I'm a fan of Kerry Wilkinson's Jessica Daniel series and have enjoyed several of his standalone novels. The Death and Life of Eleanor Parker is the latest standalone to be released, merging mystery, YA, and paranormal. It feels different from the other standalone novels by Wilkinson, but the premise hooked me from the beginning.
Eleanor wakes up and drags herself from a river. Her memory of how she got there is a blank, but she is aware that someone held her under the water, drowning her. She has bruises on her neck and chest marking the efforts of her killer.
Eleanor can interact with people who see her and talk to her, but she doesn't eat, doesn't sleep, and doesn't feel pain. She attempts to find out what happened at the party she attended before waking up in the river, trying to discover who was responsible for drowning her.
A year previously, her brother's girlfriend Sarah was found in the same river. Her brother Ollie went through a difficult time with the loss of the girl he loved and with the accusations, whispers, and rumors blaming him for Sarah's murder. Even as Eleanor searches for her own killer, another young girl goes missing, and once again Ollie is under suspicion.
You have to be willing to accept the implausible and just let yourself be entertained. The "suspension of disbelief" is required for a great deal of fiction, and although I questioned, I continued to enjoy this novel.
Blog review scheduled for July 10.
NetGalley/Bookoutre
Mystery/YA/Paranormal. June 26, 2018.
This sounds like fun. And I read zombie novels, so suspension of disbelief is not a problem for me. :D
ReplyDeleteThere is also a nice twist. :)
DeleteWhat an intriguing beginning this is! Ready to suspend disbelief I think!
ReplyDeleteJust when you suspend disbelief, there is a twist!
DeleteIf the story is good and well told, I'm willing to accept the implausible. :)
ReplyDeleteI liked the way I kept wondering in this one. :)
DeleteI am intrigued! This does sound like it will take a bit of suspension of disbelief, but well worth it!
ReplyDelete