whitneydaniell

by: Gytha Lodge
Published: Aug 8, 2023
Genre: Thriller, Murder Mystery, Fiction
416 Pages, E-Book ARC Courtesy of NetGalley
GoodReads Link

To me, this was a difficult read and it took me wayy too long to get through it. I fell asleep reading this book many times!

A town is ripped apart by the idea of a serial killer on the loose. Meanwhile, Aisling Cooley, a single mother of two is searching for answers about her childhood and the whereabouts of her father, who left her and her mother when she was very young. In search of him, Aisling uploads her DNA to a genealogy website and what-do-ya-know, she shares DNA with the suspected killer! Expect, no one knows who he or she is.

Detectives turn over every stone and followed every lead. I appreciated reading about good police work. However, there are many characters at play in this story, enough to keep you guessing in every chapter.

A random turn of events changes the entire trajectory of the story and (to me) this is where things started to pick up.

Part II is really where the meat and potatoes start to get some flavor. Aisling is not who we assume her to be. Ethan and Finn are hiding something from everyone. Who is Jack O’Keane and where did he come from? Could the killer be right under our noses the whole time?

My Final Thoughts: I think the language and descriptions made this difficult for me to read but, I appreciated the glossary of British policing terms! To my own account, I tend to not read books not written in American English because I spend too much time looking up the words so that I can understand the context – which usually adds to my reading time. Again, this one picked up for me in Part II but, I struggled for 50% of the book. Would I recommend it? Sure.

One-Word Summary: Pyre