The Lost Child
The Lost Child by Ann Troup
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I really wanted to like this book. It held such promise, just the premise was intriguing to me. And I love a cold case, a small town, and a crumbling building with a hidden passage. But with standard mystery fodder like this, a writer needs to be excellent in their craft. Without great writing, the premise sinks to the banal.
The dialouge is stilted. Perhaps the author should have tried talking her prose out loud to see that real people don’t talk this way.
Character development was completely lacking; it was like reading a social media profile.
The relationship between Dan the handyman and Elaine the protagonist was juvenile at best; the rapidly developing role Dan plays in Elaine’s life was far fetched and laughable.
I guessed the mystery 1/4 of the way in, and I NEVER figure things out!
The additional family revelations about Brodie and others turn a second rate mystery novel into a third rate soap opera.
Too much of plot advancement told through the thoughts of the characters; a good writer would have been able to let the story unfold through actions and dialogue.
The one redeeming feature, the reason I gave 2 stars instead of 1 or none- was how the author treated the aftermath of finding a missing child as a grownup. The exploration of doubt, uncertainty, re-aligining of familial feelings, and sense of loss was well imagined. If only the writing had been better….
The horrifically gruesome “twist” near-ending was unnecessary and gratuitous. The rosy, happy family ending was comical, although I’m sure that wasn’t the author’s intent.
Give this one a miss.
