A Summer To Die For
To Jem Chapman, it's the chance of a lifetime. An invitation to join a group in an exclusive Hamptons house-share, who could say no? But when she discovers what happened last summer, Jem can't help but feel a chill.
A young woman was found drowned in the house's pool. The housemates said Alice was troubled. She'd been drinking. She couldn't swim...
A Secret To Kill For
As Jem gets to know her glamorous new housemates, she realises each has something to hide. What really happened last summer? And who would go to any lengths to keep a person quiet?
I have been a big fan of Tasmina Perry's books ever since she burst on to the scene nearly ten years ago with the brilliant Daddy's Girls. It had all the ingredients one needs for a brilliant summer read and the books that followed could also be termed as 'bonkbusters'. Recently though the author has appeared to be taking her books in a different direction especially with her book published last year The House on Sunset Lake. I'll be honest and say I really didn't get on with that book and I know some fellow readers felt the same, I didn't enjoy it as much as her other books. It felt heavy and ploddy and just didn't go anywhere. I appreciate with the last few books she has published that she was venturing down a new avenue as all authors are want to do the more books they write but it all just felt a little off kilter given how comfortable readers had become with the type of book Tasmina writes.
But now Tasmina is back with The Pool House and I can confirm that the author is back at her very best. The Pool House is the perfect mix and I feel the author has certainly achieved the right balance between glitz and glamour whilst raising some more serious issues. This is not full of sex scenes and over the top plots instead it reads as a classy thriller of sorts with the author venturing into more darker territory. Yes, I was apprehensive about reading this book given my misgivings about last years publication but The Pool House is distinct proof that you should always give an author another try as I loved every minute of this very clever book.
The Pool House opens with a very brief prologue as a woman dashes across the beach from a party. She arrives back at her house but the reader can sense she is upset and not herself, the weight of the world is on her shoulders. She takes a drink and walks to the pool in the garden, suddenly she hears another voice and then everything goes blank. A year later we meet Jem Chapman, she is over in New York with her husband Nat who is an associate editor of a men's magazine. Their plan is to spend a year to eighteen months in the city that never sleeps before returning to England where their house is currently being rented out. Jem made this move for Nat so he could further his career but even within the first few chapters the reader could clearly see that she wasn't happy. She was restless, yes she was living in the most amazing city and had everything she could wish for on her doorstep but the reality to what we see on TV or read about in magazines is very different. Their apartment is tiny and there is only so many tourist sites Jem can visit solo while Nat works. Evenings are long while Nat goes to parties and social gatherings all in aid of his job. Jem had given up her only job as a caterer but her love of food has not abated. Jem feels isolated in a city of thousands and Nat can't see this or maybe he refuses to.
When an opportunity to partake in a house share in the Hamptons presents itself the couple take up the offer even if the money involved is beyond ridiculous. Nat sees it as a networking occasion, a career opportunity way too good to resist. Little does Jem know this seemingly innocuous move to spend weekends engaging with the glitterati set will see a summer unfold that she won't forget in a hurry. The author nails every aspect in her portrayal of the Hamptons. We've all seen snippets of this wealthy community on TV and it seems like something from The Real Housewives series. A place that seems too good to be true, where the rich and famous come to flaunt their wealth every summer and hob knob at the most exclusive parties and events. Jem feels she will be totally out of her depth here, like a fish out of water and the other couples sharing the house will view her with disdain. She thinks doing the cooking will be a way to ingratiate herself into the 'clique' that Nat is very much a part of.
Nat seemed the polar opposite to Jem and I felt he became a different person when he reached America. That he did love Jem to an extent but he was really leaving her behind as he moved in ever higher circles of society and the magazine world. Jem needs something to take her mind off things as once the weekend is over the other couples return to the city and their high powered jobs. She soon discovers there is a shadow hanging over the stunning house they are calling home for the summer and that no one really wants to talk about this presence. Things are best left unsaid. Paul and Rebecca, Joel and Erica, Todd and Angela are all good company but why are they so reluctant to talk about the incident at the pool house last summer. Seemingly as Jem soon discovers there had been another couple at the pool house and Alice drowned in the pool last summer. So Jem and Nat are the replacements and Jem is not sure just how comfortable she is with that.
There is an underlying tension and sense of secrets and desperately trying to keep things hidden throughout the book but the inquisitive nature of Jem rears its head as the more she comes to know the people and the setting the more she realises she wants to uncover the truth being concealed. Did the police put the drowning down to just a pure accident fair too quickly? So she sets about finding out what really happened that night and why? Thriller author Micheal Kearney who is looking for a topic for his next novel and when he meets Jem at a party, he employs her as his assistant. Together they set out to see exactly what did happen to Alice that fateful night that everyone else seems to be blocking from their minds.
Once the 'investigation' as such got going the author really ramped up the pace and the tension. There were so many layers waiting to be unfolded and the book then split itself into distinct parts. In the present Jem was building up a picture of Alice and her husband David and all their various associates and connections and in fact the inner workings of their marriage.The reader was becoming comfortable with this picture but all it takes is for a simple little discovery or just a few words within a sentence and then everything is turned on its head. That's what happened here and I was left gasping out loud when the first big reveal came. It was so cleverly written and given I had a particular picture of Alice built up in my head this came as a major shocker and made me revaluate everything I had thought. In fact the whole book makes you think one thing and then within a chapter or two your thoughts are all over the place and you really don't know what is the truth and what are falsehoods.
What makes this book even better is that we get to see and hear things from Alice's perspective too. I think if we hadn't have had that the book wouldn't have been half as good as it was. Alice soon became a character you love but you hate her in equal measure. Just like the façade presented in the Hamptons Alice too had her own curtain she was hiding behind. To the outside world she lived a life of perfection and anyone would love to have what she has but behind closed doors secrets, lies, intrigue and mystery abound. The book got darker as it went along but this made me love the story even more. I never knew who to trust nor could I believe any words that came out of any characters mouth.
The journey to uncover what actually did happen the night Alice was found floating in the pool was a riveting one and I lost myself in the story as I followed Jem as she searched and searched. She was not one to give up given the nagging feeling she kept experiencing. It was like she was coming out of the shadow of Nat and striking out for herself and she couldn't rest until she had found what she was looking for. There were hints also to some romance but I'm glad this was more on the periphery and not the sole focus of the book. Behind it all the author proves all the characters have their own insecurities and fears and are not as happy as their persona and the lifestyle they led would have you believe.
For me The Pool House is Tasmina Perry definitely back on top form, I relished every minute of this gripping and intriguing story and the fact that I never guessed the eventual outcome is testament to the clever and brilliant writing throughout. This was a well developed, well thought out, multi-layered book with rising tension and crafty twists that makes it hard to leave out of your hands once you begin reading. More like this in the future from Tasmina Perry would be very welcome.
Many thanks to Headline publishers for my copy of The Pool House to review via NetGalley and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
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