Like everyone, I admired Hawkin’s 2015 blockbuster “The Girl on a Train”.

It was part of the new-to-me at the time sub-genre of murder mysteries where female authors write the story from mostly a female point of view. Gillian Flynn-like books.

Hawkins is smart. Studied at Oxford.

Her 2021 book is smart. And there are some similarities to Girl on a Train:

• story told from the viewpoint of multiple unreliable characters
• mostly female perspective
• story unfolds jumping forward and backward in time

Daniel Sutherland is murdered on his Narrowboat on a canal. And damned if I could guess which of the many unlikely killers did the deed. It kept me guessing right to the end.

It had something to do with a domestic tragedy long ago where a young boy fell to his death from a balcony. But what?

I recommend this book. But the complexities were a bit much for me. I liked Girl on a Train better.

To see how a good author develops a novel, click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.