This is a classic murder mystery with an added
twist as not only is the identity of the murderer kept from the reader until
the end, but also that of the victim.
The set-up is a group of nine young,
well-heeled members of the metropolitan elite who book a remote highland
hunting lodge to see in the new year in splendid, champagne fuelled isolation.
They are not completely alone, there is a few staff and another party of two
elsewhere on the estate.
Now to the form and plot, which complement
each other cleverly. There are four female narrators (three guests and the
manager) and another point of view over the shoulder of the male gamekeeper.
They pass the baton to and fro to tell the story, but in two timelines. One
starts on the discovery of the body on the second day of the new year, the
other flashes back three days earlier to the day before New Year’s Eve when the
party arrived.
Both strands move steadily forward,
alternating to build up to twin climaxes of revealing the crime and unmasking
the perpetrator.
It all works very well. The split timeline is
effective, and the sliced narration provides a varied perspective on current
events and private insights into long simmering hidden passions, resentments
and most importantly, motives (of both guests and hosts).
And, of course, it snows to increase the
isolation, ramp up the tension and provide a stark backdrop to the unfolding
drama.
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