Novels No. 15 (LL333)

 

Adam Sternburgh. The Eden Test. Ebook download from TPL. USA: Flatiron Books/Macmillan, 2023.

Actress Daisy and would-be novelist Craig have been together for five years, married for two. Craig is a bit dull and yet a serial womanizer. The first mystery is why she married him at all, although we learn she wanted a husband who is "predictable and incurious." When Daisy springs an anniversary get-away week in an isolated cabin, Craig is irritated at the inconvenient surprise. More to the point, his plan to leave Daisy the next day—absconding to Mexico with a new woman called Lilith—is scuppered. But once the weekend is underway, fortified with a stock of wine, he's enjoying his time with Daisy so he stays, his rehearsed break-up speech undelivered. She has arranged the Eden Test for them ‒ "Seven Days, Seven Questions, Forever Changed." Both have never allowed another person to know them completely, for different reasons; this week may be a game-changer.

First question: Would you change for me? Second: Would you sacrifice for me? Third: Would you fight for me? Fourth: Would you lie for me? As the days go by, Craig unconsciously demonstrates YES in answering, determined to overcome the inferiority complex he hides with bluster and swagger. Is that what Daisy wants? Is she answering? She's kept her background well hidden. The property owners and creators of the Test, Kit and Bridget, drop by to welcome them, but otherwise they are to be left alone. Until, that is, they meet Shep who is the security man for the property. And Alwyn, the orchard specialist—the ruined orchard they are forbidden to enter. Craig is asked to assist with a fumigation spray, and spots a gun in Alwyn's on-site tool box. On their infrequent visits to the nearby small town, the hostile locals seem to play right into the questions given to the couple.

Despite her notable acting talent and opportunities, Daisy always avoided well-known theatre venues without explanation. Craig will hear her stalking story soon. Both have secretly kept the cell phones they were supposed to set aside. We know what Craig does with his, but why is Daisy contacting someone from her past? The suspense is real but the Adam and Eve references are reaching too far IMO. An interesting plot, if sometimes fallible, with shades of love, loyalty, and betrayal.

Bits

▪ He's going to do the right thing for once. He's going to stay. With his wife. (65)

▪ Thankfully, it's never been too hard to keep her secrets from Craig. He's not exactly the inquisitive type. (94)

▪ "I said, fuck off, weekenders," says the girl "Or my boyfriend here is going to stomp your skinny city ass." (135)

▪ "The raccoon left a dead snake under my pillow?" (167)

▪ Daisy he would fight for. Daisy he would axe-chop a raccoon for. (200)

▪ Someone who wanted to be worthy of her. Who believed that she was someone who was worth being worthy of. (250)

▪ Strangulation, the woman said, is often the last escalation before homicide. (270)

▪ Adam chose to eat the apple, which meant he chose to die for Eve. (282)

▪ "We're kind of on a marriage-counseling retreat." (297)

Rose Wilding. Speak of the Devil. Ebook download from TPL. USA: Minotaur Books/St. Martin's Publishing, 2023.

Seven women inhabit these pages wherein a man called Jamie Spellman has already been murdered in bizarre fashion. The women who had a deep grudge against him are his infertile wife Sadia; Kaysha, a journalist; his lab partner at work, Ana; tattooed, unstable Sarah; pregnant teenager Josie; his aunt Maureen, a nurse; and Olive, mourning her daughter Kim. When Kaysha did the research to find them and bring them all together—women whom Jamie has hurt or damaged—none of them knew who actually committed the freaky killing. An extra woman is Detective Nova Stokoe who is hunting for Jamie's murderer. Set in Newcastle, England, at the turn of the millennium, back and forth the chapters swing from one woman to another—and their experience with Jamie. Author Wilding ticks all the boxes for diversity in her characters: white, black, young, old, lesbian, trans, straight, Moslem, Catholic, and so on.

Sadia and Ana are friends. Kaysha lives with Sarah, but has an on-off sexual relationship with Nova. Maureen despises her nephew, Josie was obsessed with him, some were raped by him—but reporting it to police brought nothing but dismissal. The field is wide open for Nova's investigation and our own guessing game. Kaysha privately competes to find the killer not only because the story could elevate her career, but also because she wants to help the woman get away with it. Jamie was a master manipulator adapting to each new woman's personality; he was charming or vicious by turns. More alarming behaviour slowly comes to light.

Truthfully, the writing did not compel me enough to care who did it or how. At times, keeping track of the inordinate number of suspects felt too busy as the narrators continually changed, me wondering now who is it that has the little girl, which one met Jamie in a bar, who went to the police about him (Nova seems to feel the same way). But most crime fans will probably love it!

Bits

▪ "Well, I think we all know who we suspect," Olive says, her eyes lingering on Sarah. (9)

▪ Sadia would have had good reason to kill him, but then they all did. (14)

▪ "He works away a lot. That annoyed me." (50) Sadia

▪ "I pulled you into this world and I'll take you back out if I have to," she said, her voice low. (61)

▪ "You were giving me CPR," Kaysha said. (122)

▪ Ana tried not to think about what Jamie must have said to Ameera's biological mother to make her give up the baby. (158)

▪ "You know what they say," Jamie said, laughing again. "If it bleeds, it breeds." (176)

▪ Nova could get fired for tipping off a journalist, but Kaysha could get killed for tipping off the police. (231)

▪ She tries to piece all the clues together, but there are so many women and so many moving parts that every time she thinks she's close, something new comes up and throws her off track. (281)

▪ Olive grasps her knees. "We should say that Sarah did it." (313)

▪ "But he" —she jabbed her finger back at the house and dropped her voice to an urgent whisper—"is a fucking psychopath." (327)