I received this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

YT Review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRpUwBw3wuQ

10 years ago, Nessa Crowley was discovered dead in the Kinsella's back garden following a huge party, and a storm. No-one was every charged, though all suspicion pointed heavily at Henry Kinsella. Now a documentary crew has arrived to the Irish island of Inisrún to interview all those involved - including Henry and Keelin Kinsella - and possibly discover who is keeping the most secrets from the night the three Crowley girls became two.

This book is full of intrigue and intensity, with a really great past and present storyline interspersed with interview dialogue between the documentary crew and the locals on the island. The main character of the book is 47-year-old Keelin Kinsella who appears to be a complete stranger compared to the woman who celebrated 37 years on the night Nessa was murdered. Now, Keelin's every move appears to be controlled by her husband - but it's Keelin who asked him to do this in the first place. Her son hides in the bedroom, and her daughter doesn't want to spend any time with her. Yet Keelin is a woman full of kindness and gentleness, with an urge to help others but secrets she must keep hidden away. So she hides herself.

I loved following an older character as I think in the past Louise O'Neill has excelled in writing teenagers and women tackling their mid-twenties. Now, she's proven she can also write an older woman struggling with a myriad of issues that generally younger women don't deal with - family problems, death of parents, narcissistic husbands as well as the failing of the body as it becomes older and creakier, and a propensity to be more round than slender.

I think people who love true crime documentaries and podcasts will really love this book. I believe it was inspired by the West Cork podcast and I can see some of the similarities. This book isn't a 'thriller' in the basic sense of the word but that's not Louise O'Neill's style and this book feels more along the lines of Liz Nugent's crime-writing. It's slower and steadier and builds up the relationships and the complexities of each character in the novel before revealing everything to the reader. I was really impressed in how Louise O'Neill managed the crime aspects of this novel as it's something that I haven't seen her write before and I think she did it perfectly and in a way that wasn't all blood, guts, gore but asks bigger questions like what makes people act the way they do, and react the way they do? How far will people go for the people they love?

I also adored the Irishness in this book. The story is set on an insular Irish island meaning Irish culture -both traditions and language - is hugely important to the population. They don't like blow-in's like the Kinsella's and treat those who fall in with them (like Keelin) with similar suspicion. But the tender moments in this book that showed Keelin and Alex talking Irish to one another was just lovely, and added an extra element to the book for me that I loved a lot.

I can't say I was left 100% satisfied with the answers I got at the end of the novel but Louise O'Neill always ends her books with a slight question mark and a challenge to the readers which I've come to love and expect. At this point it would be weird if she tied it up with a neat bow, and left us with nothing else.

I loved this, and I hope others love it too. I think it's her best yet and really shows the maturity and the strength of Louise O'Neill's writing.