What My Sister Knew
Nina Laurin
Grand Central Publishing 2018
384 pages
What My Sister Knew is the second mystery/suspense novel by Canadian writer Nina Laurin. What My Sister Knew on Kindle
It starts out in an exciting fashion. Andrea Bourdreaux wakes up with the shocking realization that she has been in a car accident. As she stumbles down the road looking for help, she remembers that she saw a man.
Andrea comes from a tragic history. She is the female half of twins who lost their parents years ago to arson. Her brother Eli is incarcerated for the crime. Adopted into a life of privilege, but scarred by the fire, and bullied by her peers, her present life, although stable, is marred by a past of drug and alcohol addiction.
As if that isn’t enough, Eli is out of prison. Despite a restraining order, and 15 years of non-communication, it appears that he is looking for her.
With multiple murders, twists and turns, and one shocking fact emerging after another, you often don’t know what is true and what isn’t. What My Sister Knew by Nina Laurin is complicated. Even so, for me, it only took off after the first 100 or so pages. The last section was particularly exciting.
Not a smooth read, this suspense novel regularly flips between the present day, 15 years ago prior (after the fire), and excerpts from a book that was written about the murder. Each flip carries a different point of view; something I did not enjoy.
Nina Laurin‘s What My Sister Knew contains a certain amount of confusing predictability but you will not see the ending coming.
Although I can’t seem to pin down more that would explain why, I can’t say that What My Sister Knew was one of my favourite recent reads.
Also by Nina Lauren: Girl Last Seen: A gripping psychological thriller with a shocking twist
J Curran