Mystery | Book Chatter

The IT Girl
By Ruth Ware
Gallery/Scout Press, 9781982155261, July 2022, 432pp.

The Short of It:

Everyone knows an “IT” girl.

The Rest of It:

You know who she is. She’s the one everyone gravitates towards. She is a little unhinged but doesn’t care. She might annoy you but life without her would be grim. April is this girl and when Hannah meets her at Oxford, she knows that they will be more than roomies. What she doesn’t know is that April will weave her way into a very close circle of friends and then show up dead. Murdered.

The night of April’s murder, Hannah watched someone exiting the stairwell and her testimony is what led to the suspect’s prison sentence. But now the suspect has died in prison and Hannah begins to question his innocence. The entire time he has claimed to be innocent. Could she have gotten it wrong and sent an innocent man to prison?

Ten years has passed since that horrible night but Hannah cannot get it out of her mind. Now, married to one of her classmates and expecting her first child, she becomes a little obsessed with finding out the truth. Against her husband’s wishes, she returns to the scene of the crime to see if anything stands out to her. What she thought was an open and shut case becomes something much more complicated.

I’ve been cautious about picking up every Ware book that comes out because they were beginning to feel a little formulaic but The IT Girl was just what I wanted. It keeps you guessing, the pace is good and if you like to read for entertainment then this will check all the boxes for you.

Recommend.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Lemon
By Kwon Yeo-sun, Janet Hong (Translated)
Other Press, 9781635423310, August 2022. 160pp.

The Short of It:

At its heart, Lemon is a crime novel, but it’s actually so much more.

The Rest of It:

In the summer of 2002, when Korea is abuzz over hosting the FIFA World Cup, eighteen-year-old Kim Hae-on is killed in what becomes known as the High School Beauty Murder. Two suspects quickly emerge: rich kid Shin Jeongjun, whose car Hae-on was last seen in, and delivery boy Han Manu, who witnessed her there just a few hours before her death. But when Jeongjun’s alibi checks out, and no evidence can be pinned on Manu, the case goes cold. ~ Indiebound

If you pick this book up expecting it to read like a typical crime novel, you will be disappointed. It slowly unfolds but if you aren’t careful, you’ll miss all the tiny details. The author tells the story with great detail, and yet you will be slightly puzzled when you turn the last page because it will appear as if nothing has been determined, but as someone in my book club said, the clues are right there.

This is a short novel at only 160 pages but it’s so full and satisfying to read. It can be read in one sitting but you will want to savor it a little to catch all the nuances the author so skillfully crafted. I don’t want to share too much here but it’s very good. I highly recommend it.

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

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