Review: Penitence by Kristin Koval

Penitence by Kristin Koval
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided both an ARC and an ALC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

A family is destroyed when their son is murdered and the only suspect is his younger sister, Nora. Nora doesn't really remember what happened that night, and she isn't speaking to anyone. Her father seeks the aid of local lawyer Martine, who doesn't have experience with criminal cases but her son Julian is a criminal lawyer. We come to find out that all of the character's are interconnected as the story is told from different points of time from different characters perspectives.

Initially I was hooked and couldn't put this down, but as the book continued I realized this wasn't really a mystery or thriller as it was marketed. There is no big reveal or twist at the end and I felt mislead, the resolution is information we already know. The book is well written no doubt but it is not mysterious or thrilling as the story plays out, it is more of a family drama This book initially reminded me of DJ Palmers The Perfect Daughter where you weren't sure if the sister did it or if there was some medical diagnosis that was going to lead somewhere. There were initially some red herrings in the case that made me believe this was a thriller and something was going to come of Martine and Julian's investigation into Nora's behavior especially the mental illness. The book focuses more on the adults and their relationships and entanglements than it does on the actual investigation and trial. As the book unfolds we come to find that this was more of a story about family, forgiveness, grief, the human condition, and healing.

I did enjoy this, however I don't like it when I feel misled. I would have liked this much better had I known this was not a thriller. It is like ordering coffee and getting tea, I like both and consume both regularly, but when you get something you aren't expecting you don't like it as much. I did think Thérèse Plummer was an amazing narrator as always, she always does such a wonderful job.

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