Unconvincing & pedestrian psychological suspense novel distinctly lacking in thrills!
Having read all of Megan Miranda’s adult mystery novels I have to admit that I have routinely come away feeling underwhelmed and on several occasions bored. Disappointingly I found The Girl from Widow Hills another pretty pedestrian and unconvincing effort and not just because of the far-fetched nature of the story. Between the slow pace, the uninspiring characters and the lack of concrete plot development I really struggled to care about a first-person narrator who really should have been sympathetic.
Twenty-six-year-old Olivia Meyer is an administrator at a recently established hospital in Central Valley, North Caroline but two decades ago she was called Arden Maynor and the survivor of a three day dramatic search and rescue effort in Widow Hills, Kentucky. Being swept into the drainage system during a flood whilst out sleepwalking and her miraculous rescue brought publicity, notoriety and charitable donations. But a decade on and still trying to escape her past, Arden has changed her name to Olivia and with the twenty year anniversary of event looming and her mothers recent death her anxiety is nigh and her sleepwalking has returned. Sleepwalking preceded the event that defined her life and when she stumbles over a blood soaked dead body whilst sleepwalking outside her house it unsuprisingly brings the police to her door. When the man is identified as someone closely involved in Olivia’s past she finds herself a person of interest in a murder investigation and the story that she has worked so hard to escape comes hurtling right back at her. When her original identity is revealed to her colleagues with awkward and rather wary responses self-contained and private Olivia finds herself more isolated than ever and forced to question what really did happen during those three days of amnesia in Widow Hills..
Interspersed between Olivia’s first-person narrative are various excerpts from the dramatic events of twenty years ago including 911 transcripts, witness statements and even snippets of her mother’s tell-all book. These snippets add nothing to the recorded details of the event which are extensively outlined initially and fail to add suspense by casting significant doubt on what actually did happen twenty years ago. Olivia has good reason to be suspicious of those around her and it is obvious that she lacks a trusted support network but I couldn’t connect with her at all, primarily because she felt so colourless and made zero impression on me. After stumbling on the first body and the occurrence of a sudden second death the pace of the story stalls and largely consists on Megan Miranda throwing suspicion on the small cast of characters around Olivia without much of substance actually being established. I felt I was going round in circles and given her closest friend and co-worker, Bennett, doesn’t exactly jump off the page the bulk of the book blurred into one big yawn for me before a rushed climax with too many loose endings to stick the landing.
A slow paced and monotonous trawl into the past.
Twenty-six-year-old Olivia Meyer is an administrator at a recently established hospital in Central Valley, North Caroline but two decades ago she was called Arden Maynor and the survivor of a three day dramatic search and rescue effort in Widow Hills, Kentucky. Being swept into the drainage system during a flood whilst out sleepwalking and her miraculous rescue brought publicity, notoriety and charitable donations. But a decade on and still trying to escape her past, Arden has changed her name to Olivia and with the twenty year anniversary of event looming and her mothers recent death her anxiety is nigh and her sleepwalking has returned. Sleepwalking preceded the event that defined her life and when she stumbles over a blood soaked dead body whilst sleepwalking outside her house it unsuprisingly brings the police to her door. When the man is identified as someone closely involved in Olivia’s past she finds herself a person of interest in a murder investigation and the story that she has worked so hard to escape comes hurtling right back at her. When her original identity is revealed to her colleagues with awkward and rather wary responses self-contained and private Olivia finds herself more isolated than ever and forced to question what really did happen during those three days of amnesia in Widow Hills..
Interspersed between Olivia’s first-person narrative are various excerpts from the dramatic events of twenty years ago including 911 transcripts, witness statements and even snippets of her mother’s tell-all book. These snippets add nothing to the recorded details of the event which are extensively outlined initially and fail to add suspense by casting significant doubt on what actually did happen twenty years ago. Olivia has good reason to be suspicious of those around her and it is obvious that she lacks a trusted support network but I couldn’t connect with her at all, primarily because she felt so colourless and made zero impression on me. After stumbling on the first body and the occurrence of a sudden second death the pace of the story stalls and largely consists on Megan Miranda throwing suspicion on the small cast of characters around Olivia without much of substance actually being established. I felt I was going round in circles and given her closest friend and co-worker, Bennett, doesn’t exactly jump off the page the bulk of the book blurred into one big yawn for me before a rushed climax with too many loose endings to stick the landing.
A slow paced and monotonous trawl into the past.