One of those page turners which mystery enthusiasts just love to read. The type, which you want to gobble up as soon as possible to find the answer, yet one with its own fair share of "things which could have been better".
The plot is neat and unique. Alicia is a talented and successful painter who lives a seemingly perfect life with her loving photographer husband Graham, in one of London's posh areas. One night when her husband returns late from a fashion shoot, she shoots him five times in the face and is found by the police covered in blood and attempting to slit her own wrists. A full blown and sensationalized trial follows but Alicia remains strangely silent, never uttering a word since her husband's death, with all attempts to elicit any response proving futile. Conspiracy theories, innuendos and possible motivations are discussed and bandied about in public till she is finally sentenced to treatment at The Grove, a medical facility for dangerous criminals, with the case never fully solved. With Alicia refusing to break her silence, the media and the public gradually lose interest and "Alicia joins the ranks of other briefly famous murderers; faces we remember, but whose names we forget."
But psychotherapist Theo Faber is still strangely fascinated with Alicia's case and her refusal to speak for such a long time. Sacrificing other lucrative career opportunities, he transfers over to the Grove in order to become her therapist and lure her out of her adamant silence. He believes he can get her to talk and learn the mystery of what happened that night. But, can he really succeed where others have failed?
The narrative is mostly told from the point of view of Theo with focus on his personal life and his dealings with Alicia. Snippets of Alicia's diary are blended in from time to time, which gave a sense of the two timelines (one past, one present) converging for a dramatic finish.
The pace of the novel was good and the story gripping with no overblown or long-winded narratives. I finished it in only two-three readings, a testament to how much I wanted to get to the end and find out the answer.
I am usually a difficult customer to fool when it comes to murder mysteries. I don my detective hat from the get-go and glare at any new entrant to the story with a suspicious eye and forming all sorts of theories. But, the "twist" which came towards the end was mind-boggling: a genuine “Aha” moment. One instance, we are following the author down a road named "seemingly predictable plots". Next moment, we are blindsided into an alley and the "twist" thrown right in our unprepared faces.
The start was great, but I felt the story slightly meandered along during the middle part. The portrayal of the side characters left much to be desired; they were shoddily developed and it felt like nobody took any convincing to reveal everything and anything under the sun. I also didn't like the fact though at the start it felt it could be a little different from traditional murder mysteries with more emphasis on psychoanalysis and the mental aspect of the mystery, it gradually descended into a plain old murder investigation, leaving me a little disappointed.
I believe this is the type of book where you have a strong urge to give it five stars the moment you finish it, but the rating tends to diminish a bit as you analyze it more objectively and critically after a certain time. This frequently happens for me with page turners. In this case, I think I have been able to do it sufficient justice with a rating of 3.5 stars.
Overall, I liked it and would recommend for all readers in the mystery domain, be it seasoned or new comers, though it will hold much more appeal for the latter category.
My rating: 3.5/5 stars
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