A review by bgg616
Kind of Cruel by Sophie Hannah

3.0

This is 3.5 stars for me. It took until the last 100 pages to really get me hooked which means I had to read over 300 pages to get into it. This is a psychological mystery with a very convoluted plot. Detective Simon Waterhouse turns out to be a psychological mystery himself. His wife Charlie Zailer has her neurosis. The plot revolves around a hypnotherapist. I had no idea hypnotherapy was a psychological treatment. I thought it was something people did to change behaviors like smoking and overeating. The story begins with a mystery of a family member who invited her extended family to a Christmas getaway and then disappears for more than 24 hours with her husband and children before reappearing. There are some very psychologically disturbed people in this novel. I am intrigued by one of the personalities described, who masquerades as generous, charismatic, and considerate. Although there is a character described as a narcissist, the characteristics of narcissist and sociopath overlap to some extent but are different. I am not sure why I find these personality disturbances so interesting, but if you do as well, you will probably like this book.