Et cetera : What We're Reading: 'Such a Clever Girl'

Darby Kane was an unknown author to me, but now that I've finished this book, I will definitely be getting better acquainted with her! A former divorce lawyer, Kane has neatly changed course into an acclaimed author of international best sellers, as well as having a book chosen for a television series.

In this book, we meet people and phantoms that inhabit Sleepy Hollow, New York. The backdrop of this spooky tale matches the story, and the characters are perfectly drawn to slip seamlessly into the setting.

We begin in a stuffy courtroom thirty-seven days after the death of family patriarch Xavier Tanner. In the eyes of most of the town, his seventy-nine-year life has been too long, and although they say 'rest in peace' out of duty, they are thinking 'Thank God he's finally gone.' Four women are in attendance at this urgent summons, which they presume to be a reading of the will. Now the backstory is presented; Xavier's son, Patrick, his wife and two children disappeared one night fifteen years previously, with a meal on the table and not an item missing except the inhabitants of the house itself. Patrick's wife, Victoria, had a best friend, Marni; Hanna is the owner of a cafe, but was formerly employed by Patrick. With Stella, a granddaughter of Xavier's sister, they are all present, along with Stella's mother. Into this uncomfortable proceeding a woman of about thirty enters, and all persons present are shocked and stunned to realize that she is Aubrey Tanner, the daughter who went missing as a girl of fifteen.

This book is a mystery, a history, and a psychological thriller, and it moves in a very creepy fashion throughout the next few weeks as the past is unwillingly revisited, and new information, long hidden, comes to light. I really enjoyed reading it, and hope you will as well. It's available at the Vinton Public Library and on the Libby App.

Relax and read!

~Connie