A review by charf47
The Final Case by David Guterson

3.0

I absolutely loved Snow Falling on the Cedars and had high hopes for this book. These hopes were met in the first half of the book. The writing is descriptive and beautiful, throughout. Each of the characters are well developed and interesting. The case at the heart of the book is horrifying and evokes in the reader a great despair and a desire for the perpetrators to be adequately punished.

Then an incident occurs, which I will not elaborate on for fear of giving too much away, and no more is said about the case again, until very close to the end of the book. In the intervening pages the description of people, events, relationships and emotions remains beautifully evoked and expressed, but, to me, is totally removed from what I consider to be the focus of the book. This left me feeling somewhat frustrated. There may well be a parallel social commentary in this part that I have failed to discern, in which case the fault is mine and I apologise.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.