08 December 2022

This slow-burn mystery will keep you intrigued as you flip the pages. The author draws you into the lives of an almost incestuous theatre group who live and work together. They all seem to have parental problems and each member seems to be hiding something.

This was my first time reading this author’s work and I enjoyed the slow-burn intrigue she adds to her story. I loved the scenery and the detail around the theatre sets. While reading this book you are left unsure who to trust. The characters are a colourful mix of troubled young adults – each dealing with their own parental issues. I enjoyed the uncertainty in this story.

Ava and Will have been together since university and while Will has a successful acting career, Ava is struggling to find a break of her own. Determined not to live in Will’s shadow, and desperate to find her place in the industry Ava decides to audition for a place with Chimera. A small theatre group who needs a replacement for their leading lady who is pregnant.

When Ava is offered the position, it looks like exactly what she needs to put some distance between herself and Will while giving her the time she needs to find herself. After some disagreements with her parents, Ava is excited to get away from everyone she knows. The members of Chimera, who all live and work together feel like a family and everyone is extremely welcoming when she arrives in the small country village where they live. As a series of “pranks” come to light Ava starts to notice that everything is not quite what it appears to be.

This story was a little slow with a rather abrupt ending. I enjoyed the setting and the characters and still found it to be an enjoyable read.

The characters are a colourful group – exactly what I would have expected from a theatre group. Ava is a young woman who is eager to escape Will’s shadow. She wants to find her own success without Will’s help. I respected her for putting some distance between herself and Will, yet she did not seem to want to let him go. He was still the person she ran to – despite insisting that she wants to do things on her own. Brad and Rose appear to love Ava, yet I got the feeling that something was not quite right here. These two felt a little too perfect.

Mel was a brilliantly bitchy character. I did not believe anything she said, she just did not have any sincerity. Yet I loved her, the author did a brilliant job with this woman. Lally was a total drama queen and I felt she made way more of things than was necessary – adding extra spice to the story. Paddy was a bit of a dark horse. This guy never truly opened up and it never felt as if I got to know him.

This story kept me curious all the way through. Despite finding it a little slow, it was an enjoyable read which I would recommend to readers who enjoy a slow-burn mystery. This book is an easy read and it will keep you guessing.