FLOWERS FOR THE DEAD by C.K. WILLIAMS

 FLOWERS FOR THE DEAD

by

C.K. WILLIAMS

THE BLURB:

I AM THE REASON GIRLS ARE TOLD NOT TO TRUST STRANGERS. I AM THEIR CAUTIONARY TALE.

Nineteen years ago Linn Wilson was attacked. Seventeen years old and home alone, she'd been waiting for her friends to arrive when she heard the doorbell ring. But when she opened the door, Linn let in her worst nightmare. The culprit was never found.

It was someone I knew. I am going to find out who did this to me.

Now Linn is determined to get to the bottom of the night that changed her life forever. Returning to the village where she grew up, she knows that someone must know something. The claustrophobia and isolation of small town living means secrets won't remain secrets for long...

THE REALITY:

Possibly not the most cheery of novels to read when going through a sudden bereavement, as I was! This was found at Southend railway station, where they have a book exchange thingy going on, where you leave one of your old books and take a new one. This novel- although possibly not something I would choose- seemed the best at the time.

The main thing I liked was that the author really did keep you guessing and, for a long time, it was an “it could be any one of them” situation. Then the finger seemed to point at (spoiler alert!) Anna, and I liked the way that the idea of a female perpetrator was explored, along with the claustrophobic nature of living in a small town society, and how everybody knows everyone else's business. I also liked the way sexuality- and how times have regarding acceptance of alternative lifestyles- was explored.

Would I have guessed the perpetrator? Maybe and kind of, as (spoiler alert!) he came into the frame as a candidate somewhat far along the line, and I loved the way Linn worked out who it actually was and how she dealt with him. I also liked the (sometimes) one line chapters and how the book was carefully compartmentalised with each player getting a different chapter to his or her self.

(Big spoiler alert!) The information regarding how she adorned her creepy dead husband with flowers in the chapel of rest was something else, and enough to make your skin crawl!

Not my usual cup of tea, but it was certainly evocative, and worth a go.