One of our Books of the Year 2015.
October 2015 Debut of the Month.
An intriguing and successful experiment in presenting a crime thriller from a different angle, Richmond's accomplished debut encourages the reader to become the sleuth. Alice Salmon dies in what initially appears a tragic case of drowning. An academic tries to assemble the pieces together and get to the bottom of the mystery and we follow his attempts through the traces of herself Alice scattered in her wake, online and elsewhere: tweets, newspaper cuttings, blogs, diaries, letters, emails. An ever-shifting perspective blurs before the reader's eyes until the whole begins to coalesce and unpeels layers and layers of deceipt and secrets. Another variation on the currently thriving unreliable female narrator bandwagon but one that makes it work in a unique manner. Will give you a lot of second thoughts about what you leave behind in your own day to day life! Genuinely chilling. ~ Maxim Jakubowski
The Lovereading view...
This is likely to be one of 2015's most haunting and unforgettable debuts. Accident, murder or suicide? The whole mystery of Alice Salmon’s death is revealed in a series of letters from Professor Jeremy Cooke to an old friend which he never sends (why?) and Alice’s diaries, tweets, blogs, Facebook entries, emails, newspaper articles and the like. This adds a huge amount of suspense to the tale. Alice is fairly unstable, self-harming in her teens. She uses her diary for release, like blood-letting, but how reliable is her narrative? She was a young journalist (25) when she died. Jeremy Cooke had a long ago affair with her mother and knew Alice at university. He wants to write about her final days/hours, hence his research. The police are completely baffled! This shocking story of love, loss and obsession where everyone - including himself - has something to hide. It is a great read.
| Primary Genre | Thriller and Suspense |
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