She Treads Softly: Thicker Than Water

Saturday, July 8, 2023

Thicker Than Water

Thicker Than Water by Megan Collins
7/11/23; 320 pages
Atria Books

Thicker Than Water by Megan Collins is a highly recommended drama/murder mystery that closely relies on complicated family relationships while seeking the truth.

Julia and Sienna Larkin are sisters-in-law, best friends, and business partners. Julia is married to Sienna’s brother, Jason, and the two have a teenage son, Aiden. Sienna is sure her brother is perfect, while Julia knows he isn't but that he tries to do his best. Their relationship is tested when Jason's boss is found brutally murdered and Jason is hospitalized and in a medically induced coma after a serious car accident. Then the police reveal that Jason is the prime suspect in the murder. The two are convinced Jason is not guilty so they set out to investigate on their own.

The narrative is told through the alternating points-of-view of Julia and Sienna, which works out well because, although they are great friends, they also have very different personalities. Both of these women are portrayed as fully realized individuals with unique personalities.

The actual plot is a slow-burner. The interest lies in the very different approaches and temperaments of the two women and their search for evidence to prove Jason's innocence. Readers who like to explore complicated female friendships will appreciate this aspect of the plot. The mystery is more low key and somewhat predictable.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Atria Books.

No comments:

Post a Comment

John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.