Synopsis
It should have been the perfect spring break. Five girlfriends. A remote winery on the Oregon coast. An infinite supply of delicious wine at their manicured fingertips. But then their center—beautiful, magnetic Vanessa Morales—vanished without a trace.
Emily Fischer was perhaps the last person to see her alive. But now, years later, Emily spots Vanessa’s doppelganger at a local café. At the end of her rope working a lucrative yet mind-numbing gig on a network sitcom, Emily is inspired to finally tell the story that’s been percolating inside her for so long: Vanessa’s story. But first, she needs to know what really happened on that fateful night. So she puts a brilliant scheme into motion.
She gets the girls together for a reunion weekend at the scene of the crime under the guise of reconnecting. There’s Brittany, Vanessa’s cousin and the inheritor of the winery; Paige, a former athlete, bullish yet easily manipulated; and Lydia, the wallflower of the group.
One of them knows the truth. But what have they each been hiding? And how much can Emily trust anything she learns from them… or even her own memories of Vanessa’s last days?
Suspenseful, propulsive, and interspersed with scenes from Emily’s blockbuster screenplay, Scenes of the Crime is an unforgettable mystery that examines culpability, the shiny rearview mirror of Hollywood storytelling, and the pitfalls of female friendship.
Rating
★★★
Introduction
Let me preface this by saying that thriller is not a genre I often enjoy these days. I liked mysteries and thrillers a bit more as a young adult. Cheers, John Grisham and Dan Brown! I currently tend to reach for romance or fantasy when I have the chance to read.
With that said, some of my book subscriptions, like Once Upon a Book Club (OUABC), sometimes choose books outside of my preferred genres, encouraging me to try something different. This is the case with this OUABC monthly pick.
OUABC does a stellar job of enhancing your reading experience with gifts, which you are prompted to open via sticky notes placed at strategic points in the story. I find that even when I’m not at five-star level with the story, OUABC’s accompanying gifts make it much more enjoyable. This month was no exception, as the gifts were excellent!
*Save 10% on your OUABC order with code EVERBOOKISH
Thoughts
This was a quick, easy read for me. I enjoyed the way the main character’s movie script was used throughout the story. I felt that really added more intrigue to the book. But overall, the story fell a bit flat for me. Luckily for me, a person who doesn’t enjoy reading heavy content, it wasn’t particularly heavy. Think toxic friendships amongst competitive girls who never really left those personas behind in high school. Then add in doubts about what actually occurred on a fateful evening, and you are left with a hint of suspense. I didn’t find the characters particularly likable or the thriller aspect especially suspenseful. However, the settings were interesting and the writing was good.
Scenes of the Crime is a good book to pick up if you like a cozy thriller that won’t haunt you at night.
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