New Book - The Only Suspect by Louise Candlish (Pages 1 - 57)

 

First Published: February 2, 2023

These novel is narrated from two points of view. 

First, we have Alex, who lives in Silver Vale, on the suburbs of London, with his wife Beth. I feel that Alex does not love his wife as much as he should, and it seems that he has an invested interest here. Beth belongs to a group of conservationists, and she is very happy as the council has given them permission for a trail. Alex is worried and as we read his thoughts, it is becoming more and more likely that his concerns may relate to murder. He may have murdered someone years ago. There is an archaelogist that is showing the public the things found there, and Alex recognises a pager, which that night he steals from the shed where he knows these things are stored and drops it in some neighbours' garden.

Alex would like to move, but Beth is reluctant as she feels she is part of the community. Alex also has to concede that if he remains here, he will get to hear about any fishy findings and he will be able to run away much more easily if he lived somewhere else.

His routine will be disturned now because Beth has invited a friend, Zara, to stay with them as she has had to leave her flat. Zara is pregnant, and from the first moment, Alex realises that he can't stand her and the feeling is mutual.

The second narrator is Rick, an auditor, who meets Marina, a temp who works in the same building as he does. He has been watching her for a while, and he finally makes contact. After a while, they start a relationship, but Rick realises that Marina hides things. First, she is reluctant to tell him where she lives, and she also hides the fact that she has a flatmate, who used to be her boyfriend, and now she calls him 'tricky', and that is why she doesn't invite Rick to her flat. Now Rick has a new flatmate, Rollo, who left the flat he shared with his girlfriend, Flavia, because he feels he needs his own space.

I don't know if the two narrators are the same person because Beth mentions that Alex used to be an auditor, and I wonder if the person who must be buried somewhere where the new rail is is Marina. In any case, the two narrators (if indeed they are different people) appear unlikeable and unsympathetic.