A review by melaniesreads
One of the Girls, by Lucy Clarke
4.0
3.5 stars
This is not only a whodunnit it is also a whoisthevictim? The very first page reveals a red wrap fluttering in the breeze, caught in the zip of a body bag. Wowzer!
Then it goes back in time and we meet bride to be Lexi and her five friends heading to a villa in Aegos for her hen weekend. I found it very telling that Robyn split the group early on by calling out that she was on The B List. Which was also apparent by the very different roles assigned by the two taxis. One straight to the villa with Lexi, Bella and Fen. While Robyn, Eleanor and Ana were sent to the supermarket.
Now it wouldn’t be much of a thriller if they were all really lovely ladies who got on like a house on fire and had a jolly marvellous time now would it! And these women range from dull as dishwater to slippery as a snake and one definitely has a different agenda to just laying on a sun lounger.
As secrets and lies simmer under the heat of the sun it was time for me to sit back and watch these completely self absorbed women turn on each other and wait for the fallout. I enjoyed seeing their true colours start to show and I’m not a reader who needs to like characters luckily as I would have been hard pushed here.
The setting is simply stunning and so well described that I could taste the olives and feel the sun on my face and the sand between my toes. Pretty impressive for a fictional island.
This is very much a slow burn thriller that is more about getting to know the characters. While I did find some a bit stereotyped there were others who were a complete surprise. Did I guess the victim? No. Did I guess whodunnit? No. So all in all I would say Lucy Clarke did a pretty good job. Especially with that killer last line ……
This is not only a whodunnit it is also a whoisthevictim? The very first page reveals a red wrap fluttering in the breeze, caught in the zip of a body bag. Wowzer!
Then it goes back in time and we meet bride to be Lexi and her five friends heading to a villa in Aegos for her hen weekend. I found it very telling that Robyn split the group early on by calling out that she was on The B List. Which was also apparent by the very different roles assigned by the two taxis. One straight to the villa with Lexi, Bella and Fen. While Robyn, Eleanor and Ana were sent to the supermarket.
Now it wouldn’t be much of a thriller if they were all really lovely ladies who got on like a house on fire and had a jolly marvellous time now would it! And these women range from dull as dishwater to slippery as a snake and one definitely has a different agenda to just laying on a sun lounger.
As secrets and lies simmer under the heat of the sun it was time for me to sit back and watch these completely self absorbed women turn on each other and wait for the fallout. I enjoyed seeing their true colours start to show and I’m not a reader who needs to like characters luckily as I would have been hard pushed here.
The setting is simply stunning and so well described that I could taste the olives and feel the sun on my face and the sand between my toes. Pretty impressive for a fictional island.
This is very much a slow burn thriller that is more about getting to know the characters. While I did find some a bit stereotyped there were others who were a complete surprise. Did I guess the victim? No. Did I guess whodunnit? No. So all in all I would say Lucy Clarke did a pretty good job. Especially with that killer last line ……