I was initially intrigued by the description of this book and how it would be interpreted having been set in Norway and by the new author Helene Flood, who is a psychologist that specializes in violence, re-victimization and trauma-related shame and guilt.
Sara, a psychiatrist is the main character in this book, the whole story revolves around her, even when she’s not directly involved in some of the events.
The book starts with a voicemail message from Sara’s husband Sigurd saying he has arrived at the cabin with his friends for a weekend away. But the friends later phone her to see where Sigurd is as they have not seen or heard from him.
This is where the mystery and suspense begins.
Parts of Sara’s work start linking pieces together about the disappearance of her husband. Being a therapist, Sara starts to question her whole life and marriage, feeling guilty for a past misdemeanour and asking herself how well she really knows her husband.
The police seem to be insinuating that Sara might be involved firstly in her husband’s disappearance and then his subsequent death.
As the story unfolds you start understanding Sara’s lack of confidence and self assurance. There are also some characters in this book that are hard to decipher – are they there to help or hurt Sara?
I loved all the twists and turns and especially the seemingly lack of concern from the police towards Sara, albeit not the case.
Not to put a spoiler out there, but take note of the lesser spoken about characters in this story, as there are cleverly hidden signs, pointing you in the direction of the actual killer along the way.
Definitely a tantalising book and one I thoroughly enjoyed reading, but I would say it’s more of a mystery and suspense story rather than a psychological thriller.
Thank you to both NetGalley and Quercus Books for providing me with a copy of this book in return for my honest review.