Mystery | Book Chatter

The Girls in the Garden
By Lisa Jewell
Atria Books, Hardcover, 9781476792217, June 2016, 320pp.

The Short of It:

The “girls” in this garden have plenty of secrets and that made this a really hard book to put down.

The Rest of It:

*No Spoilers*

After their house is burned down by their mentally ill father, Grace and Pip find themselves in a new flat in London. Their mother, Clare, hasn’t given them all of the details of their father’s care but the reality is that she’s afraid of what their future holds and not sure if the marriage can be saved.

In the meantime, she’s moved them to this lovely neighborhood which includes a private park (garden) for the inhabitants who live there. This common area is where all of the families hang out, mainly the children, so Grace and Pip find themselves the focus of much scrutiny if not friendship. As they begin to make a place for themselves, Clare finds herself fascinated with her neighbors, mainly the seemingly perfect Adele and her attractive husband Leo.

Then, in the midst of all this perfection, one of the girls is found unconscious after a neighborhood celebration and everyone has their own suspicions as to what happened.

This was a really good read. There is so much to consider. The characters are well-developed and Jewell does an excellent job of tossing doubt around without being too obvious. The setting was a huge draw for me. You know that scene in the movie Notting Hill where Anna Scott and William Thacker jump the fence into that private park? Well, the setting in this book is just like that one. Green, lush, private and filled with secrets. It’s wonderful to be surrounded by so much beauty but also alarming to always be on display, There is no privacy since all of their homes open onto this common area. Imagine kids coming and going and adults partying at all hours, etc.

I can’t recommend this book highly enough. Each and every time I picked it up I just wanted to keep reading. Jewell’s handling of what happened that night, along with the very real concerns that Clare has regarding her family, are balanced beautifully.

Jewell has written lots of other books so now I feel the need to read them all. Have you read any of her books?

Lisa Jewell

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GIVEAWAY

This tour includes a giveaway which closes on 10/3. Click here to enter.

Source: Review & giveaway copy provided by the publisher via TLC Book Tours.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Before the Fall

By Noah Hawley
Grand Central Publishing, Hardcover, 9781455561780, May 2016, 400pp.

The Short of It:

A plane goes down. There are only two survivors, one of which is unable to remember the plane’s final moments due to a head injury. The mystery of what happens on board slowly unfolds.

The Rest of It:

Plane crashes fascinate me. There’s always so much to learn. Passengers confined to a tiny space thousands of feet above ground with absolutely nowhere to go, the complexity of the instruments, the flight crew and yes… the passengers themselves. I didn’t need much prodding when a copy of this book became available.

This is a riveting read. It reads like a mystery and there’s plenty of suspense to keep you guessing. What exactly happened on that plane? Hawley’s passenger lists includes some well-to-do passengers, two young children, an artist who boards last-minute but is pretty much a stranger to the rest of the cabin, the flight crew and the bodyguard assigned to protect one of the families on board.

I really enjoyed this book. There have been some books like it in the past few years but the storytelling in this one seemed effortless and the pacing was just right.

I recommend it.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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