Robert lives in North East England. He works in Recruitment by day, and is usually to be found knee deep in a pile of books as a reader and reviewer by night. He has recently signed with The Blair Partnership, and his debut crime novel, What Falls Between the Cracks was released in Spring 2018.
This novel starts as Sylvie’s life rapidly falls apart. Her best friend, Victoria is found dead in a nearby lake. Soon after that, her Dad dies after a long illness, and she’s forced to move away as her mum struggles to work through her own grief. All this happens in a matter of weeks.
Twenty years later, she’s back in her hometown, clearing out a house full of memories after her mum passes away. Avoiding her past is harder than she thinks. When someone leaves her a gift, the locket Victoria wore the night she died, then decades old secrets start to push their way through to the surface.
There’s a quality to Sarah Wray’s writing that draws you into the heart of every scene. I’d describe it as a tactile style; very hands on as the author pays attention to even the smallest details in Sylvie’s stream of consciousness. It is this factor that brings the narrative to life. We spend a great deal of time in Sylvie’s head, and in a first person narrative that is indeed a powerful tool. As we’re limited to what she sees, and hears, it leaves a great deal of blanks for our imagination to fill in.
Suspense is built up gradually, as hints of what happened twenty years ago are drip-fed to the reader. Sylvie may have come back to her childhood home, but she’s also running away from something. We’re teased with hints of what Sylvie is fleeing from throughout, and in just the right measure and doses to make you wonder whether her childhood home is a safe haven for Sylvie and her baby after all.
The backdrop is evocatively described, with the lake as the centrepiece, linked to the claustrophobia of small town hidden secrets. There are many relatable themes vying for our attention, from regret over things ‘unsaid’ before her mum’s death, to guilt at not being able to save her best friend.
All in all, a solid and intriguing follow-up to Reported Missing.
