Heather’s Bookshelf: The Sussex Pond Murder
Author: Richard Sorapure
Released: 07/19/23
Genre: Murder Mystery
“A timeless state of waiting for answers, but it was of no concern to one whose life had been cut short bluntly in a frozen past.”
“The Sussex Pond Murder” takes place in 1983 and introduces Michael Fletcher, a geography teacher who finds himself under suspicion after a fellow teacher is found murdered in the school pond. Michelle Gagneux was a well-liked French teacher at St. Wilfrid’s Prep School for boys before her death.
Michael reports seeing Michelle with a stranger the night of her murder, but no one seems to believe him. As the investigation continues, the romantic relationship between Michael and Michelle comes to light, as do many other secrets, but still Michelle’s murder goes unsolved.
Determined to find the truth, Michael begins his own investigation which leads him to Michelle’s brother and Michelle’s secret research. The more Michael investigates, the more mystery he uncovers and the more danger he finds himself in. Will he find the answers he’s looking for before something terrible happens to him or the people he loves?
Trigger Warning: violence, murder, torture, kidnapping
Overall, I was torn by this tale. The story is told through mixed POVs- mostly Michael’s and that of the police. Michael as a character is an intriguing one. He’s broken, flawed, and self-consumed. In the beginning of the story, I felt as though Michael was close to emotionless regarding the death of his supposed friend and lover. He seemingly only cared about finding the truth about her death because of the suspicions against him. But as the story developed, he grew as a character and I found myself rooting for him. I didn’t feel especially connected to any of the rest of the ancillary characters, however. I did enjoy the mystery aspects of the story as well as the who-dun-it feel. The pacing was mixed, with portions moving along nicely and other dragging on a bit with retellings or recaps to characters that might not have been privy to other portions of the tale. The first half of the story felt much more realistic than the second half and the conspiracy theory aspects were more distracting than interesting. When the answer to the mystery is revealed, I found it to be quite surprising and while realistic, a little underwhelming. The ending wraps everything up nicely and felt completely resolved as a story with updates on many of the other ancillary characters.
I received a copy of this story in exchange of a fair and honest review.
OVERALL REVIEW:
A mystery with who-dun-it appeal and a surprising reveal that underdelivers on pacing and overall story arc.
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