Elaine's Reviews > Missing Pieces

I have to say that normally I really like Heather Gudenkauf and this read certainly started off well but by the end of it I was really disliking it. Sarah and Jack have been married for 20 years. They have never really had a great deal to do with his family but when his Aunt Julia, who raised him from a teenager, suddenly has a fall, they return to his home town. Once there, Sarah discovers that Jack has been lying to her for the past 20 years about the death of his parents, and in particular that of his mother. His parents did not die in a car crash, his mother had been murdered and his father had disappeared. Can she trust him again when he has lied about something so fundamental, especially when she uncovers yet more lies? In the meantime, what of his Aunt Julia?

My main problem with the book was Sarah herself. Before she had children she was a respected journalist so should have been in her element as she started to uncover the truth of what happened to Jack’s parents. Yet, she could never seem to be able to see the wood for the trees, being unable to spot those links that she would have been trained to spot.

In her present life she is an agony aunt, yet she seemed to have no compassion for and showed no empathy towards Jack. Yes, she had found out all or most of his lies, but he was caught up in a serious family crisis and she should have been able to recognise the right time to tackle him. She just seemed to have no understanding of how he was feeling whatsoever. In addition, when she meets Celia, who turns out to be an old high school flame of Jack’s she is riddled with insecurity. Surely, after 20 years of marriage to a man and being an agony aunt to boot, she should have been able to ride that one out!

Finally though, I know that since 1985 there have been huge scientific advances in crime detection, what with DNA etcetera. However, surely even in 1985, medical examiners would have been able to pinpoint a time of death? At no time, when talking about the murder of Jack’s mother was a time of death ever mentioned – yet the reader knew what had happened from the prologue and so it soon became pretty obvious that a large part of the plot was being rendered meaningless. The person who was the prime suspect could not possibly have done it and a time of death would have proved that straightaway.

Finally, I did guess who was the guilty party as soon as I met them.

I received an advance review copy from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for a review.