Review: Murder in the Family by Cara Hunter

EbooknerdReviews

Sep 1

Twenty years ago, a good-looking younger man, married to an older, richer woman was found dead in the garden of the London mansion they shared with her children from a previous marriage. The case was never solved. Now, the family's son, who was 10-years old at the time of the murder is back, with a film crew in tow, for a true crime miniseries to try a solve the mystery once and for all. But as the expert crew digs deeper into the story, details come out that bring some unsettling…. "surprises" to light. And the family who agreed to participate must figure out how much they are prepared to take in the search for the truth.

This book is told in the form of news articles, screen production scripts, photographs, etc. It's different than a "normal" story style, so don't go into it thinking you're going to get a regular narrative writing style. There's also a bunch of characters to keep straight, which is confusing at first, but once you get into it, becomes easy to do.

I didn't mind the unique style of this book and found myself loving the compelling mystery at its center. The revelations come quickly as we follow the reality show episode format, with spicy cliffhangers and all. It did feel like you were viewing, waiting for each new episode as the book unfolded. That, IMO, gave it some special excitement. And like a reality show, there's heroes (though not many, as no one can keep their hands fully clean with these things) and villains and some double crossings. All in a day's work!

The ending was pretty intense too, though not entirely unexpected. As with any reality show, the twists come and reveal themselves fast and furious at the end, designed to leave you breathless, like a good "tell all" special. I just had a few lingering questions at the end that maybe kept this at a four-, not a five-star read. But overall, I was really impressed.

For a great mystery with a different writing style, this is a great choice. It was an intense mystery with some cliffhangers that kept me reading.

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