Um, just wondering where the actual eff time has gone? Like, how is it already almost June?! I’m at a loss.
If you’re just now emerging from quarantine, or you’ve still got a few more weeks to go, I hope this book list/our monthly reading has helped keep you at least somewhat sane while at home.
Orrrrr maybe it’s the opposite, and reading about murder has made you a bit more…well, unhinged.
Either way, good for you for sticking with the reading! This is our fifth book of the year! Woohoo!
If you’re new here, go ahead and read this post before continuing.
In May we read Lying Next to Me by Gregg Olsen.
No matter what you see, no matter what you’ve heard, assume nothing.
Adam and Sophie Warner and their three-year-old daughter are vacationing in Washington State’s Hood Canal for Memorial Day weekend. It’s the perfect getaway to unplug—and to calm an uneasy marriage. But on Adam’s first day out on the water, he sees Sophie abducted by a stranger. A hundred yards from shore, Adam can’t save her. And Sophie disappears.
In a nearby cabin is another couple, Kristen and Connor Moss. Unfortunately, beyond what they’ve heard in the news, they’re in the dark when it comes to Sophie’s disappearance. For Adam, at least there’s comfort in knowing that Mason County detective Lee Husemann is an old friend of his. She’ll do everything she can to help. She must.
But as Adam’s paranoia about his missing wife escalates, Lee puts together the pieces of a puzzle. The lives of the two couples are converging in unpredictable ways, and the picture is unsettling. Lee suspects that not everyone is telling the truth about what they know—or they have yet to reveal all the lies they’ve hidden from the strangers they married.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER UNLESS YOU’VE FINISHED THE BOOK!
Haven’t read the book yet? Buy it here.
I chose this book because it sounded intriguing – I liked the idea of never really knowing who you’re married to. I think there’s something very mysterious and alluring about uncovering what secrets your loved one might be keeping.
Right off the bat, the opening had my gears turning – that little bit about the female octopus. That got me thinking – and wishing and hoping – that we were dealing with a lady killer here. I just LOVE a good villainous lady killer. I imagine it’s mostly because female murderers are considered quite rare in real life, yet I feel like we’ve always got the most sinister motives. Like, girl can hold a grudge.
How did that opening piece make you feel about the story to come? Did you tie it to a woman being the killer?
Speaking of the killer…what did you think about Kristen’s motive, as it was revealed at the very end? That shit reallllllly surprised me.
Honestly, I loved the psychology of it all; the deep unwavering desperation and desire for a child driving a woman mad. The way she looked down on her husband, knowing he was beneath her but keeping him around just to “get the job done.” Crazy town.
Do you believe that Connor really had no idea that Kristen truly couldn’t have children? Or do you think he was just in denial?
What about Adam’s role in all this?
Kristen claimed Adam picked the location, knowing his old pal would have sympathy for him and overlook a lot of clues. Do you think that’s true?
How involved do you think Adam really was in the whole scheme?
Overall, I loved the book. I thought it packed plenty of twists and turns, and although I did predict the killer was Kristen, I did not see Adam as part of it, or the true, underlying motive. What did you think?
the northeast ginger 