Nothing ever happens in sleepy little Fairhill.
The teenagers get their kicks telling ghost stories in the old graveyard. The parents trust their kids will arrive home safe from school. Everyone knows everyone. Curtains rarely twitch. Front doors are left unlocked.
But this morning all of that will change.
Because Diana Brewer isn’t lying safely in her bed where she belongs. Instead she lies in a hayfield, circled by vultures, discovered by a local farmer.
How quickly a girl becomes a ghost. How quickly a town of friendly, familiar faces becomes a town of suspects, a place of fear and paranoia.
Someone in Fairhill did this. Everyone wants answers.
And one innocent question could be deadly.
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What Have You Done? by Shari Lapena was published on 18 July 2024 by Bantam / Transworld. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review.
I read this one whilst on holiday in Cyprus and like most of her previous novels, I flew through it really quickly. Shari Lapena writes page-turners that are almost impossible to put down. Her writing style is fast and furious, her plot lines intriguing and I never really knew who to trust in this one.
When a local farmer see vultures circling in one of his fields, he expects to find a dead deer. However, he is utterly shocked to find the body of a young girl from the local town of Fairhill Dead, naked and a feast for the birds of prey.
I read this one whilst on holiday in Cyprus and like most of her previous novels, I flew through it really quickly. Shari Lapena writes page-turners that are almost impossible to put down. Her writing style is fast and furious, her plot lines intriguing and I never really knew who to trust in this one.
When a local farmer see vultures circling in one of his fields, he expects to find a dead deer. However, he is utterly shocked to find the body of a young girl from the local town of Fairhill Dead, naked and a feast for the birds of prey.
The victim, Diana Chambers is a popular, bright, pretty girl from the sleepy town where nothing usually happens. Raised by her loving single mother with a boyfriend who adores her, the whole town is rocked to its core by her death.
Detectives from the Vermont State Police are called in to investigate the crime and what appears to be a small town with nothing happening is soon exposed as a hotbed of suspects. There are so many people associated with Diana, so many who have a motive, but who in Fairhill is the killer?
Lapena tells the story in varying points of view, making for even more confusion for the reader, she's a clever author for sure, just when you think .... ahhh, yes, it was them ..... you hear from another character and your mind is changed, quick as a flash. I enjoyed these short, snappy chapters, they fit the plot so well, it's almost unrelenting at times and makes the reader increase their speed as the pace increases too.
Interestingly, the reader also hears from Diana herself, with short chapters from her point of view as a ghost, looking down on the town, watching the investigation. It's an unusual thing for an author to do, but works very well. I enjoyed those parts which add a depth to the narrative.
This is a quick, intense and satisfying read from an author who is at the top of her game.
Detectives from the Vermont State Police are called in to investigate the crime and what appears to be a small town with nothing happening is soon exposed as a hotbed of suspects. There are so many people associated with Diana, so many who have a motive, but who in Fairhill is the killer?
Lapena tells the story in varying points of view, making for even more confusion for the reader, she's a clever author for sure, just when you think .... ahhh, yes, it was them ..... you hear from another character and your mind is changed, quick as a flash. I enjoyed these short, snappy chapters, they fit the plot so well, it's almost unrelenting at times and makes the reader increase their speed as the pace increases too.
Interestingly, the reader also hears from Diana herself, with short chapters from her point of view as a ghost, looking down on the town, watching the investigation. It's an unusual thing for an author to do, but works very well. I enjoyed those parts which add a depth to the narrative.
This is a quick, intense and satisfying read from an author who is at the top of her game.
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Her books have been sold in forty territories around the world.
She lives in Toronto.
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