It suddenly occurs to me how big a deal this case could be. If I take it, I won’t just be treating an extremely rare RA/Fugue patient, I’ll be responsible for averting another NHS diagnostic shit show. Because that’s exactly what the Piano Man case was.”

The premise and resulting storyline is a little absurd and at times hard to believe, but Catherine builds tension and intrigue well and successfully draws the reader in with secrets, unexpected events and unreliable characters.

There’s a gothic feel to this novel — secluded setting, mysterious pasts, and sinister motives — and the pacing is one of the strengths of the story. Events move forward with high speed and suspense, seducing readers and keeping them enthralled until the final page.

Mr. Nobody is more than just your standard psychological thriller — its intelligent, complex and multilayered, offering the reader more than just one mystery. Readers will find themselves desperate to know the truth about Mr. Nobody, but also about Emma’s past. Why did she flee Norfolk? What happened to her family? Why did she have to change her name?

“I notice his hair first. Across the car park a man stands talking to an older woman. I recognise that close crop of blond curls, at least I think I do…His back is to me, so I can’t quite tell for sure yet, but I feel the queasy tingly of nerves in the pit of my stomach.”

The POV throughout Mr. Nobody is incredibly messy. Each chapter in the book shifts between different characters; Emma and other featured characters are written in first person, but for ‘The Man’, his chapters are written in third person. And, within ‘The Man’ chapters, the perspective shifts and all of a sudden we’ll be focusing on someone else’s thoughts and actions and internal monologue. It’s incredibly clunky and confusing for the reader.

Additionally, Catherine fails to build enough tension and conflict between Emma and her family. At the beginning, they’re worried that their secret will be ousted to the world. But when it does, their reaction is incredibly mild and the situation resolves itself rather easily. It’s a bit disappointing, and doesn’t quite fit the tone of the rest of the novel.

“I check the video link; he’s very pale. I check his vital signs; his pulse is slightly raised. To be expected, the last time he was on the beach must have been terrifying.”

Incredibly well researched in the world of neuroscience, Mr Nobody is a spellbinding psychological thriller novel that will leave readers guessing. Who is Mr Nobody? And is he telling the truth?

Recommend for fans of thrillers, crimes, and suspenseful novels.

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

Mr Nobody
Catherine Steadman
February 2020
Simon and Schuster Publishers