No One Believed Her: Shadow of A Doubt Review
Shadow of a Doubt is a thrilling read, and while the book starts out slow, I couldn’t put it down after about 200 pages.
What is Shadow of a Doubt about?
Shadow of a Doubt is a 2021 novel written by Michelle Davies about a young girl who was accused of murdering her brother in her family home. Cara was sent off to a medical facility as she was only 9 years old when the crime was commited, and then released into foster care. The story follows Cara as an adult when she must return home to face her demons, and her family whom she had not seen in 25 years.
Shadow of a Doubt Review
Shadow of a Doubt is an intriguing, unnerving read filled with twists and turns. I really enjoyed the characters, especially Cara and Tishk. Cara is a very complicated character with a complicated past. Her experiences are unveiled as the book moves along, and it takes some time to figure out what drives Cara to be as she is. This set-up at the beginning establishes her character and her history, leaving room for the high paced thriller of an ending we get.
My only gripe with Shadow of a Doubt is that set-up. Putting all of the pieces in place, the house, why Cara was sent away, her life up to that point, and her new life in Heldean, takes a long while and I lost interest early on. The mysterious elements take a minute to kick in, and while we learn a lot of important information to set the rest the book up later, it was not my cup of tea. It actually took me two occasions to read this book as I had put it down once before to read something else. You might get that same feeling about 100 pages in, but don’t put it down. It gets much, much better, and I loved the second half.
Michelle Davies does a wonderful job of masking the mystery. My mind was filled with questions, and every time I thought we were getting closer to unveiling the bigger picture, the story would make a sharp left turn with no warning. I loved it, and I was glued to this book for the final 100+ pages . Taking about the mystery without spoilers is tough, so I will leave it at this. Shadow of a Doubt will surprise you time and time again.
The story does take a larger leap back in time, and while it felt like wasted time to begin with, I did enjoy the extra background information. This time it was told like a story with more pace, and it felt like there was some urgency to this mini plot line. Unlike the beginning, we had places to be and people to introduce without taking up a ton of pages.
I really enjoyed the ‘Who-done-it’ aspects of Shadow of a Doubt, and how Michelle Davies introduces enough characters to keep you on your toes. The list of possible suspects, human or not, is quite long, and we get a decent background on some. Others are left just as mysterious as the novel itself, but that’s part of the fun.
Overall, Shadow of a Doubt starts slow but turns into a really engaging read. The character set-up was wonderful, and the story itself had me on the edge of my chair. The twists and turns in this novel just kept coming, and the ending was thrilling. Give this a read and let me know what you thought!
