Shadow of a Doubt 2 - The End (Chapters 23 - end)

 RATING: GOOD

SPOILERS!!!

This was a gripping novel, but the end was not as intense as the rest of the novel.

Cara feels more and more haunted as strange things happen in her house, which makes her think that Limey Stan is back. Matty's toys, which were in a cardboard box, appear in a line suddenly, and when she checks again, they are back in the box. And then there is a message on the mirror, telling her to go. She thinks that it is her aunt or her uncle who sneaked into the house, but she doesn't know how that can be when she changed all the locks.

Feeling miserable, Cara goes to the cemetery, sobbing, and it is there that she finds her cousin Lisa. They go to a cafe and Cara tells her everything, and Lisa surprises her by saying that she knows she didn't kill Matty because she was there. Apparently, Cara had told Lisa to hide with her and Matty to catch the ghost, but Lisa ran late, but she heard Matty being killed, but the adults never believed her.

The novel takes us back to June 1994, and most of these chapters have Anita as the central character. We discover that Anita is not happy in her marriage. Paul is away for work too much, and Anita feels like a servant. Recently she had lost her job as a housekeeper because her employer had caught her doing something wrong, but she told Paul and everybody that she was asked to do too much there. Anita also feels desperate because Cara's attitude is difficult. Cara is rebellious, keeps having tantrums and even hits children at school. Karen thinks that Anita should take her to the doctor, and Paul starts to agree with her. 

When Lisa is asked to babysit for Anita, and Cara then tells her about the ghost. It is through Lisa that Anita and Karen get to know about Limey Stan. Things become more and more difficult with Cara. Then we come to the big revelation. Cara is having an affair, and it is this man who Cara heard. He knocks to let Anita know that he is there. He is the one to convince Anita to let Cara think that there is a ghost in the house other than she discovers that Anita is sleeping with someone else. Anita stopped seeing him for a while, but feeling lonely and desperate she calls him again. That night in July Anita welcomes him, and he persuades her to use her bed instead of the sofa. Then Anita oversleeps and rushes him to go, but he says that the children are dowstairs and he is going to give them a good fright. However, Anita hears Cara scream and rush to the bathroom, so she goes downstairs, and then she sees her son and tries to revive him, but it is no use. Her lover tells her that they can't call the police yet, and he eventually threatens to kill her and Cara if she doesn't comply with his instructions, that is, blame CAra for the death of Matty. Anita refuses but the man tells her that if he says a word, he will return and kill Cara. We understand that is why Anita sent Cara away and never contacted her because she was afraid for her. I don't think Anita was good and allowing her daughter to shoulder the blame is inexcusable.

That is what Lisa tells her, and she is sorry she couldn't do anything. Cara understands that they were overpowered by the grown-ups. Lisa doesn't know who Anita's lover is because she didn't see him. She only heard him. After that, the two women talk to Karen, who at first is unwilling to believe them, but when she realises that is the truth, Karen is horrified by the way she treated her niece. Lisa suspects that Anita's lover is her stepfather, Gary, because once he saw her hug Anita, and even though Karen can't believe it, she thinks that they need to find out the truth. With the help of Tishk, Cara instals cameras in her house, hoping that they will film the killer. That night she is alone, and then in the middle of the night she hears sounds, and she discovers Ian Leonards, the estate agent. He turns out to be the one who killed Matty. Back then he was seventeen, and Anita worked for his parents, and they hooked up. That is why his mother fired Anita. Tishk appears when Ian is there, but Tishk is left unconscious when Ian attacks him with a bottle. Then the man uses a rope, dragging Cara to the stairs, intending to hang her, but Cara manages to counterattack and Ian falls down the stairs, breaking her back. The police come and he is arrested. 

At the end of the book Cara still has to prove that Ian tried to kill him. Now he claims that it was her who wanted to kill him, but there is the evidence of the marks around her neck and the film in which Ian confessed to killing Matty. Cara has moved to the house permanently, and she has a job offer, and she and Tishk are getting to know each other in a romantic way.

I loved the book. It was unputdownable. What I don't understand is how so many people would be so vile towards a young child, and I find it hard to understand that Anita didn't try to protect her daughter in a different way.