Member Review
Review by
Aravind R, Reviewer
Stillwater Island, the fourth novel in the Detective Megan Carpenter series by Gregg Olsen, has Megan investigating a missing persons case. Marlena Parker and her four-year-old son Bennie have disappeared and the immediate suspect is Marlena’s husband, Ben Parker. Quite a hard person to like, Ben does not make things easier by lying freely when questioned by the police. Convinced from the outset of Ben’s guilt, Megan and her now regular partner Ronnie Marsh try to find some means of nailing him and retrieving Marlena and Bennie alive. As the investigation progresses, Ben’s secrets come to light—his difficult relationship with his billionaire father, his extramarital affair, his awful treatment of his wife and so on—but there is nothing solid to link Ben to his family’s disappearance. Megan, shaped by her violent, terrifying past, takes the case to her heart as usual and is prepared to go beyond the legalities to nab the kidnapper before it’s too late. What ensues is a race against time for the detectives that throws up many surprises and challenges for them.
The first thing that stood out for me in Stillwater Island is the markedly less gore as compared to the two previous ones I’ve read, and the novel is no less thrilling for it. Another charming thing is Ronnie’s growth—she brings about a lot of freshness with her excellent wit and class while getting into the groove on Megan’s not-so-proper path. It is a lot of fun reading the pair’s exploits narrated in Megan’s acerbic voice. The other characters, both the likeable and the unsavoury ones, are finely crafted by Olsen. The plot is gripping from the start and moves at a fast clip, and the ending is quite satisfactory.
However, Megan’s obsession with her past, a recurring feature in the series that is getting a bit tedious now, impairs the thrill of the narrative a great deal. Unlike the previous book which had links to her past, this one is totally unrelated to her personally and there is no need for her to seek answers from the recordings of her therapy sessions of long ago. Apart from this shortcoming, Stillwater Island is a worthy addition to the series and I would rate it 3 out of 5.
My sincere gratitude to the author and the publisher of Stillwater Island for the e-ARC through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
The first thing that stood out for me in Stillwater Island is the markedly less gore as compared to the two previous ones I’ve read, and the novel is no less thrilling for it. Another charming thing is Ronnie’s growth—she brings about a lot of freshness with her excellent wit and class while getting into the groove on Megan’s not-so-proper path. It is a lot of fun reading the pair’s exploits narrated in Megan’s acerbic voice. The other characters, both the likeable and the unsavoury ones, are finely crafted by Olsen. The plot is gripping from the start and moves at a fast clip, and the ending is quite satisfactory.
However, Megan’s obsession with her past, a recurring feature in the series that is getting a bit tedious now, impairs the thrill of the narrative a great deal. Unlike the previous book which had links to her past, this one is totally unrelated to her personally and there is no need for her to seek answers from the recordings of her therapy sessions of long ago. Apart from this shortcoming, Stillwater Island is a worthy addition to the series and I would rate it 3 out of 5.
My sincere gratitude to the author and the publisher of Stillwater Island for the e-ARC through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
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