Language : English
Hardcover : 528 pages
ISBN-10 : 139871271X
ISBN-13 : 978-1398712713
Book Blurb
On a lonely farmstead, a 70-year-old woman falls down outside and, unable to move, is consumed overnight by two of her pigs.
It seems like a tragic accident, except the woman was well-known photographer Sophia Bertilak – and inside her house, someone has removed all her photos from their frames, seemingly erasing her past…
The first photo Sophia ever took remains her most infamous: a missing girl who was never seen again. Forensic veterinarian Cooper Allen is drafted in for the post-mortem – and slowly becomes obsessed with the victim, her family, and the crimes she brought to light decades ago.
My Review
Greg Buchanan’s first novel Sixteen Horses was a huge success, and I have a copy sitting on one of my many bookshelves. Consumed is the sequel and has the same central character of Dr Cooper Allen, a forensic veterinarian, a job I had never heard of before this book. Cooper finds herself in the quaint town of Lethwick for a weekend with her mother and sister. But on her first night she is called by the police to do an autopsy on two pigs who have eaten their owner, renowned photographer Sophia Bertilak. Cooper finds herself pulled into the mystery of Sophia’s death, and the mystery of two missing children over fifty years ago. The timeline is split and starts in 1964 with Sophie’s story at seventeen and up to the present day and the investigation of her death and Cooper’s story.
Consumed is such a wonderful and fitting title for this book; not only is Sophie (her prefered name) consumed by her pigs, Cooper is consumed by the investigation, and Sophie spent her life wanting to find out what happened to those girls whose photo she took at seventeen. The writing of this book is sublime, the short staccato chapters giving only as much information as needed, the inclusion of e-mails and reports, and the many red herrings make this such a gripping read. Greg Buchanan also has a mystery within a mystery within a mystery; the death of Sophie, the mystery of Stephanie Earlsham, the buried child and the death of a police officer soon after. This book has so many layers and threads which had me engaged and immersed in this story, so much so it was hard to put the book down. My brain was working overtime to try and keep up with what was happening and how it was all going to come together. The tension was kept throughout, and you didn’t know which characters to trust and who had there own agenda.
I haven’t read Sixteen Horses yet so Dr Cooper Allen was a new character to me. I found her a fascinating but flawed character which added interest to the plot of the book. Obviously I don’t know how much information about her from Sixteen Horses but in Consumed she is distant from her mother and sister, to the extent that being part of the investigation is more appealing than spending time with them. She was a complex character, seeming lost in parts, adrift from her life, but being drawn into Sophie’s story gives her more of a purpose that becomes almost an obsession that sees her her cross the lines of her perimeters in her investigation. Sophie’s story was intriguing, capturing an image of a child buried alive and a missing teenager that will always be her most famous work and influences her choice to be a war photographer, capturing death. There are a host of compelling characters, many flawed and many keeping secrets that are intricate part to this complex thriller.
Consumed is one of the best thrillers I have read in a long time. I loved everything about it, the writing style, the complex and multi faceted plot, the flawed characters and the the mystery within a mystery. Full of suspense, this is a thrilling and engaing read that had me consumed (sorry for the pun). I can’t recommend this book highly enough !!
Id like to thank Orion Books and Tracy Fenton from Compulsive Readers for inviting me to be part of this blog tour in return for my honest review.
