Maybe the better book?

K. Yeah, I read this book several books ago. I think I remember it. Okay yeah, it’s coming back to me. I read Girl on the Train, and I actually preferred this one. There were a lot of characters, but it was easier to follow.

The book takes place in a small town with a serious safety hazard – there’s a pond right below a big cliff and it seems to be a popular kid spot? So yeah there’s a history of people dying there. Of women dying there. Nel has begun a book about these women when she becomes the latest entry on the list, her body found in the pond early one morning. There are no signs of a struggle and everyone is ready to write it off as a suicide, but this has just come so close on the heels of another death in the pond, that of her teenage daughter’s best friend. Her estranged sister, returned now to help handle her affairs, begins to tug at threads that could unravel the town. Cue dramatic music.

Most of the characters were deeply unsympathetic and deliberately written that way, which seems to be the schtick with these “troubled women thrillers” that have been so popular. But I found this one easier to follow than Girl on the Train, and it’s a quick read. It’ll while away the hours on a long flight and though it might not be terribly memorable, you at least won’t feel bad for having read it.