Crime Thriller published by Berkley 21 Nov 23
Ms. Singh is a superb writer. She has the rare talent of sweeping her readers into her world and taking them along for the ride that her words paint. The suspense is bone chilling and, in fact, I still have goosebumps to show for it.
Luna has been living in London while the others have lived, loved, and thrived in New Zealand and yet it seems none of them has been able to shake the suicide of their friend Bea, most particularly Luna. When Bea’s sister Darcie invites everyone to the siblings’ isolated family home for a reunion, Luna is determined to find closure on Bea, especially because her own world is shrinking.
Against the sinister backdrop of a partially burnt Gothic mansion with ancient pipes and a cold front moving in, the friends are destined to find that things will never be the same again for any of them. The first incident is a doll that once belonged to Bea and was a childhood replica of her that supposedly was cremated with Bea but shows up on Darcie’s bed. Is Darcie’s reaction to the appearance of the doll extreme?
As Luna deciphers the story hidden in the midst of the recipes of the woman who came to this house as a bride and lived a solitary life under the thumb of a dominating and perhaps mad husband and a psychotic daughter, their own story plays out in real time.
Nothing is truly as it seems on the surface, and that’s before the accidents begin and one of their own is killed. The story that emerges is not pretty, but the subsequent actions leave an indelible impact on the reader. Would you bury a body if asked? That question is asked and answered, and the depths of human behavior revealed in remarkable fashion.
Grade: A
Summary:
Seven friends.
One last weekend.
A mansion half in ruins.
No room for lies.
Someone is going to confess.
Because there should have been eight. . . .They met when they were teenagers. Now they’re adults, and time has been kind to some and unkind to others—none more so than to Bea, the one they lost nine long years ago.
They’ve gathered to reminisce at Bea’s family’s estate, a once-glorious mansion straight out of a gothic novel. Best friends, old flames, secret enemies, and new lovers are all under one roof. But when the weather turns and they’re snowed in at the edge of eternity, there’s nowhere left to hide from their shared history.
As the walls close in, the pretense of normality gives way to long-buried grief, bitterness, and rage. Underneath it all, there’s the nagging feeling that Bea’s shocking death wasn’t what it was claimed to be. And before the weekend is through, the truth will be unleashed—no matter the cost. . . .
No excerpt available.
