The author is quite astonishingly adept. It's not at all -easy- to get a jump-scare in a book and this one literally raised goosebumps several times for me. I have adored the gentle humor and intelligence of her Ruth Galloway series for years, but this standalone captivated me completely. I love the book-within-a-book device and this one is crammed full of delightful references for further reading. The alternating narrative PoVs were handled very well and weren't confusing or disorienting.
The plot is super twisty and the narrative tension is ratcheted up masterfully. I had several picks throughout the book for 'whodunnit' (my picks kept getting bumped off, as in the best murder mysteries). The denouement was satisfying and the bonus mystery of Mariana was wonderful.
This is one of my best and most enjoyable reads this year. (And I've read and reviewed almost 300 books in the first 6 months of 2019, so it's a pretty broad field).
Five stars. Wonderful author, wonderful book, very well written.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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