Synopsis:
Hannah Tigone, bestselling Australian crime author, is crafting a new novel that begins in the Boston Public Library: four strangers; Winifred, Cain, Marigold and Whit are sitting at the same table when a bloodcurdling scream breaks the silence. A woman has been murdered. They are all suspects, and, as it turns out, each character has their own secrets and motivations – and one of them is a murderer.
While crafting this new thriller, Hannah shares each chapter with her biggest fan and aspirational novelist, Leo. But Leo seems to know a lot about violence, motive, and how exactly to kill someone. Perhaps he is not all that he seems…
Ok…so first, let me say, this is a quick, easy read in case you are looking for something mindless to read this summer. I wouldn’t suggest you NOT to read it (sorry for double negative for you grammar nazis) but maybe check out instead of buying the book. I regret using my points to buy this book! Anyhoo… I do have some issues with the author. I don’t think listing my issues will give away any spoilers so listing them below. Let me say this first…if you are not from the United States (she is from Australia), I do not want to read your book when you randomly insert your thoughts about life in my country, especially when you just sort of pause your writing and put in a sentence or two of a summary statement. If you grew up with siblings, you remember how you can badmouth your sibling but you better not hear anyone else badmouth your sibling? Well, this is the same. I doubt I will read any more of her books. If I am reading a mystery/thriller book, let me just read for fun, please. I don’t want to read your “commentaries” on race, police, politics, etc. So…here are the examples I highlighted:
Chapter 12: Here is an article if you want to know the truth about higher minimum wages and cost of living (ARTICLE)
“He takes the five and gives me back the ten. “Let’s not get carried away—I just brought it up.” “Oh…yes…sorry. We don’t really tip in Australia. I’m having a hard time getting used to it.” “No tips, eh? Can’t say I understand how that would work.” “I guess we pay people more for the kind of jobs that you tip people for here.” “We?” “Employers. It’s the law.”
Chapter 14:
“The Sinclair Fellowship came with medical insurance, and so I am woefully ignorant of how the American system works, but Australian travellers have long been warned about the danger of entering the United States without insurance.”
Chapter 16: The below quote is from Leo who is giving the author advice about her new book. He was wanting her to put in COVID/mask example. In this example, he states that the non-maskers would be the ones to basically be the ones to become violent with the masker. Ok, so from all the videos I watched, the maskers were the ones who went “cray cray” on the non-maskers (here in U.S. anyway). I watched one where a lady went bat-crap crazy on a mom because her children weren’t masked. So, I hated this quote because it was totally the other way around here.
“… In this last chapter, for example, Freddie and her colleagues would be careful to mask up. Freddie might choose between styles of masks rather than jackets. And you could illustrate the rising tensions between maskers and anti-maskers by having them witness an altercation between the two groups. In fact, pursuant to the suggestions in my last letter, the altercation could become fatal. I promise you it’s not beyond the realms of plausibility that a masker would end being garroted with their own mask by someone from the opposite camp.”
Chapter 26: again, Leo, the author’s “advisor” to her new book… a preference to this comment…he is asking her if the characters are black or white…if black, then her scene is totally unrealistic because “the likelihood of being shot by police is quite high.” The following quote infuriated me…
“…I know you’re not white, so maybe your characters aren’t either, and it is only my inherent bias that makes me see them as white unless you tell me otherwise.”
Chapter 27: Another Leo quote…sigh…no…just no…just because Australia has seen news clips doesn’t mean you can assume a statement is true for every instance. This is called fallacy of composition – just because it is true for one doesn’t mean it is true for all…
“In answer to your question, yes it does matter what color your characters are. As I’ve already explained, the police over here are a lot more dangerous if Cain is Black. Even if he walked into a police station with his hands up, they might shoot him… Do you want readers to say this couldn’t happen to Black people, and then wonder, why not? Is that what you’re saying? Okay, I see your point. But it’s risky. You’re betting on a level of self-awareness in the reader that might not exist… People who’ve assumed these people are white may feel betrayed and tricked if they realise that the people they’ve invested in could be Black. Some folks only want to read about their own kind, and even the idea that a character could possibly be Black means he’s not white enough. It’s simply the way it is. And, take it from me, you don’t want to tick those folks off.” (this one is the worse and the one that really ticked me off)
Chapter 32: another Leo comment…sigh…
“PS: I didn’t fail to notice the proliferation of hoodies in this chapter. I’m hurt by the churlishness of it—I’m only trying to help. You’re setting this book in America—you cannot ignore race. It needs to be declared. If a character is not white, you cannot treat him as though he is. It’s simply absurd. And if he’s white, he cannot live in Roxbury without comment as to why.”
If you want a quick, easy, “amateur-style” writing, then go check out this book from your local library. However, I would say read a Ruth Ware book if you want a good suspense/thriller book. Don’t waste your time on some Aussie’s viewpoint of America. If I want to read a nonfiction book about issues facing our nation, then I will choose to read a book on that issue. However, when I choose to read a fiction crime mystery, let’s keep it there.
Happy Reading.
