DEATH IN THE FAMILY by Tessa Wegert
Berkley; 2/18/20
CBTB Rating: 4.5/5
The Verdict: An engrossing “locked room” mystery for Agatha Christie fans
Show me a “locked room”-style mystery, and I’ll show you a book I simply have to read. Luckily for me (and, I suspect, for many of you!), Tessa Wegert has crafted an utterly irresistible modern-day mystery that is deeply indebted to the great “locked room” puzzles of the past. In DEATH IN THE FAMILY, a complex protagonist - a female police officer who has just moved out of the big city to escape a recent trauma - is called to a private island where a crime has occurred, and the favorite grandson of a wealthy matriarch has gone missing. Investigators descend on the island, and find themselves smack in the middle of a complex web of family secrets and hidden motivations. When a nor’easter descends, the investigators are trapped on the private island with their suspects--and a killer on the loose. DEATH IN THE FAMILY has all the best elements of Agatha Christie-inspired crime fiction: a clever puzzle, a cast of eccentric characters, and a moody atmosphere. But this is not just a Christie homage: it’s also a smart, decidedly modern crime novel that puts a woman’s inner fight with past trauma front and center. This immersive, engaging murder mystery will fill the Agatha Christie-sized hole in your heart, and in your TBR list.
Plot Details:
Thirteen months ago, former NYPD detective Shana Merchant barely survived being abducted by a serial killer. Now hoping to leave grisly murder cases behind, she's taken a job in her fiancé's sleepy hometown in the Thousand Islands region of Upstate New York.
But as a nor'easter bears down on her new territory, Shana and fellow investigator Tim Wellington receive a call about a man missing on a private island. Shana and Tim travel to the isolated island owned by the wealthy Sinclair family to question the witnesses. They arrive to find blood on the scene and a house full of Sinclair family and friends on edge.
While Tim guesses they're dealing with a runaway case, Shana is convinced that they have a murder on their hands. As the gale intensifies outside, she starts conducting interviews and discovers the Sinclairs and their guests are crawling with dark and dangerous secrets.
Trapped on the island by the raging storm with only Tim whose reliability is thrown into question, the increasingly restless suspects, and her own trauma-fueled flashbacks for company, Shana will have to trust the one person her abduction destroyed her faith in—herself. But time is ticking down, because if Shana's right, a killer is in their midst and as the pressure mounts, so do the odds that they'll strike again.
The “locked room mystery” - a mystery set in a confined location with a fixed cast of characters - is a staple of the crime fiction genre. Some of the very first adult crime novels I read were the gold standard of “locked room” puzzles: Agatha Christie’s masterpieces And Then There Were None and Murder On the Orient Express. In recent years, this style of crime novel has seen a resurgence in popular culture. Buzzy crime books like In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware and The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley have brought the “locked room” front and center for a new generation of crime fiction readers, while films like Knives Out have refreshed this storytelling style for the big screen. There’s something so deliciously satisfying about these puzzles: when they’re done well, there are few things more exciting than watching a seemingly impossible crime be solved by a clever and intuitive detective. But the challenge here is obvious: when this storytelling structure has been around for so long, and been executed so brilliantly, how does a newcomer keep things fresh while still paying tribute to the classics? The answer, as it turns out, can be found in Tessa Wegert’s masterfully constructed new novel, DEATH IN THE FAMILY.
Like any good “locked room mystery,” DEATH IN THE FAMILY begins with a seemingly impossible crime. On a small private island in upstate New York, in the middle of a terrible storm, the grandson of a fabulously wealthy family has disappeared, leaving no trace… aside from a terrifying bloodstain in his bed. Jasper Sinclair was the favorite grandson of the Sinclair matriarch, the natural heir to the family’s vast fortune and prominent textile business. He had it all: money, a loving girlfriend, and a bright future. But on an ordinary night on the Sinclair’s private island, with the family sleeping soundly in their beds, Jasper vanished. Police are called to the scene, braving a nor’easter to investigate the bizarre crime. What they find on the island is far more complex than they could ever have imagined. Because within the walls of the Sinclair family’s vast mansion, a killer is hiding in plain sight.
In DEATH IN THE FAMILY, Tessa Wegert places readers in the midst of a deliciously hostile environment: a family where everyone could be a killer, and no one can be trusted. Spending time among the Sinclairs is like spending time in the middle of a game of Clue. As our protagonists are about to discover, each member of this family has enough secrets and ulterior motives to fill their mansion many times over—and with a storm raging outside, escape from this lion’s den is impossible. Our investigators find themselves locked in a house on a private island, unable to leave, with a killer in their midst. With nothing to do but wait for the storm to subside, our protagonists begin to conduct interviews with the family, determined to unravel the bizarre events of the night before. But the Sinclairs aren’t any ordinary family. From Jasper’s disgruntled siblings to his new girlfriend and his volatile brother-in-law, there is not a single member of the Sinclair family without something to hide—and readers will relish the journey to expose their secrets. As tensions rise, and the storm outside worsens, our protagonists find themselves in a desperate race to unmask the killer in their midst before he or she can strike again. DEATH IN THE FAMILY keeps readers hooked with a cast of truly entertaining and delightfully suspicious characters. In this family, everyone’s a suspect.
DEATH IN THE FAMILY has it all: an immersive atmosphere, a cinematic setting, and a deliciously dubious cast. But what elevates this book above the pack is its thoughtfully-crafted protagonist, Shana, and her partner, Tim. Shana is a recent transplant to upstate New York, having moved away from New York City in the wake of a terrible trauma. A year prior, Shana was abducted by a serial killer in the big city. She narrowly escaped with her life, and is now grappling with the after-effects of this horrific experience with the help of her fiance, a trained therapist. She is determined to get back to doing the work she loves, but there’s just one problem: she is haunted by the memories of her would-be killer, and she hasn’t told her partner, Tim, what she is going through. In less skilled hands, this could feel a bit gimmicky, but Wegert’s thoughtful characterization brings Shana to life with sensitivity and authenticity. Shana’s experience of PTSD, and the subtle yet impactful ways that her past is brought to light over the course of the novel, adds a highly original subplot to DEATH IN THE FAMILY. Tim, Shana’s partner at her new job, is a decidedly secondary character here, but he plays a crucial role as Shana’s foil. Tim is a local, a man who has grown up in the region and knows its eccentricities and history like the back of his hand. Where Shana’s character is dark and stormy, Tim’s character is light and peaceful, and together the two make for a superb crime-solving duo. Shana and Tim are the kinds of protagonists that keep readers coming back for more: they are endearing, complex characters, the kinds of individuals readers will want to root for, and hope to see reappear in future crime novels.
I’m a self-proclaimed “locked room mystery” addict, and DEATH IN THE FAMILY satisfied my craving for a new read in this perennial subgenre and then some. This clever mystery drops readers into the heart of an affluent family with secrets to spare, and invites us to witness the dark motivations and hidden agendas lurking just below the family’s pristine surface. The amateur sleuth in all of us will love solving this puzzle alongside our story’s protagonists. DEATH IN THE FAMILY is good, old fashioned crime fiction fun, a delightful homage to the classics infused with modern sensibility. A must for fans of Agatha Christie.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. All opinions my own.
Book Details:
Series: A Shana Merchant Novel (Book 1)
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Berkley (February 18, 2020)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0593097890
ISBN-13: 978-0593097892
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