It begins with a phone call…and it ends with a murder.
TLDR: I loved this book. If you’re a fan of crime thrillers, you should probably read it.
Oh how I do love an unreliable narrator and a narrative unwrapped in gradual layers until what you thought you knew lies in tatters.
What’s it about?
Obsession. Jealousy. Secrets.
An actress gathers her close family and best friends on a Greek island; thirty-six hours later, one of them is dead. You might expect an investigation to begin, but our narrator declares that this is a whydunnit, not a whodunnit. This, they insist, is ‘a true story’, a reconstruction of events, and proof that character is fate.
What’s it like?
Stunning, with a distinctive narrative voice. ‘Never open a book with the weather,’ advises our narrator, quoting someone or other. This is a perfect introduction to our guide, who views life through the lens of literature and is constantly experimenting with how life could be, might be, should be.
I absolutely loved the way Michaelides developed the story, but I fear that to say anything further would be too revealing!
Final thoughts
This might appear to be a classic murder mystery at first – especially when malevolent weather makes it impossible to blame an outsider for the murder, or for any of the suspects to leave the island – but as the twists in the very fabric of the narrative build to a crescendo, the final conclusion is simultaneously shocking and inevitable.
A brilliantly crafted thriller that led me to immediately locate my copy of ‘The Silent Patient’, Michaelides’ debut novel, which was purchased on impulse, then, as is my tendency, forgotten during a deluge of Must Reads. I am now looking forward to being equally transported!