The Good Girl by Mary Kubica was a book I had heard good things of. Whilst it was technically not part of the TOPCWFC2015 I wanted something that was going to be interesting enough to keep me occupied on my recent plane ride. Therefore I added this to my very large download pile.
This was another book told from three viewpoints (I seem to have had a run of these recently) split into before and after time frames. Firstly there is Eve who is the mother of missing Mia and married to a Judge. Gabe is the policeman who is investigating Mia’s disappearance. Then there is Colin, who kidnaps Mia. Early on in the story Mia returns but it is clear that something very disturbing has happened, as she has complete amnesia about the time she was away. The story progresses through a series of flashbacks as Eve tries to help her daughter come to terms with her kidnapping and find out what went on.
I’m in two minds about this story. The premise was good, and it was an interesting take on a kidnap story. However there was just something that didn’t work for me. It all seemed a bit too cliché and the fact that I guessed the end twist about three quarters of the way through was a bit disappointing.
I unfortunately didn’t really like the characters and found the relationships to be a bit stilted. I was left really not caring about any of them or what was happening which is never a good way to read a mystery. I do think partly the problem is my expectations were quite high, and this can often lead to disappointment. Equally I don’t know whether my enjoyment was hampered by the fact that I read it whilst travelling and broke off half way through to watch the film of Gone Girl on the plane, or if it was just that the writing wasn’t really my style. I found that the switching between viewpoints was really annoying, and for some reason they didn’t flow very well.
It was a shame as the story could have been really good, and I had high hopes. However I’m afraid to say that for me although it certainly wasn’t a bad read and I wanted to read to the end, neither did I find it particularly ground exciting. Maybe it just goes to show I should stick to reading people who will be at Harrogate and concentrate on the TOPCWFC2015.
A crime readers blog 