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A young man is found dead, brutally stabbed, in a rented old houseboat on a river in London. Three women nearby all have some kind of connection to the victim.
Miriam Lewis lives on a houseboat right next to where she comes across Daniel Sutherland. She’s a permanent resident on the river, keeping a tidy boat and working at a bookstore that’s also situated on the water. Miriam is nosy, clearly enjoying keeping tabs on the comings and goings of the area. She tells the police most of what she knows but keeps back some information for herself.
Laura is a young woman with some mental and physical issues who has trouble with stability in her life. She had a one-night stand with Daniel right before he was killed and was seen leaving the boat by at least two people.
Carla is his aunt, who was close to him at an earlier time in their lives. She’s mourning the death of her sister, Daniel’s mother, and still grieving the loss of her toddler son years before.
Each is holding on to resentment and anger and each has motive for the killing.
There are only a few other major characters in the story: Carla’s ex-husband, Theo, who still loves her and with whom she maintains a semblance of a relationship, and Irene, elderly neighbor to Carla’s recently deceased sister and a new friend of Laura. All are interconnected in this story and there are a good number of things going on, past and present. Many of them are related to the murder, but not all.
A Slow Fire Burning is a serviceable mystery book but also a study of each character, many of whom are unlikeable. Each is holding on to long-burning, simmering fires of anger and resentment, of being mistreated. It was interesting but not one I’d necessarily highly recommend; Hawkins’ Girl on the Train thriller book was more compelling.
Rated: High. Profanity includes more than 70 uses of strong language, about 25 instances of moderate profanity, about 10 uses of mild language, and over 70 instances of the name of Deity in vain. Sexual content includes reference to a sexual assault but no details, references to sex happening or having happened, but few details, and some vulgarity. Violence includes a grisly murder by stabbing and a good amount of blood, some fighting, a kidnapping of two teen girls, and assault.
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