Four Stars

Best for:
People who want an easy read that isn’t a quick read.

In a nutshell:
CN: Suicidal ideation

Phoebe and her husband divorced just after the pandemic. She has come to a hotel to die by suicide, When she arrives, it turns out she’s the only person there who isn’t part of a wedding.

Worth quoting:
“What is one thing I can do right now instead?”

“Everybody in my life is always telling me I can be anyone I want, but then whenever I do one thing they don’t like, they act like I’ve ruined myself,”

Why I chose it:
I was intrigued by the description.

Review:
I cannot relate to Phoebe. I am not divorced, I haven’t had suicidal ideation, I didn’t have the same upbringing, I don’t want children, and I’ve never struggled with infertility. And yet, I felt a great connection to Phoebe, and I think that speaks to the character author Espach created.

The set-up: Phoebe is a professor who decides, after her cat dies, to take his pain meds, fly to a fancy hotel she once wanted to stay at, and die by suicide. When she arrives – with only her phone and the clothes on her back – she finds she’s the only person at the hotel not involved in the wedding of Lila and Gary.

When Lila asks why she’s there, Phoebe is honest, and Lila (who is spending literally a million dollars on her wedding week) is obviously disturbed. At first, Lila seems like a bit of a spoiled brat, but, like some of the other characters we meet throughout the week, there’s more going on.

Phoebe decides to stay alive, and over the course of the week finds what I think many of us know – it can be a lot easier to be open and honest with strangers. And sometimes, its strangers who can help us figure out things we haven’t realized about ourselves.

There’s a few things going on in this book – it’s not just about Phoebe’s self-realizations. It’s also about the assumptions we make of others, the facades we put up to please people, and the things we choose to ignore.

I’m going to be thinking about this book for awhile.

3.5 Stars

Best for:
Fans of cozy mysteries with an eccentric cast of characters.

In a nutshell:
Daphne has moved from south London to a tiny village in Norfolk with her husband and three young children, in the hopes of having a slower, simpler life. Then, the headmaster of the local school dies unexpectedly. Was he murdered? And if he was – who did it?

Worth quoting:
“The thought of sullying these beautiful and tranquil surrounding with the same stresses and drama of London was quite frankly a wholly depressing idea.”

Why I chose it:
Book club subscription – had the choice of two based solely on description, and this one sounded interesting.

Review:
The book starts with an explanation of the cast of characters, which for some reason put me off, but in the end I think was a fine addition. The book is told from the perspective of Daphne, the mother of three young children who moved with her husband from south London to this quaint village. She feels like she is a bit of an outsider, both because so many people in the town grew up there, an also because she’s one of the very few Black people in town. She is committed to becoming part of the community, becoming active in the childrens’ school and starting her own vintage furniture shop. She is welcomed by most, including her kindly but chatty next nor neighbor, Dr. Oates.

When the headmaster of the school is found dead at his allotment, Daphne finds herself a somewhat reluctant investigator. In the first place, she had seen the headmaster in a somewhat heated discussion with local outcast Minerva while helping Minerva out with her son’s birthday party. She’d also overheard the headmaster fighting with (well, being yelled at by) Marianne, a woman who wanted and was refused a letter of recommendation for her son. And she sees the headmaster bickering with his wife Augusta. Others in town become possible suspects as well, including two sisters who run the local convenience store and trade in gossip as well.

There are a lot of characters that are somewhat developed, and some side story lines that are interesting. I see that this is the start of a series of books, so I think that works better than if this were just a standalone novel. There is a lot of history and back story that is only revealed in the final third of the book, so making any guesses as to what is going on is a bit futile. But that also makes sense, because Daphne is an outsider and wouldn’t have access to all the information that the rest of the villagers have. The writing itself is vivid – I could picture these women, and their homes, and the town. And the – for lack of a better word – vibe of the place is obvious. I have been to this town.

I appreciate that the book, while being ostensibly a sort of light summer mystery, also looks at some deeper issues. Daphne discusses her concerns about moving her biracial children up to a town where almost no one looks like them (and away from a place with much more diversity). And the book itself also explores and plays with the concept that life is simpler in villages and small towns. And while on some level that’s true, in that the complexities of navigating, say, a city with 8 million people are absent, the people themselves are still people with their own complexities and drama. Just because there’s only one grocery store in town doesn’t mean that everyone’s lives are filled with sunshine and roses all the time. The idyllic concept of the simpler life doesn’t necessarily hold true, and it’s nice when books address that.

There was need for a bit better editing, but overall I enjoyed this book. It took me a little bit to get into, but I’m glad I did because in the end I red the last 200 pages in basically one sitting. And as I said, it is part of a series, and I’ve already got plans to get the second one.