Kate Alice Marshall

A long, drawn out and repetitive domestic drama.

Fourteen years ago a wealthy couple, Randolph and Irene Palmer, were gunned down in their beautiful home. Suspicion falls on one of their daughters, Emma, but Juliette and Daphne (her sisters) might also be guilty. No arrests were ever made. All left Arden Hills and made lives elsewhere. Now, however, Emma returns to her childhood home because her husband, Nathan Gates, has lost his job and she is expecting their first child and they need a place to live. Because she shares ownership with the sisters she hasn’t spoken to in years, Emma feels that it is time to reconnect and make decisions. Nathan does not know any details about Emma’s past. Unfortunately, the memories of the night of the murders are murky and no one is quite certain about what really happened.

Does that description sound confusing? The whole narrative flips between then and now and no one is able to do more than guess about what happened and who did what the night of the murders. That and the constant repetition and uncertainty made this whole book quite annoying. I didn’t care for any of the characters - they were all unlikeable as they tried to justify their behaviors through faulty reasoning. The writing style and the melodrama did not appeal. The attempts at twists and shocking revelations missed the mark. In short, I did not like the story.

I listened to the audiobook while reading along in the e-book ARC provided by the publisher and was quite disappointed with the narrator as she attempted to do all the voices with most everyone sounding the same. She definitely had some overly dramatic moments. This would have benefited with a multicast performance.

Overall, not at all to my taste.… (mehr)

I had to look this book up too. I got too behind in my reviews and I can't remember anything. The reviews triggered some memories of the book that a girl gets pregnant and her and her husband go back to live in the parent's house where the parents were killed. Everyone in the small town thinks that Emma had killed them. Oh, I think it's coming back. And then her husband dies which was a very thankful ending. I couldn't stand him. And then after that, I remember there were some video cameras involved that captured some things on tape. It made it seem like maybe it was the sisters, but in the end, I think it was the cop in town, who was friends with her father, that did it. I did enjoy this but probably not the best thriller ever. Definitely had me guessing a bit trying to figure out who did it and I thought it may had been the sisters. But turns out, it was just a dirty copy again. Oh, there was a flash drive, I remember the flash drive. It's all coming back. And trying to figure out the sisters whereabouts when they were young and this happened. Made you think it was the sisters for a while. Overall, good read. Maybe I would've rated it higher if I reviewed it right after reading it, but here we are.… (mehr)