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Fripp Island: three miles of what should be the perfect vacation break locale. The characters: Scott and Lisa and their children, and Poppy and John and theirs. How do they come together? Scott won a trip to the island in a company raffle. After having some trouble finding another family with whom to share their good fortune, Lisa invites Poppy and her family along. Poppy was a friend of Lisa’s when she was growing up although their paths have diverged. But, something is wrong, very wrong. Readers learn this right away as the beginning of the story is told by someone who was murdered. What happened? Why? What are the characters hiding?
Honestly, I wanted to enjoy this book more than I did. My issue was that I did not like the characters as much as I had hope that I would. Still, other readers may feel differently and this book does feel like a good summer suspense read.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.
Some other opinions:
“Kauffman’s keen, atmospheric follow-up to The Gunners explores class, friendship, and dark family secrets…inevitably, events spiral to a shocking conclusion. Kauffman’s characters leap off the page…Readers will devour this suspenseful summer drama.” —Publishers Weekly
“Our assumptions about whose tensions, desires, rages, and shy longings might erupt into murder are provoked and reversed right up until the final pages, when the mystery of Fripp Island is revealed…An entertaining and ultimately tender book.” —Kirkus
“The tensions between the haves and the have-nots offer an insight into contemporary America…In watchful prose by turns powerful and delicate, the action builds to an event as inevitable as it was unpredictable. Gripping.” —The Sunday Times
“Suspenseful…While the fault lines…allow for plenty of tart observations on marital disenchantment, Kaufmann spins a secondary, far more disconcerting story about the toxic power of suspicion and rumour. A smart summer read.” —The Daily Mail
#TheHouseonFrippIsland #NetGalley |
There are some books here that I very much enjoyed including the Louise Penny (see archive for review), the Rosamund Pilcher and the Ann Cleeves. The Shell Seekers is a wonderful, warm read. The Ann Cleeves is the first of her Jimmy Perez novels. I loved them all. Plus, as you see, some other good reads as well. Enjoy.
For those who would like to work on their artistic skills, this book will be an excellent and fun resource. The author gives clear directions on how to draw and on the supplies that a budding artist will need. She encourages a reader to explore the personality that is found in a face and to enjoy the process of creating art.
For those who enjoy titles that feature curmudgeonly characters who ultimately warm one’s heart, this book is a must read. What happens when Veronica goes off on an adventure? How will it go when she meets a long lost relative? Even though readers can probably answer these questions before reading a page, the voyages, both real and emotional, that Veronica takes will captivate them.
