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A review by maryleong
The Binding Room by Nadine Matheson
3.0
This was an incredibly compelling read. I did not particularly enjoy Nadine Matheson's first novel, and was glad I gave this a second chance. Right off the bat, this novel plunges you right into the action – the brutal torture of a yet-unknown victim. A shady megachurch is at the heart of it all as its fire and brimstone preacher is found dead.
But the novel isn't all unsolved murders and serial killings. For our protagonist Anjelica Henley and her partner Salim Ramouter, the novel tackles issues of racism, racial profiling, and the tenuous balance for BIPOC who work in policing and other carceral systems. It also skilfully weaves portraits of individuals going through grief, trauma, and loss.
My main gripe with the novel came right at the end. For such a dramatic, twisty novel with complex characters, the suspects' dialogue during their interviews were flat and one-dimensional. Not to spoil anything, but two of the suspects' speech patterns were pretty much identical, despite them being very different characters throughout the novel. This felt really jarring and broke the immersion for me. Overall, would have been a 4/5 if not for this.
But the novel isn't all unsolved murders and serial killings. For our protagonist Anjelica Henley and her partner Salim Ramouter, the novel tackles issues of racism, racial profiling, and the tenuous balance for BIPOC who work in policing and other carceral systems. It also skilfully weaves portraits of individuals going through grief, trauma, and loss.
My main gripe with the novel came right at the end. For such a dramatic, twisty novel with complex characters, the suspects' dialogue during their interviews were flat and one-dimensional. Not to spoil anything, but two of the suspects' speech patterns were pretty much identical, despite them being very different characters throughout the novel. This felt really jarring and broke the immersion for me. Overall, would have been a 4/5 if not for this.