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A review by snowmaiden
The Girl with a Clock for a Heart by Peter Swanson
4.0
I don't usually read this type of crime/mystery novel, so maybe I was more impressed with this book than someone who has read extensively in the genre would be, but I really enjoyed it a lot. Mysteries usually suffer from one of two problems: either the plot is so simple that you can see it coming from a mile away, or else it's so complicated that you still don't understand exactly what happened even when you're done reading. Swanson manages to walk the fine line between these two extremes, giving us a plot that seems plausible and makes perfect sense without seeming too simplistic.
Without giving too much away, this is the story of George Foss, a fairly ordinary bachelor in his late thirties. Although he's tried, he's never been able to forget his first love, who mysteriously vanished from his life twenty years before. When she suddenly appears in his favorite bar and asks for his help with some illegal dealings she's become involved with, he knows he shouldn't give her the time of day, but he does anyway. Over the next week, he gets pulled deeper and deeper into her web of lies until his very life is at stake. The machinations of the plot were all fairly standard stuff, with about as much action and intrigue as you'd get in a typical Mrs. Pollifax novel. What made it stand out for me, besides the clarity of plotting that I've already mentioned, was the depth of George's characterization. He seems like a real person who had a full and interesting life even before the events of the novel took place, and we are treated to plenty of his thoughts and feelings throughout. I know that sometimes the characters in these kinds of books are somewhat two-dimensional, so I was very pleased that Swanson was able to realize him so fully on the page.
(Note: I received an advance reader's edition of this book through a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.)
Without giving too much away, this is the story of George Foss, a fairly ordinary bachelor in his late thirties. Although he's tried, he's never been able to forget his first love, who mysteriously vanished from his life twenty years before. When she suddenly appears in his favorite bar and asks for his help with some illegal dealings she's become involved with, he knows he shouldn't give her the time of day, but he does anyway. Over the next week, he gets pulled deeper and deeper into her web of lies until his very life is at stake. The machinations of the plot were all fairly standard stuff, with about as much action and intrigue as you'd get in a typical Mrs. Pollifax novel. What made it stand out for me, besides the clarity of plotting that I've already mentioned, was the depth of George's characterization. He seems like a real person who had a full and interesting life even before the events of the novel took place, and we are treated to plenty of his thoughts and feelings throughout. I know that sometimes the characters in these kinds of books are somewhat two-dimensional, so I was very pleased that Swanson was able to realize him so fully on the page.
(Note: I received an advance reader's edition of this book through a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.)