I haven’t read anything by this author before or at least I don’t remember if I have. I picked this up because I thought it would be a lighter read than what I am supposed to be reading, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, and it was. I believe it is supposed to be more of a mystery than a thriller, the plot really involves two mysteries, one that was assumed to have been solved. and a new one happening currently.

The real story though, is about the long term effects of deceit, guilt and abuse. These themes run through several of the characters lives in a sometimes convoluted, multi-generational web. The long term impact of secrets kept and the question of what if?? haunts some of the major characters.

The book raises some serious questions without attempting to solve them, more like just serving them up as food for thought. How well do we really know anyone else? How far will we go to protect our family and how justified will we be in our actions? Are some people irredeemable?

For all the good that there is in this book and there is plenty to be found, I still found some of the voice to be too trite, (think “inspirational” quotes used in dialogue), the perpetrator was obvious, really obvious, and I didn’t find some of the resolution realistic. Overall, it was a decent, light read with a good job done maintaining multiple story lines, past and present, and then linking them together.