This book will be published on May 14, 2019. I read an advance reader's copy; there will undoubtedly be differences between the version I read, and the published edition.
...do you ever read one of those really engrossing books and then it ends and you're just left with your mouth kind of slightly ajar and not sure what happened at the end but the bits leading up to the end were pretty good so it's not really clear why the end bits don't make a lot of sense or connect?
...an amazon summary, "This brilliantly written thriller explores the lives--and deaths--of two girls, and what they will do to win justice. Sure to be one of the most talked-about books of the year!
Nothing's been the same for Beth Teller since the day she died.
Her dad is drowning in grief. He's also the only one who has been able to see and hear her since the accident. But now she's got a mystery to solve, a mystery that will hopefully remind her detective father that he needs to reconnect with the living.
The case takes them to a remote Australian town, where there's been a suspicious fire. All that remains are an unidentifiable body and an unreliable witness found wandering nearby. This witness speaks in riddles. Isobel Catching has a story to tell, and it's a tale to haunt your dreams--but does it even connect to the case at hand?
As Beth and her father unravel the mystery, they find a shocking and heartbreaking story lurking beneath the surface of a small town." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE
Beth Teller is a ghost. She died in a car accident and her dad has been the only one who can see her, and is also grieving her a lot. He's trying to resume his life as a detective, and Beth follows him around to make sure he's okay and kind of looking out for him constantly. During his new case, he is investigating a fire. A children's home, basically like a giant foster care home, burned down and a body was found inside. There was one witness, but he's been told she was on a drugs and went to the hospital for her injuries but also to sober up.
The detective goes to talk to the witness, and she starts telling him kind of her life story, but the beginnings so he can understand the present day. It all seems to be kind of a metaphor though with bits of reality sprinkled in.
The detective also starts to learn about the town, and a local cop brings up a cold case from 20 years ago when they're friend went missing. Beth witnesses her father trying to maintain his life and follows him around.
That's enough summary.
It was really important to read the author's note on this book. They explain that a lot of this is based on aboriginal stories, which I'm not familiar with at all (sadly), and explain some aspects of the story that were a bit murky to me.
However, I really liked all of the storytelling that was directly related to solving the crime. All of it felt authentic, and I really liked her father as a person. Which, isn't necessary for the story, but it always nice.
I'm also going to say that the amazon summary may be a little misleading, but I don't think that's a bad thing. It's just true in a way I didn't expect.
I also really liked the storytelling that the witness gave, where it was metaphorical, gave the history of her family, but, I also really struggled with how it all tied together in the end. How she told her story made sense as the detective connected it to the case, but, but but but, everything after that and how it connects to Beth, was a little....under and over whelming to me because I couldn't make sense of it. Perhaps I didn't read it carefully enough? Or missed some clues along the way? But, how things resolved with Beth didn't feel like an authentic resolution. I was looking for more of something to tie into her father, especially because it was mentioned she was haunting him at one point. So, I kind of wish there had been some way to tie the familial aspect in better.
All in all, I did like reading the book, I'm just left with a sense of mild confusion.
Happy reading!
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