My review
I do not bake or cook, so I wouldn’t know much about the slow cooking techniques, but I have watched a lot of cookery shows. Based on that, I can say that this book is a slow simmer where all the ingredients (characters) in the pot are cooked (built-up) slowly over time, so that the flavor of each ingredient (characteristics, nature) is felt both separately and in toto.
Each character has her own individual personality and also they gel together as a group, even if they don’t seem to know each other that well. Such is the aroma of the book by Jessica Strawser. The suspense and mystery is felt like the elusive spice, whose flavor lifts up the book and that you feel you should guess but are unable to.
The book was a slow start for me, I generally like those fast thrillers, but as I stuck on, read further, I realized there is something captivating about the whole neighborhood. 6 ladies from the same neighborhood, with houses across the street and after a backyard party, one disappears with the kids. The story rolls into play then. The why, the how, the when, the guilt, the worry, the sadness all mix together to form a nice gumbo. (not really sure if gumbo works, never cooked it. But I liked the sound of it)
Jessica Strawser has this different style of writing where till the very end, I was left wondering about the mystery. Though the author left clues as separate chapters in italics, written by an unknown character (I assumed it was the missing woman), I couldn’t really guess the ending. And I didn’t want to, also. I just wanted to savor the aroma and the flavor and reach the end.
The only niggle, I could think of, is I wanted the book to read faster. But that is all me and my choices, the book works beautifully as it is too.
A gentle neighborhood mystery with a missing woman and its aftereffects, where each character is developed slowly over time, where their back stories are revealed as the book progresses, with an atmosphere of mystery and gentle suspense running in the background is what this book promises.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and publisher St. Martin’s Press, and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
My rating : 4 stars
About the Author
By day, Jessica Strawser is editor-at-large for Writer’s Digest magazine, North America’s leading publication for aspiring and working writers since 1920. By night, she is a fiction writer of two novels: ALMOST MISSED YOU and NOT THAT I COULD TELL (publishing in the UK in April 2018). And by the minute, she is a proud wife and mom to two super sweet and super young kids in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Book blurb
Drinks in hand, a group of neighbourhood women gather around a fire pit to enjoy a rare child-less Saturday night. Giddy with freedom, they drink too much, share secrets they wish, perhaps, they hadn’t, and enjoy getting to know each other better.
The single newcomer. The imperfect mom. The new-born parents. The military wife. The almost divorcee.
Come Monday morning, one of them is gone.
As a police investigation launches, the women will band together and ask whether they should have noticed that something was amiss. But how well can you really know your neighbours, when appearances can be so deceiving?
Product Details
Publication date : 27th March, 2018
Publisher : St. Martin’s Press
Language : English
Available on Amazon
Entertaining neighbourhood mystery
37 Responses
I loved the introduction of your review Shalini!
Hahaha don’t ask me how I got this idea, as I don’t like cooking but the book just felt like something out of a slow cooker
Nice review, nice way of comparing the story with cooking, cool
Best part is I don’t cook, I don’t like cooking hehehe…
Even I don’t cook. I just eat lol
Hahaha… I am not even a foodie. My friends hate going out for lunch with me, as I don’t eat much, so either they have to finish the dish or they have to pack it up… Hehehe
I am a foodie and I eat very fast
Oh that’s nice… Hehe
Thank you
Thank you ,
😊
Great review
Thank you.
Welcome
Love your slow cooker analogy! lol.
And…. check that cover!
Cover and story was good. It was a gentle mystery. I was laughing at my own review, a person who doesn’t cook joined the two hehehe
hahahaha. I do cook but I have yet to buy myself a slow cooker. I want one though 😉
Go for it… Is it also known as crock pot??? I have read this word in novels
😆😂😆😂
Yes it is also called a crockpot.
You are so funny.
I have no idea what these are. I don’t think it is available here. I have just read about it. Hehehe
Lol. Clearly good explanations. Although if you don’t do much cooking, it may actually be the perfect thing for you. Toss your ingredients in, leave alone and eat in a few hours.
Haha sounds great. I don’t think my kind of food needs hours of cooking. But I will think about it. Not sure if it is available here. Got to check
LOL. When/ if 😉 you’re ready, I’ll send you some recipes… just about everything can go in the crock. I saw one the other day for a lasagne even!
Cool.
😉😉😂😂 if and when
😉
Love your review, Shalini! The cover is beautiful too. ❤
Thank you so much ♥️♥️
Sounds like a great book! But, at the beginning of your review I had to flip back to the cover because I was thinking “…it doesn’t LOOK like a cookbook!” LOL! Great analogy!
Hahaha no idea why I used that analogy. I don’t even cook.😉😉😂😂
Well, it still worked!! Lol!
Haha thank you
I love your blogging, u r really doing great job. I get to know the theme of the text.
Thank you so much. Much appreciated
Reblogged this on Die Erste Eslarner Zeitung – Aus und über Eslarn, sowie die bayerisch-tschechische Region!.
Thank you Michael
An interesting review. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you… This was a different review. I got suggestions to buy a crock pot after this and loads of recipes. And I don’t cook
😂😂😉😉