This is not so much a “whodunnit“ but a “didhedidn’thedoit“! Truly, Darkly, Deeply is a psychological thriller about a serial killer rampaging the streets of London, almost Ripper style.
‘ 12-year-old Sophie and her mother, Amelia-Rose, move to London from Massachusetts where they meet the charismatic Matty Melgren, who quickly becomes an intrinsic part of their lives. But as the relationship between the two adults fractures, a serial killer begins targeting young women with a striking resemblance to Amelia-Rose.
When Matty is eventually sent down for multiple murders, questions remain as to his guilt – questions which ultimately destroy both women. Nearly twenty years later, Sophie receives a letter from Battlemouth prison informing her Matty is dying and wants to meet. It looks like Sophie might finally get the answers she craves. But will the truth set her free – or bury her deeper?
The story is Sophie‘s. Told from the young Sophie’s perspective and the older, adult Sophie‘s viewpoint the reader is treated to what she sees, what she feels and what she thinks. As with all psychological thrillers are we getting the full story? The author skilfully points the reader in certain directions and then casts doubt upon it all. Tensions are ramped up to bursting point almost and the palpable sense of a region in fear is wonderfully created and sustained throughout. Like Sophie, the reader wants the truth but do we get it? Aha! The real danger with a book like this is that an innocent reviewer like myself might give too much away so I’m saying little. Except that you’ll have to wait till the end to find out exactly what happens. But I what I will say is there’s an intrepid little twist at the end that I’m pretty sure few people would’ve seen coming. I certainly didn’t.
Throughout the book we are encouraged to empathise with Sophie. To see things through her eyes and understand why she is confused by the potential truths. A sense of unease and a twisted equilibrium persists throughout the novel that is quite unnerving. You know something is wrong, something is out of kilter but, like Sophie, can you put your finger on it exactly?
I enjoyed the writer’s narrative style. It’s well paced and I like the way that an almost humdrum, normal life was embellished with doubts and fears. When we read about serial killers we are often shown how dysfunctional they are and how their early lives may have impacted upon their poor ‘career’ choice? But here the very normality of things makes the book even creepier. I also enjoyed the little devices used to keep the book balanced, for example the introduction of online forums discussing whether Matty Melgren was guilty or innocent, or a report from an Evidence Revisited Project, these devices serve to reinforce not just Sophie‘s dichotomy but the reader’s too.
What I also found interesting was that the story as a whole does encourage the reader to consider that those close to a perpetrator in these kind of cases are also victims, of a kind. Once Matty was convicted Sophie and her mother was seen as pariahs within their social circles.
It is a dark, disturbing read. But also an incredibly compelling one. My thanks to Quercus Books for a highly treasured limited edition proof. Highly treasured because the writer herself has signed it! And my thanks to Joe Christie for a spot upon the blog tour.
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