Tag: mystery

#BookReview The Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier #DDMreadingweek

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The ScapegoatAbout the Book

By chance, John and Jean – one English, the other French – meet in a provincial railway station. Their resemblance to each other is uncanny, and they spend the next few hours talking and drinking – until at last John falls into a drunken stupor. It’s to be his last carefree moment, for when he wakes, Jean has stolen his identity and disappeared. So the Englishman steps into the Frenchman’s shoes, and faces a variety of perplexing roles – as owner of a chateau, director of a failing business, head of a fractious family, and master of nothing.

Format: Hardcover (368 pages) Publisher: Victor Gollancz
Publication date: 1957              Genre: Mystery

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My Review

The ScapegoatThe Scapegoat is the book I chose to read for Daphne du Maurier Reading Week hosted once again by Ali at Heavenali. Taking place between the 10th and the 16th May 2021, Daphne du Maurier Reading Week is timed to coincide with what would have been Daphne du Maurier’s birthday on the 13th May.

Many authors have been inspired by the literary possibilities of the doppelgänger (or double) including Alexandre Dumas in The Man in the Iron Mask, Mark Twain in The Prince and the Pauper, and Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities. A more recent example to make use of the narrative opportunities afforded by identical twins is The Metal Heart by Caroline Lea. Reading The Scapegoat, I was also struck by its timely nature, living as we do in an age of identity theft and online scams.

At first sight, Jean du Gué appears to have everything that John lacks. Jean does not, as John does, inhabit ‘a solitary book-lined apartment, he did not wake every morning to the knowledge of no family, no ties, no entanglements, no friends or interests infinitely precious to him, nothing to serve as goal and anchor save a preoccupation with French history and the French language’.  Instead Jean possesses a beautiful chateau, has an attractive wife and loving daughter. No entanglements? Well, that’s a different matter.

However, not everything is sweetness and light. The chief cause of concern is the precarious financial position of the family’s glass foundry.  (Incidentally, I wondered if the author’s choice of this as the family business was influenced by her own heritage, related in fictional form in her novel, The Glass-Blowers.)  And it’s not long before other tensions simmering beneath the surface of the extended family become apparent.  There is a saying ‘out of the mouths of babes’ and the innocent observations of Jean’s daughter, Marie-Noel, get uncomfortably close to the heart of those tensions on a number of occasions.

Willing suspension of disbelief is needed on the part of the reader at the notion John could take Jean’s place without his true identity being detected, even by Jean’s mother.  However, John’s clever deductions using the clues at his disposal and the unthinking acceptance of the household allow him to get away with it, even enjoy it at times. Although Marie-Noel instinctively senses a difference in the Papa who has returned home from a trip to Paris, it’s the reaction of the family dog, Cesar, that comes closest to giving him away. Actually, there is something else but I’ll leave you to find out what that is for yourself.

Initially, John experiences a sense of freedom in adopting the identity of Monsieur le Comte, wearing his clothes, driving his car, living a life for which no one can call him to account. However, that gradually changes as he finds himself drawn into the life of the family. Their unquestioning acceptance makes him feel strangely unsettled. As he reflects, ‘The fact that they were unconscious victims of a practical joke was no longer funny’.  John finds himself making decisions about the family and the business that, although kindly meant, will have unforseen consequences.

As well as the suspense of waiting to see whether John will be found out, the reader may find themselves wondering what Jean might have been getting up to while John has taken his place. All I will say is, have patience.

Whether writing historical fiction, romance or mystery, a common denominator of Daphne du Maurier’s books is high quality writing. For example, I loved this description of the sound of cathedral bells. ‘Tonight the bells rang like a challenge, loud and compelling… Then the clanging softened to a murmur and the murmur to a sigh, and the sigh to a reproach.’

Forget the Cornish romance of Jamaica Inn or Rebecca, The Scapegoat is much more in the territory of her most well-known short story, The Birds. If the ending didn’t quite live up to my expectations, the rest of the story certainly did.

In three words: Suspenseful, dark, compelling

Try something similar: The Other You by J.S. Monroe

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DaphneduMaurierAbout the Author

Daphne du Maurier was born in London, the daughter of the famous actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier. Educated at home and later in Paris, she began writing short stories and articles in 1928, and in 1931 her first novel, The Loving Spirit, was published. Rebecca made her one of the most popular authors of her day. Many of her bestselling novels became award-winning films. She lived most of her life in Cornwall, the setting for many of her books. She died in 1989.

