The Spooky Bookshelf

I haven’t been reading much lately, I think being a college student has gotten me into a slump – I read so much for school, I don’t want to read anything else when I’m done with my homework! But… I did manage to read a book over the past couple of days, so maybe I’ll get back into the swing of it! The book in question? No One Saw It Coming by Susan Lewis – a mystery that involves family secrets, murder, and mental health.

Characters

The main characters in this story are hard to define in some cases. We have Hanna and Jack, a married couple who’ve been together for decades. Hanna is the main focus of this book – you’ll understand when you read it. There are Leo and Cait, Hanna and Jack’s two children, who each have issues of their own. Next comes Sebastian, Jack’s best friend, who plays a major part in the story line. Finally, for main characters, there is Riona… who isn’t quite who and what she seems.

You’ll meet other characters along the way – Jenny (Jack’s stepmom), Andee (Hanna’s best friend), Graeme (Andee’s husband), Sophia (Cait’s toddler daughter), Ishan (Sophia’s father), Freya (you’ll understand when you read it), and Blanche, who has her own chapters and is tied to Riona… it is complicated, and a few others.

I liked Hanna, Jack, Leo, Cait, and Sebastian. I liked Riona as well. I felt the characters were relatable and they felt like real people to me, not just flat characters on the page, which is good. Some of the more minor characters were also real, but some were just flat characters on the page, because while they played a part in the story, it wasn’t enough of a part for me to really care about them.

Atmosphere/Setting

Not being overly familiar with the layout of the UK, I am assuming that this book is set in Great Britain, as it is referenced that Riona came from Ireland and has an Irish accent. Not having a bloody clue about where anything in the book is (or even if the locations are actually real) did not detract from my enjoyment of this book in any way. It was a great setting for the novel and kept me from being overly bored with it – or overly critical if the book happened to be set in a place I know.

I do wish a bit more description of some of the areas in which the characters found themselves had been given – especially Riona’s home, but I suppose that might have spoiled part of the big twist of the book.

Writing

Despite being written using British English spelling and vernacular, I found the writing style to be easy to read and easy to digest. I didn’t get that feeling like I had no clue what was happening because Ms. Lewis did not write in circles as some mystery/thriller authors have been known to. I thoroughly enjoyed the book for the writing style and it is one of the reasons I look forward to reading more books by Ms. Lewis.

Plot

So the plot to this one is standard, but not standard at the same time. Someone is hurting Hanna’s family and she needs to figure out who it is and why they want to hurt her family. At the same time, there is a secondary plot involving one of the characters believing fully that they have found their long-lost sister, but yet keeping their distance from said sister.

I’m sad to say that I’d already guessed part of the big twist within the first quarter of the book. That isn’t to say that it was something that was telegraphed or easy to guess! I just recognized that part of the twist for what it was. It didn’t mean I didn’t want to know what would happen. I mean, no one had even gotten hurt yet! There wasn’t yet a mystery to actually solve when I figured out that part of the big twist. So if you figure that part out super early, just keep reading, there’s so much more to the story than just that part of the twist!

Intrigue

Despite having figured out the big twist of the book super early, I still found that this book had a huge amount of intrigue. Figuring out who had done each of the crimes that are committed because there are suspects, but no definitive answers – at least not until the twist comes up. Then, yes, there are answers. And what an answer it is! But of course, you have to read it, I’m not going to give it away here.

Ms. Lewis knows how to write a mystery that will keep you reading!

Relationships

There are some pretty complicated relationships in No One Saw It Coming. First, there’s Sebastian and Riona’s relationship – where it seems she wants him as much as he wants her, but then it doesn’t seem like she wants him after all. Then there’s Cait’s antagonistic attitude toward her parents, especially her father, Jack, that no one seems to be able to figure out. Finally, there’s Jack’s relationship with someone else that Hanna didn’t know about (Hanna and Jack have flings/affairs but never keep them secret, except this time). So relationships in this book are complicated at best, but very interesting.

Ending

The book ends on a note that makes you wonder if perhaps in the future there could be a second book. After the big twist, after everything goes down and all is “well”, it seems like there could potentially be more to this story – as though book is finished but the story isn’t, if you know what I mean.

If Ms. Lewis was intending to write a sequel, I fully intend to read it!

Conclusion

Ms. Lewis has written a solid four-star book here. While it wasn’t “can’t put it down” good, it was definitely good enough to make me want to read more of her work.