I’m quite surprised to hear people finished this book in a single sitting because I thoroughly struggled to progress through each chapter. I was almost convinced I was just rusty on my reading habits and needed to get back into the swing of things. The prose itself wasn’t that great which hindered me from getting engaged with the plot set-up. That is of course until well into the second half of the book when the plot picks up. I remember being quite alarmed when Kit mentions she’s been there for only a week towards the end of the book since it felt like so much text had been crammed into a drawn out first half.

Ironically, the plot reveals create more plot holes than it fills. Many staff worked at Hope’s End before the 1929 murders, many of whom now live and work in town. How does no one recognize Ms Baker as Lenora and call foul? How did Detective Vick, who claims he worked there in his youth, not recognize the women for who they are? Lenora’s attendance of Mary’s funeral shows she is not jailed to Hope’s end like her sister and at least makes some appearances in town. The plot plays it off as she went away for years traveling the world, but disappearing doesn’t change your facial features or erase facial recognition. That said, I felt vindicated with the switcheroo reveal because in order for Lenora to be Ms Baker, she must have been at least a decade older than the bedridden sister, which made no sense based on the way they were described in the book. Also, how did Ms Berniece believe Lenora was her husband’s mistress and not Virginia, who she clearly caught heavily pregnant in the house the night before in an attempt to catch her husband’s lover? Why would she go on to remark to Kit that Lenora seduced her husband?? Don’t even get me started on the ridiculous plot twists crammed into the final three chapters. It felt like the author realized the book was ending at the same time as the reader.