Review | Louise Candlish – The Sudden Departure of the Frasiers

“My name is Amber Fraser. I’ve just moved in at Number 40, Lime Park Road. You’ll come to think of me as a loving wife, a thoughtful neighbour and a trusted friend.

This is a lie.

When Christy and Joe Davenport are handed the keys to Number 40 on picture-perfect Lime Park Road, Christy knows it should be a dream come true. How strange though that the house was on the market for such a low price. That the previous owners, the Frasers, had renovated the entire property yet moved out within a year. That none of the neighbours will talk to Christy.

As her curiosity begins to give way to obsession, Christy finds herself drawn deeper into the mystery of the house’s previous occupants – and the dark and shocking secret
that tore the street apart . . .”

Oh wow, guys. Oh wow. I just finished “The Sudden Departure of the Frasiers” by Louise Candlish, and I have an intense need to talk about it. Let’s go.

First off, I only bought this book because of the beautiful, beautiful cover design. Why are Penguin books always so amazingly gorgeous? I promise, I didn’t even read any sort of description, I just grabbed the book and left. Also, it is probably worth noting that I had never heard of Louise Candlish before, so I had no idea what I was in for. Blind dating – level Librophilée.

To be fair, as soon as I started reading, I quickly realized that Candlish had struck a nerve with me. I am a sucker for those perfect-suburbia-oh-wait-they-aren’t-perfect-after-all kind of stories. Delving into Lime Park Road was just for me.

Let’s start with what I liked most: Amber. Specifically, I loved the way Candlish made me dislike Amber, how she turned her into a wonderfully multidimensional character – and how I felt myself get more agitated every time Amber lived up to her character traits. Generally speaking, I was very fond of all of the characters (not necessarily on a personal level, but much more on a story telling level).
I had really hoped for a bit more depth with the protagonist Christy; however, I feel like I am complaining on very high grounds here. Christy seemed like a likeable & relatable character – probably a tad too much, for my liking.

Unfortunately, about half way through the book, I had already an idea about how the ending would turn out and even less fortunate, I was right – so the ending underwhelmed me a bit, as I saw it coming wide and clear. Some of the clues that were dropped just pointed me in the right direction and I really hoped for that one plot twist that would prove me wrong and surprise me – unfortunately, the plot twist never came.

Let’s be clear here – Louise Candlish kept me wonderfully entertained. “The Sudden Departure of the Frasiers” is definitely a page turner, and even though I had hoped for a different ending, I still genuinely liked the book. I felt that the writing was very harmonizing, no loose threads kept bothering me and yes, albeit grumpy, I arranged myself with the ending.

Generally speaking, if you are a fan of Gillian Flynn and/or Diane Chamberlain, you will probably love this book as much as I did. Even if you are not, I would still recommend you to get a cup of tea (ice tea will do in this burning heat), make yourself comfortable and take a stroll into Lime Park Road. Just make sure nobody watches you as you leave.