(Advance Listening Copy courtesy of NetGalley and HarperAudio Adult.)

An insufferable, confused 1⭐️

I’ve read a ton of Agatha Christie, but this was my first time reading a work under her Westmacott alias. I picked this one up because the premise sounded delightfully, well, creepy? Especially for what was supposed-to-be a romance. And at the beginning I was sure this was a suspense of some sort. Everyone’s obsession with the deceased Charles, Laura’s preoccupation with her hatred of the new baby, and her childish, murderous thoughts…

Even when her attitude toward the baby Shirley changed and she dedicated her life to loving and protecting her, I still thought we were going in a good direction. I was interested in Laura, invested in her future.

Unfortunately, we quickly leave Laura and have to suffer through hours of Shirley and Henry's god-awful, broken, uncomfortable marriage—the dysfunction, the gaslighting. If you're sensitive to cheating, you are going to want to give this one a pass. It’s 'oops, all screwing around' with Henry, and even Shirley has her own affair.

I was about 48% of the way through the book and any amusement I'd had at the absolutely ridiculous and exhausting characters was gone.

The book shifts again into a very confusing section with a man named Llewellyn. And THEN in the last 30 minutes we finally get the (and I say this with the heaviest of air quotes) “romance” for Laura. It was bafflingly unsatisfying.

🎧 AUDIO-SPECIFIC — The only redeeming part of this story is Gillian Kerrod as narrator. She has a bit of a childlike voice, even in her normal speech, and it was perfect for Laura's early POV, and then later Shirley’s. I honestly can't imagine either sister with a different voice after hearing this performance. Kerrod’s side character voices were also wonderful.

The production itself was very clean – the audio smooth and the pacing was excellent. I ran it at 1.0x speed until I stopped liking the story, and then sped it up so I could get to the end quickly.

TL;DR – As much as I despise this book, it would make a great book club title. Members could discuss at length which character was the most insufferable.