A Tidy Ending

Starred review from June 13, 2022
Linda Hammett, the unreliable narrator of this sublimely structured and darkly witty novel from British author Cannon (Three Things About Elsie), works in a charity shop and has recently moved with her husband, Terry, to an English housing estate. The flower beds are a tiny bit wider, and “Terry had more room to park his filthy van,” but they “still lived the same life.” That is, until the clothing catalog filled with elegant models and addressed to Rebecca Finch, the house’s former occupant, arrives. With Terry working odd hours when he’s not glued to the telly, Linda begins to daydream about the life she imagines for Rebecca. If only she could locate Rebecca, Linda is sure they could become friends. Then a young woman is found strangled, and the estate is abuzz with suspicion: someone local must be responsible. Linda’s search for her new potential friend runs parallel to the police investigation. The author does a superb job misdirecting the reader as Linda seems to misinterpret the motives of those around her. Through Linda’s voice, even a trip to the mall becomes fascinating and wryly amusing, and the multilayered plot offers genuine surprises up to the final revelation. Cannon has raised her game with this one. Agent: Susan Armstrong, Conville & Walsh Literary (U.K.).

June 15, 2022
Cannon's third novel centers on a Welshwoman with a secret traumatic past in a town with a possible serial killer. What are the salient details in this story? Cannon, a master of obfuscation, makes it hard to tell. There is Linda, the narrator, certainly. She is married to Terry. She is miserable. Her childhood was ruined by allegations toward her father--sexual abuse or misconduct is implied--and his subsequent death. She and her mother relocated to the undistinguished English town where the book takes place. She is 43. As the book opens, a murder victim has been found in town, the second in recent times. Linda seems to spot a clue watching the press conference on TV but doesn't say what it is. Meanwhile, she becomes obsessed with Rebecca Finch, former resident of her house, whose luxe catalogs still arrive in the mail. Linda is a slippery one, as a character and as a narrator. She describes to the reader, over and over again, how things are. What people are like. What people do or will believe. And she often sounds astute. But when she narrates herself in social settings, she seems tragically awkward and friendless. Time goes on and the bodies pile up. Linda stalks Rebecca and makes her acquaintance. So much time is spent on Linda's daily movements and musings, so much time on the Rebecca plot. The murders are a hot topic in the neighborhood, but are they even important? Where will it all lead? Will it be satisfying? The ending is not, as promised, tidy. An exercise in red herrings.

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Starred review from July 1, 2022
Forty-three-year-old Linda lives on a council estate in England with her husband, Terry, not far from her mother. She has lived there ever since she and her mother fled their old home after a traumatic event involving Linda's dad. Linda works in a charity shop, and Terry works in a factory, but Linda gets through life by relying on her music, an obsessive preoccupation with cleanliness, and "keeping herself to herself." She's not that bothered about the apparent serial killer running loose in the neighborhood, as her mind is on the beautiful lifestyle catalog, addressed to Rebecca Finch, that comes in the mail. Rebecca used to own Linda's house, and Linda becomes obsessed with tracking her down, imagining that Rebecca lives an enviably glamorous life, one that Linda dreams of emulating. Although she's never used the internet, much less a computer, Linda is determined and eventually manages to find Rebecca. Soon, she's slowly but surely inveigling her way into Rebecca's life. Eventually the reader realizes that Linda is not quite the clueless, tragic loser she at first seemed. Cannon's story is chock-a-block with punch-in-the gut twists, wry humor, tragedy, and heartbreak. The ending, which will leave readers gasping, is more stunning than ""tidy.

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