After years of struggle, Raven Kendrick is giving up on her dream of a theater career in New York. Returning to her home town, she moves back in with her parents and resigns herself to a quiet life.
But that humble dream is shattered when her tyrannical father is murdered. Even worse, Raven is convinced her beloved mother killed him while sleepwalking. So instead of calling the police, she decides to cover up the crime.
But as detectives close in, Raven's carefully constructed lies begin to crumble. Her alibi isn’t holding up and her father's business partner is asking way too many questions. And she’s pretty sure her mother knows more than she’s saying.
With the police circling, Raven is shocked to find that she herself has become suspect number one. She needs to get to the truth of what happened that night—and fast.
But as she digs, Raven uncovers a tangled web of buried resentments and festering revenge. And behind that web, a horrifying secret that will change her life forever.
Unfortunately, local familiarity was about the only thing this book had going for it. There was nothing here that made it stand out from the dozens of mystery/thrillers I’ve read recently. In fact, parts of it dragged on painfully, while other parts tipped so far into the unbelievable that it was laughable. The twists were interesting at first, but even those became repetitive until we finally got the truth about that night spelled out between mother and daughter. And the so-called big reveal? Well, I saw that one coming from miles away.
What was also painfully obvious was why Raven wasn’t making it as an actress in New York. That girl could not act or deflect to save her life. Every time she spoke to the police, she may as well have had a neon sign above her head flashing GUILTY. And the one time when it mattered the most, when her survival instincts should have been screaming at her that something wasn’t right? She couldn’t even bluff her way to safety.
The incompetence didn’t stop there however. Both police departments investigating her father’s disappearance felt laughably ineffective. A man vanishes, there are clear red flags (no sheets on the bed in the house he was supposedly staying in for starters), and yet no forensics are ever sent in? Later, the officer's visit Raven’s home, openly suspicious that the family is lying, and still they just… look around. No evidence collection. No deeper investigation. It didn’t feel realistic in the slightest and made it hard to take the mystery seriously.
All things considered, while this one just didn’t work for me, I can see it appealing to readers who are new to the genre and haven’t yet been burned by predictable reveals and procedural shortcuts. I do still like this author enough that I’d be willing to give another book a shot down the line, just hopefully one that feels a bit tighter and more believable.
DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.
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