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A review by hayleybeale
All That Is Mine I Carry with Me by William Landay
3.0
I found the author’s previous novel Defending Jacob a good enough if rather old-fashioned mystery but this new legal/crime/family drama is a whole lot of “Huh?” that feels like the author was experimenting with voice and format and then accidentally submitted it to the publisher who accidentally published it.
In 1972, Jane Larkin, wife and mother-of-three, disappears. Despite a dogged detective on the case, the mystery is never solved though many, including the police and some of her family, believe her husband, Dan, murdered her.
The novel’s four “books” are all set at different times between Jane’s disappearance and some point in the future with a different narrator for each section: Phil, a novelist friend of the family, Jane herself, Jeff, the middle child, and Dan. This gives the book a rather lumpy structure and the lack of chronological order makes it confusing. The mystery is resolved at the end but in a pretty meh way as though to say that it didn’t really matter if Jane was killed and by whom.
The author writes well on the family dynamics and how the trauma of a missing mother changes these dynamics as well as the individuals. The characters themselves are deftly drawn and developed with the exception of Dan who remains something of a void even in his own section.
As with Defending Jacob, the tone feels old fashioned, even the parts set in the present day. I’m ok with that slower pacing but I feel words like “workmanlike” and “competent” come to mind to describe the novel rather than, say, “gripping” or “exciting.”
Looking at other reviews on Goodreads, I’m clearly in a minority. Perhaps my ability to appreciate well-crafted mysteries has been worn down by all the fast-paced flashy thrillers I’ve been reading.
Thanks to Ballantine and Netgalley for the digital review copy.
In 1972, Jane Larkin, wife and mother-of-three, disappears. Despite a dogged detective on the case, the mystery is never solved though many, including the police and some of her family, believe her husband, Dan, murdered her.
The novel’s four “books” are all set at different times between Jane’s disappearance and some point in the future with a different narrator for each section: Phil, a novelist friend of the family, Jane herself, Jeff, the middle child, and Dan. This gives the book a rather lumpy structure and the lack of chronological order makes it confusing. The mystery is resolved at the end but in a pretty meh way as though to say that it didn’t really matter if Jane was killed and by whom.
The author writes well on the family dynamics and how the trauma of a missing mother changes these dynamics as well as the individuals. The characters themselves are deftly drawn and developed with the exception of Dan who remains something of a void even in his own section.
As with Defending Jacob, the tone feels old fashioned, even the parts set in the present day. I’m ok with that slower pacing but I feel words like “workmanlike” and “competent” come to mind to describe the novel rather than, say, “gripping” or “exciting.”
Looking at other reviews on Goodreads, I’m clearly in a minority. Perhaps my ability to appreciate well-crafted mysteries has been worn down by all the fast-paced flashy thrillers I’ve been reading.
Thanks to Ballantine and Netgalley for the digital review copy.