Ava Antipova returns to her family's vineyard in upstate New York after her twin sister, Zelda, goes missing, suspected dead after a fire in a barn on the property. The sisters have a tempestuous relationship and Ava doesn't believe that her sister can be dead. More likely, she thinks it's part of a scheme to punish her for being away for two years. Soon it seems that she is correct: notes begin to appear, emails and texts that seem to be from Zelda. Ava must solve the alphabetised clues in order to discover the truth.
What I loved most about this novel was its location. The small town in which the sisters grew up was easy to picture and I loved the descriptions of the lake and the house. I struggled though with a cast of completely unsympathetic characters. No one seemed normal, most of them were alcoholics or on drugs. Even the one 'nice' character, Ava's ex Wyatt, seemed to have unresolved issues after trading one twin for the other, then quickly switching back as soon as Ava appeared. No one seemed particularly upset that Zelda was dead (only Ava knows about the clues, her parents think that Zelda is gone), and while her mother has dementia, I'd still expect some sort of reaction other than annoyance.
An interesting read but I was left unconvinced by the ending - it seemed too neat for real life.
What I loved most about this novel was its location. The small town in which the sisters grew up was easy to picture and I loved the descriptions of the lake and the house. I struggled though with a cast of completely unsympathetic characters. No one seemed normal, most of them were alcoholics or on drugs. Even the one 'nice' character, Ava's ex Wyatt, seemed to have unresolved issues after trading one twin for the other, then quickly switching back as soon as Ava appeared. No one seemed particularly upset that Zelda was dead (only Ava knows about the clues, her parents think that Zelda is gone), and while her mother has dementia, I'd still expect some sort of reaction other than annoyance.
An interesting read but I was left unconvinced by the ending - it seemed too neat for real life.