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Jane
"Jinx" Kingsley wakes up in a hospital room: she tried to commit suicide
by driving her car against a pillar. Her fiancé, Leo Wallader, left off with her best
friend, Meg Harris. They both eloped to France to escape rumors and
accusations. Jinx doesn't remember about this: she
suffers from amnesia and last remembers kissing Leo goodbye and
heading to her parents' house to plan the wedding...
Something doesn't
add up though: Jinx doesn't feel sad nor angry about Meg betraying
her, and even feels relieved that her wedding with Leo is canceled. She
knows she was about to leave Leo herself; she can't imagine
committing suicide over him. As she tries to convince her entourage
of this fact,
a fear invades her but she doesn't know exactly who or what to fear...
When two bodies turn up, soon identified as Leo and Meg, Jinx's fears seem
to be justified. Who killed them? Why did Leo and Meg never made it to France?
How will Jinx fight the suspicions weighing on her or on her rich
and controlling father? How can Jinx prevent the police to connect
these deaths and the unsolved
murder of her previous husband, ten years ago?
In The Dark Room, Minette Walters manages to shift suspicion from
one character to another, through a very suspenseful development. I had
reviewed
The Breaker back when I first began this web site in year 2000, and
though it didn't leave a lasting impression (otherwise I wouldn't have
waited three years to read another Walters), I liked her original
style which consists in alternating narration with newspaper clippings or police
reports. She uses the same method in The Dark Room, and I found the
story more engrossing, even if I wasn't blown away by the ending. If the culprit didn't exactly come as a
surprise, at least I didn't suspect him/her until late in the book...
The Dark Room is a very decent mystery
based on psychological suspense and character development, and I probably won't wait three more years to read another novel by this author...
Rating:
  
© Discussing Books, 08/04/2003
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