Astrid Webb is missing, but she’s also sick and usually stays at home.
Bryan Webb arrives home from a cycle ride to find the police waiting outside his perfect countryside cottage to inform him that they’ve found his wife’s car, with blood inside, abandoned near the woods. Bryan immediately has questions: why had Astrid left the house? In fact, given her many health issues, how had she left the house? DI Ronson has questions, too, including where Bryan has been and what his relationship with his wife is like, because we all know that it’s usually the husband to blame when a wife goes missing…
What’s it about?
A lot of unanswered questions! What has happened to Astrid? What has Bryan been up to? Why didn’t the husband know his wife had a stalker – again? Can DI Ronson and DS Maxwell find the truth? Although there are definitely elements of a police procedural here, ‘The Wreckage of Us’ is fundamentally, as the title suggests, a psychological thriller that explores how the past has led to the present…and what’s really happened between this couple.
Meanwhile, we meet Celine, who’s struggling with her life, including an older boyfriend, Seth, who doesn’t seem to like her very much, and wonder who is emailing Astrid, so there’s plenty of plot to intrigue us!
What’s it like?
Well crafted. From the shocking prologue to the satisfying epilogue, Malakin switches point of view and time frame frequently and effectively, gradually revealing more and more of the history of Bryan and Astrid’s relationship. Most of the reveals felt mildly predictable to me, but that wasn’t a problem: I really enjoyed the journey to get there, although ‘enjoy’ feels like an odd word to use with a story that could easily be plastered with trigger warnings!
Final thoughts
This was an absorbing, gripping read which feels very zeitgeisty. I particularly enjoyed the way all the plot points came together at the end and I look forward to reading more by Dan Malakin.
‘The Wreckage of Us’,
Dan Malakin,
2024, VIPER, paperback