I had this juicy thriller on my TBR bookshelf for a while, and I picked it up for some early summer reading by the pool. How indulgent it was, The Dark Lake by Sarah Bailey.
Gemma Woodstock grew up in Smithson and has settled there as an adult, becoming a police officer and having a son with her partner. One day, right before Christmas, she is called to the scene of a murder involving one of her high school classmates behind that very school following the school play. Gemma tells everyone that she barely knew Rosalind Ryan and that it won't affect her ability to investigate the murder. But just like Rosalind, Gemma is full of secrets that she can't reveal, including her affair with her work partner, Felix and the true cause of the suicide of her high school sweetheart in their final year of school. When the case gets personal and Gemma feels her sanity slipping, she begins to wonder if she will ever solve the case and move on with her life, in every way.
I quite enjoyed this story and found it to hit the sweet spot of murder and mayhem with a good story twist. Gemma was an interesting character whom I felt could have been been fleshed out more in terms of character arc. Rosalind came across as subhuman in the way that only the recently deceased can be -- perfect, angelic, beyond beautiful, mysterious. You know. I did find that the story arc was interesting and kept me wanting to find out exactly who killed the woman.
There was a lot going on in this story, and underneath the big story line of Rosalind's murder were several minor story lines, some of which had to do with the big one and some that didn't. If you don't like spoilers, stop here and pick up the book. Otherwise...
The story line that didn't have anything to do with the murder was Gemma's affair with Felix and the difficulty she is having at home with her partner and father of her child, Ben. It was a plot piece that I think was meant to humanize Gemma while also providing us with the characteristic of hardheartedness, but instead I felt that it took away from the task at hand, which was Gemma's relationship to Rosalind and her willingness to take on the murder investigation while there is a connection that is foreshadowed throughout the book. I am having a hard time reconciling this plot point with the main thrust of the book. The other story line that was only tangentially related to the murder was that Rosalind's father was not who she thought it was. We find out who it was, but it feels as though it was an unnecessary piece of the story that muddied up the point of the story.
The personal connection that Gemma has to Rosalind is her high school sweetheart, who broke up with her to date Rosalind. This is connected to the murder (and no, Gemma didn't do it), but it ends up being convoluted and the ending comes upon us quickly. It left me feeling like the story was quite incomplete, as in 50 pages the murder is quickly solved with a slight threat to Gemma, her affair ends abruptly because she pushes Felix too far, and Gemma comes to grips with her past. I would have been much happier with the story if it had chosen a path and stuck with it instead of trying to trail-jump all over the mountain.
I quite enjoyed this story and found it to hit the sweet spot of murder and mayhem with a good story twist. Gemma was an interesting character whom I felt could have been been fleshed out more in terms of character arc. Rosalind came across as subhuman in the way that only the recently deceased can be -- perfect, angelic, beyond beautiful, mysterious. You know. I did find that the story arc was interesting and kept me wanting to find out exactly who killed the woman.
There was a lot going on in this story, and underneath the big story line of Rosalind's murder were several minor story lines, some of which had to do with the big one and some that didn't. If you don't like spoilers, stop here and pick up the book. Otherwise...
The story line that didn't have anything to do with the murder was Gemma's affair with Felix and the difficulty she is having at home with her partner and father of her child, Ben. It was a plot piece that I think was meant to humanize Gemma while also providing us with the characteristic of hardheartedness, but instead I felt that it took away from the task at hand, which was Gemma's relationship to Rosalind and her willingness to take on the murder investigation while there is a connection that is foreshadowed throughout the book. I am having a hard time reconciling this plot point with the main thrust of the book. The other story line that was only tangentially related to the murder was that Rosalind's father was not who she thought it was. We find out who it was, but it feels as though it was an unnecessary piece of the story that muddied up the point of the story.
The personal connection that Gemma has to Rosalind is her high school sweetheart, who broke up with her to date Rosalind. This is connected to the murder (and no, Gemma didn't do it), but it ends up being convoluted and the ending comes upon us quickly. It left me feeling like the story was quite incomplete, as in 50 pages the murder is quickly solved with a slight threat to Gemma, her affair ends abruptly because she pushes Felix too far, and Gemma comes to grips with her past. I would have been much happier with the story if it had chosen a path and stuck with it instead of trying to trail-jump all over the mountain.
No comments:
Post a Comment