I received an ARC of this last year at the Texas Library Association Annual Conference. Full disclosure–this is definitely a fun beach/vacation read, not serious literature. Having said that, though, there is a lot to recommend it if you are in the right mood.
Francine Day is a divorce attorney in London and her most recent client is handsome, wealthy, and extremely attracted to Francine, a feeling she returns with abandon. This is a problem, because he’s a client. You know that little thing they talk about in law school, called ethics? Well, dear reader, as you and I both know, a suspense writer never lets a little thing like ethical behavior get in the way of an exciting plot. So, before we get to chapter six, the attorney client relationship has turned, shall we say, heated, but not in an angry way…More full disclosure, there is some on page sex, so if you, like me, prefer things like that be left to the imagination, be prepared to skip those parts. It isn’t super sexed up, but there are several scenes which one might rather were off page.
When Martin’s soon to be X-wife turns up missing the day after he has make-up sex with her under the jealous eye of Francine, who then drinks herself into a blackout episode, things begin to get dicey. Throw in the creepy neighbor in Francine’s apartment house and Martin’s business partners, a married couple with plenty of motive, and you have yourself a somewhat suspenseful way to pass the time in an airport terminal or on a commuter train. The astute reader will figure it out before the end, but it is always nice to read through and get confirmation.
While Mine is worthy of an entertainment read, there are a couple of problems with it. First, Francine seems to have WAY too many problems. She’s bipolar, lonely, appears to have commitment issues, and ,weirdly, is willing to throw her career away, one which she has spent over a decade building, for an affair with a rich client who has at least as many issues as she does. Color me skeptical, but it seems out of character for her, unless she is supposed to be an unreliable narrator, in which case, the novel is even weaker, so let’s stick with option 1. Also, Martin’s attraction to Francine is never adequately explained. He is going through a messy divorce and trying to keep his half of the business out of his wife’s greedy hands, but he is willing to distract the person he needs to make sure that doesn’t happen? And what about Peter, the creepy neighbor? He’s just an extra complication that we don’t really need. He serves a purpose in the plot, which I will not divulge here because spoilers, but I think there was probably a better way to handle it.
Bottom line: If you like suspense novels or as they are often called now, domestic noir, this is a passable entry into that category. Not on par with Gillian Flynn, but it works as a quick read for fun. Enjoy!
Discussion Questions:
- Why do you think Francine is willing to begin an affair with her client, given her apparent dedication to her career?
- Did you expect what happened with Peter? Why or why not? How do you think the action could have been propelled forward without him in the story?
- What purpose do you think Dominic served in the story? How was he a stand-in for Martin, to allow Francine to see her own irrational behavior?
- What did you think of the ending? Did you know who the killer was? Why or why not? Why do you think Francine decided to use herself as bait to catch the killer?
- What about the “epilogue?” Did you expect what happened between Francine and Martin? How would you have ended the book?