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A review by billymac1962
Tall Oaks by Chris Whitaker
5.0
I recently read and loved Distress Signals by Catherine Ryan Howard, which was her debut novel.
On the cover of the book, there's a mention that it was shortlisted for the CWA Debut New Blood Dagger award
(https://thecwa.co.uk/awards-and-competitions/the-daggers/john-creasey-new-blood-dagger). So I thought I would check out what actually won that year and it was this one.
I was surprised that it was Chris Whitaker because I do have We Begin At The End on my Kindle library (my wife had read it) but I hadn't heard of Tall Oaks. Not one mention of it on the book podcasts I listen to. So, immediately interested, I bought it and dove it. And I freaking loved it.
There aren't a lot of times where humour can blend in well with psychological suspense and to be honest I was quite wary going in.
But wow, did it ever work. I can't recall another novel that covered such a wide range of emotions in me: humour, rage, disgust, empathy, and I was fully engaged throughout all aspects of the story.
Not to say that this there is a lot of humour, the story is quite dark, but it was done in a way that wasn't forced and really fit it. The story is totally my jam: it centers around a missing child in a small, affluent town.
It follows a few sets of characters, and of course everyone has secrets in a small town. I felt like I was reading a season of Fargo.
To put it simply, the story was told expertly. Just like Distress Signals, and this means that with the discovery of the CWA awards website, I just may have found an amazing resource for crime novel recommendations!
And I am also looking forward to We Begin at the End.
Five stars! WooHoo!
On the cover of the book, there's a mention that it was shortlisted for the CWA Debut New Blood Dagger award
(https://thecwa.co.uk/awards-and-competitions/the-daggers/john-creasey-new-blood-dagger). So I thought I would check out what actually won that year and it was this one.
I was surprised that it was Chris Whitaker because I do have We Begin At The End on my Kindle library (my wife had read it) but I hadn't heard of Tall Oaks. Not one mention of it on the book podcasts I listen to. So, immediately interested, I bought it and dove it. And I freaking loved it.
There aren't a lot of times where humour can blend in well with psychological suspense and to be honest I was quite wary going in.
But wow, did it ever work. I can't recall another novel that covered such a wide range of emotions in me: humour, rage, disgust, empathy, and I was fully engaged throughout all aspects of the story.
Not to say that this there is a lot of humour, the story is quite dark, but it was done in a way that wasn't forced and really fit it. The story is totally my jam: it centers around a missing child in a small, affluent town.
It follows a few sets of characters, and of course everyone has secrets in a small town. I felt like I was reading a season of Fargo.
To put it simply, the story was told expertly. Just like Distress Signals, and this means that with the discovery of the CWA awards website, I just may have found an amazing resource for crime novel recommendations!
And I am also looking forward to We Begin at the End.
Five stars! WooHoo!