Saturday, July 21, 2012

The Other Woman's House-Sophie Hannah

The Other Woman's House


Sophie Hannah

Penguin, Jun 26 2012, $15.00

ISBN: 9780143121510



In 2010 thirtyish bookkeeper Connie Bowskill goes on line to look at a house for sale in Cambridge that haunts her soul though she has no proof of what she thinks is going on there. As she virtually tours 11 Bentley Grove, she finds something even more horrifying when she sees a woman lying perfectly still in a pool of blood. Shocked she calls her husband Kit to take a look; but by the time he gets to the computer, the corpse and blood are gone. Connie ignores her husband’s plea to write it off as her imagination going wild; instead she informs the police.



Detective Sergeant Sam Kombothekra leads the investigation on which another on line witness affirms Connie’s assertion. When Detective Sergeant Charlotte “Charlie” Zailer and Detective Constable Simon Waterhouse return from their honeymoon, they join the official inquiry. At the same time, Connie fears her adoring husband is behaving amoral and perhaps illegally at 11 Bentley Grove.



The latest Zailer and Waterhouse police procedural (see Hurting Distance and Cradle in the Grave), is an entertaining mystery with a Hitchcockian Suspicion feel to the storyline. The main plot is an exciting psychological drama but at times overwhelmed by a myriad of twisting turgid subplots (past and present) in which several never tie back to the main theme. Though confusing, fans will want to know the truth of what happened in The Other Woman's House.



Harriet Klausner

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