Although Dearest is not a mystery novel per se, there are plenty of mysterious and unexplained events happening in this excellent and engaging debut novel written by Emmy-nominated screenwriter Jacquie Walters. Buy Dearest by Jacquie Walters at Amazon
Flora is exhausted but completely blissed-out, having recently given birth to Iris, her sweet first bundle of joy. Her husband Connor is deployed, so she is on her own. She is finding the demands and responsibilities of a newborn taxing, and the balance between Iris’s care and her own needs, like for most moms, is drastically skewed in favour of the little one.
Flora has an uncanny and abiding sense that something is wrong, if not with Iris, then with herself. Her intuition proves correct.
Even with her estranged mother there to help, disturbing things begin occurring around the house. Items show up where they shouldn’t be. Flora hears things. They believe that they are being watched. Echoes of the past creep up on her and threaten her very life.
It boils down to one frightening and sinister explanation; something that most people cannot fathom.
Flora reaches a crisis point at Connor’s homecoming. Will she return to her blissful existence, or will she lose her mind and her beloved Iris in the process? It is anyone’s guess until the end.
Dearest is an exciting, compelling and sometimes disturbing first novel. It definitely draws you in.
Walters descriptive writing style succeeds in capturing Flora’s trepidations and experiences navigating new motherhood, and sets the stage for some intense and frightening developments.
Dearest is the kind of book you must continue reading.
I will look for more titles by this talented new author. I can’t wait to see what’s next!
Dearest
Jacquie Walters
Mulholland Books 2024
292 pages
Related posts
- True to other Preston and Child Pendergast Novels--this is their 21st--The Cabinet of Dr. Leng is an engaging adventure. It is not necessary to have read previous Pendergast novels in order to follow this one, although a familiarity with the characters would enhance your experience. In The Cabinet of Dr.…
- Walter Mosley’s Easy Rawlins mystery novels are a like it or leave it kind of thing. Mosley’s narrative style for this series and Rawlins encountering more secondary characters than a thesaurus has synonyms makes a mystery like Farewell, Amethystine something a reader embarks on only if they are familiar with…
- Of IQ, the first thriller by Joe Ide, we said “a unique and edgy crime/mystery novel”. The same cannot be said about the fourth book in the IQ series. This one is a mess. It is a shame because IQ, the unofficial neighborhood detective is a great character. I thought…
- An ancient civilization, a solar flare, an eclipse all combine to create the impending doom of the Earth. A lightning quick read.
- If you enjoyed the first the you might like the second - it is the same basic plot but with less talent and more mistakes.