Random Things Tours: The Coffin Club by Jacqueline Sutherland

 

Recently widowed, Kat decided to start a new life. Through an imaginary permanent dialogue with her late husband, she is sharing with him trusthfully the details of her everyday searches for a second chance. She wants not only a husband, but is longing for motherhood, a wish she will not be able to fulfill. Maybe this motherhood part is too obsessive, I dare to say.  

Jacqueline Sutherland´s debut novel The Coffin Club may start as a ´feelgood´ kind of novel, but it continues on a very tensed note, the mystery and thriller insidiously interfering into the story in a slow crescendo. As Kat meet the equally widowed charming Spaniard Nico, the single father of the 5 years old Midge, it seems like her dreams are about to come true. But take care what do you wish for...

Nico may not be he is supposed to be, this is predictable after all, but he is not the only one. As we are approaching the end of the novel, things are becoming more and more strange, and the smart story twists make it - finally - into a great everyday life kind of thriller. The end is cruel yet suspenseful, nothing one would have expect - except her childloving-at-any-price obsession.

I may confess that for almost the first part of the story I did not know what to expect. It sounded like one of those stories where the main - woman - character set for a new life and by the force of her will, it really happens. But when hints are about to spread all over the story, my sleeping interest woke up suddenly and could not leave it until the very end.

Kat is by far the most important and better portrayed character in the story. She is smart and perceptive and moving smoothly through life, with the coldness of a killer. I would have expected more vivid representations of the other characters though.

If you are looking for a an intelligent plot of otherwise a very slow paced book, The Coffin Club is an eventful choice. 

Rating: 3.5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book club, but the opinions are, as usual, my own