Official Review: Letters From Greenview by Margaret Groh

[Poppy Drear]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Letters From Greenview" by Margaret Groh.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Owing mostly to its engaging characters, Letters From Greenview by Margaret Groh is a charming and witty suspense thriller. This sub-genre thrives on intrigue rather than action, though there is no shortage of peril in this book, and the stakes are certainly very high. The story follows Laura, an investigative reporter who decides to help an intern investigate a corpse discovered under the foundation of an old hotel. After working with him, she learns that her mother has been lying about her family history for Laura's entire life. Already reeling from the deaths of her husband and her mother, Laura finds herself at the epicenter of a cover-up that could change her life forever - or end it.

Right off the bat, I should mention that this isn't a typical mystery novel. The big questions about Laura's family are all answered by about halfway through the book, though each character has only bits and pieces of the story. The story leans heavily on dramatic irony as a result, and it does so to great effect. Since everyone in the book acts rationally, readers aren't left annoyed and waiting for them to catch up. Instead, I found myself rooting for Laura and her cohorts to complete the puzzle before it was too late.

I found this book's characters to be incredibly engaging and realistic. They all have their own distinct lives and motivations, including Meg, Laura's supportive best friend, and Catherine, a lonely widow. There are also slice-of-life scenes for practically all of the main characters that serve to round them out further, and while the perspective shifts were a bit jarring at first, I got used to them fairly quickly. For the most part, these characters spur on the plot rather than merely reacting to it. In typical debut novel fashion, the plot does rely on several key coincidences, but I believe this is typical of the genre.

This book's pacing is extremely effective, though readers used to action novels might find it slow. It leans heavily on exposition in the beginning third, with a great deal of information delivered in a single conversation or internal monologue, but the rest of the book rounds out and solidifies the information given very well. I did feel that the climax robbed Laura of some of her agency, but it certainly wasn't anticlimactic. There are some typos, most notably regarding homonym confusion and quotation mark placement, but I was able to ignore them.

Ultimately, I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. I thoroughly enjoyed it, despite some minor imperfections. It's a very impressive debut novel, with an engaging plot, realistic characters, and remarkable execution. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes character-driven suspense novels, though younger audiences will probably not be interested in its core themes, which include family and loss.

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Letters From Greenview
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[Deprise Evans]

This sounds like an amazing book! I love mystery/suspense novels, and this I feel would definitely captivate a reader who also shares my opinion and enjoys character-driven novels like this. Great job on your review!