#BookReview Don’t Turn Around by Jessica Barry @VintageBooks

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Don't Turn AroundAbout the Book

Two strangers, Cait and Rebecca, are driving across America.

Cait’s job is to transport women to safety. Out of respect, she never asks any questions. Like most of the women, Rebecca is trying to escape something.

But what if Rebecca’s secrets put them both in danger? There’s a reason Cait chooses to keep on the road, helping strangers. She has a past of her own, and knows what it’s like to be followed.

And there is someone right behind them, watching their every move…

Format: Paperback (320 pages)     Publisher: Vintage
Publication date: 15th April 2021 Genre: Thriller, Crime, Mystery

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My Review

I don’t read thrillers all that often but when I do it’s because I’m looking for a palate cleanser from my usual diet of historical fiction and I’m pleased to say Don’t Turn Around fitted the bill perfectly. If you’ve been following the blog tour, you’ll have seen book bloggers sharing extracts from the book along with their reviews. Even if you haven’t, there’s still time to check out their posts (see poster below).

The author deploys all the weapons of the thriller writer – short chapters, compelling final sentences, multiple timelines and narrators, as well as red herrings galore. I developed several theories about what was going on and who was behind it, all of which ended up being dumped in the literary equivalent of a roadside garbage bin.

However, the plot also incorporates more serious topics such as women’s rights and the impact of social media. In the case of the latter, it’s bang up-to-date with its references to anonymous site 4chan. Misogyny and violence against women is a key issue addressed. As Rebecca observes, “Wasn’t living under the constant threat of danger just a part of being a woman in this world?” In fact, my one reservation about the book was whether its cast of unlikable male characters and the way events play out doesn’t in fact reinforce this notion.

I liked the way the author explored the dynamics of the relationship between the two women. Although only ten years apart in age, they start off believing they have little in common. Cait’s journalistic ambitions have come to nothing, seeing her working as a bartender and relying on tips to meet her rent bill. Whereas, from Cait’s point of view, Rebecca is someone whose privileged life has been ‘one long red carpet rolling out in front of her, ready to be stepped on’. Of course, first impressions can be deceptive.

Gradually, the barriers between the two women start to break down to the extent that Cait even wonders if she and Rebecca might have been friends in other circumstances. However, she quickly dismisses the idea, reminding herself that she’s there to do a job and nothing else. As it turns out, they’ll need to rely on each other’s ingenuity and courage more than they could ever have imagined.

The book paints an interesting picture of small town America with its roadside restaurants, motels and bars. The chapter headings listing the places the two women travel through (the majority of which I suspect few people have ever heard) acquire a sort of poetic quality: Clovis, Melrose, Yeso, Vaughn, Pastura, Taiban, Tolar. The enumeration of the miles left to travel to their destination acts like a countdown clock, increasing the tension but also giving the story a real-time feel. In another clever touch, as the story switches between their journey and recent events in the lives of the two women, the intervals reduce from months, to weeks, and finally to days until the timelines finally converge.

The two women have several tense and bruising encounters as they drive through Texas and New Mexico, a landscape described as ‘nothing but scrubland and the long flat ribbon of road and the vast black sky’. Oh, and there’s no phone signal either.

Don’t Turn Around is the kind of book I categorize as a trains, planes and automobiles read by which I mean it would be the ideal choice to pass the time on a long journey – although perhaps not if travelling as a passenger in a car on a lonely road! The book is clearly the work of a skilled writer who knows how to grab the attention of the reader – well, this one at least – and ensure it never wanders until the final page is turned.

My thanks to Graeme Williams for letting me know about the book and for organising my review copy.

In three words: Compelling, intense, suspenseful

Try something similar: Duel by Richard Matheson (or the 1971 TV film version starring Dennis Weaver and directed by one Steven Spielberg)

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Jess BarryAbout the Author

Jessica Barry is a pseudonym for an American author who grew up in a small town in Massachusetts and was raised on a steady diet of library books and PBS. She attended Boston University, where she majored in English and Art History, before moving to London in 2004 to pursue an MA from University College London. She lives with her husband, Simon, and their two cats, Roger Livesey and BoJack Horseman. (Photo credit: Twitter profile)

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