A review by scylla87
The Trophy Child, by Paula Daly
2.0
All in all it was a decent read, I certainly got through it fast enough, but the description in the dust jacket did not give me an accurate idea of what kind of book this actually was. I was expecting a family drama, and I got that for the first half of the book, or about the first half of the book, but then that plot is quickly discarded for a murder mystery that falls flat. I kept expecting that the two stories would tie together and there would be some rhyme and reason to what felt like two different stories, but the explanation for who killed Karen and why just doesn’t fit well with the rest of the story. When it seemed that the culprit was Ewan’s father, I was intrigued. Was it going to turn out that Karen and fled an abusive relationship, barely getting out with her life and her child’s intact. Had said abusive ex found her out during her appearance on the news during Bronte’s disappearance? Had he tracked her down and killed her? No. No, that’s not what happened at all. The ex did track her down after her little rant to the cameras, and he did call repeatedly, making vaguely threatening phone calls. And Karen did wonder if she should mention him to Noel. And he did disappear from his job suddenly not long after the phone calls. It all added up to what may have been a fairly predictable ending. I certainly assumed that was where it was going, and I am not the best at guessing the culprit in murder mysteries. But see, predictable is not always bad. Something could have been done with that storyline. For one thing, it would have created a little sympathy for Karen, something that was sorely lacking within the course of the novel. It also would have connected the two stories in a way that made some sort of sense. Bronte “disappears”, Karen appears on the news, jealous and abusive ex sees her after all this time, ex tracks her down and eventually kills her. Instead what we get is some out of nowhere plot twist where Verity’s disabled mother with MS, who can barely speak, gets her screw up nephew to kill Karen to set her cheating ex-husband and daughter free from this overzealous tiger mom. I certainly didn’t see it coming, that’s for sure. But not in the good way. It wasn’t one of those “ooh I should have known” moments that you get at the end of a good thriller. The end just kind of falls flat.
Honestly, I would have much preferred this stay a family drama. I felt like there was enough plot there to sustain a 340 page novel. Have part one stay the way it is: set up the family dynamic, have Bronte go missing and then return unharmed. Then part two could deal with the aftermath. Have Karen actually have to deal with the fact that her daughter ran away because of her parenting. Have Noel grow a backbone and stand up to his wife. Have Verity explain that the reason she had attacked her step mother in the first place was to protect her sister. That was the story I thought I was getting. That is the story I would have preferred to read.
But if I had to read a murder mystery, I would have rather had it be one where the ending didn’t just check all the boxes and fit together nicely, but fit together in a way that made sense with the rest of the story.
Honestly, I would have much preferred this stay a family drama. I felt like there was enough plot there to sustain a 340 page novel. Have part one stay the way it is: set up the family dynamic, have Bronte go missing and then return unharmed. Then part two could deal with the aftermath. Have Karen actually have to deal with the fact that her daughter ran away because of her parenting. Have Noel grow a backbone and stand up to his wife. Have Verity explain that the reason she had attacked her step mother in the first place was to protect her sister. That was the story I thought I was getting. That is the story I would have preferred to read.
But if I had to read a murder mystery, I would have rather had it be one where the ending didn’t just check all the boxes and fit together nicely, but fit together in a way that made sense with the rest of the story.