She Left by Stacie Grey had classic makings of a locked door mystery to solve a decades old crime and we were hooked from the beginning. However, a slower middle part of the novel had us struggling, the ending tied things up nicely.
She Left tells the story of Amy Brewer and the Memorial Day Massacre that rocked a small California community. The novel follows Amy as she is drawn back into the events of that tragic night twenty years later when a journalist invites those connected to the crime to a remote cliffside house. As the storm closes in and guests begin to die, Amy realizes there is someone in the house who knows more than they admit about what happened that night long ago.
The beginning of She Left captivated us with its intriguing premise and sets up an engaging mystery. We are immediately drawn into Amy’s world and her struggle with guilt and survivor’s remorse. However, as the story progressed, the middle section of the book felt slow-paced and was challenging to get through. While we were deterred a bit by the slower section, we pushed through and were rewarded with a thrilling race to the finish.
Despite the pacing issues, She Left features a lot of interesting characters that add depth and complexity to the story. We find out that each character connected to the Memorial Day Massacre brings their own secrets and motivations to light, keeping us guessing about their true intentions until the very end. Interactions between characters are fraught with tension and suspicion, adding layers of intrigue to an already suspenseful plot.
Like a lot of mystery thrillers, the twists and turns throughout She Left kept us on our toes to try and figure out the mystery surrounding not only the fateful night twenty years ago, but the events at the cliffside house. Stacie Grey weaves together past and present timelines, building suspense as secrets are slowly revealed and connections between characters become clear. We are typically not huge fans of books with a ton of characters, but Grey did a nice job allowing us able to follow along.
We listen to the audio version of this novel and it was wonderfully narrated by Linda Jones. Her voice is fitting to the story being told and was extremely captivating allowing us to get through the middle part of the book.
She Left by Stacie Grey is not a perfect novel, but one that was worth the read. The book has some wonderful elements outside the pacing issues that made the ending rewarding.
She Left hits bookstores everywhere on May 14, 2024. Listen to the audiobook on Libro.fm!
