I received a copy of this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, and I have enjoyed the other Moriarty novels that I have read so I was looking forward to this.
Sam and Clementine have been together for years and lead a seemingly ideal life. Clementine is a cellist, Sam has just started a new dream job and their children bring them happiness. Clementine’s oldest friend, Erika, seems to know exactly what is being thought from just a look. It all sounds wonderful (if a little claustrophobic) but Moriarty is adept at revealing slowly just how things that look so amazing on the surface might not be quite as they appear.
We know that a barbecue hosted by one of Erika’s neighbours has been the catalyst for a huge change in the relationship between these characters. Unfortunately, the build-up to us actually finding out the significance of this event was so interminably slow that I had almost reached the point of being beyond caring by the time we were actually told what had happened! I have patience – which many reviewers have commented is needed when reading this – but Moriarty was well and truly stretching mine.