Ask No Questions - Claire Allan

Reading Challenge Category: Free ARC from NetGalley

Official Blurb:

Not all secrets are meant to come out…
Twenty-five years ago, on Halloween night, eight-year-old Kelly Doherty went missing while out trick or treating with friends. Her body was found three days later, floating face down, on the banks of the Creggan Reservoir by two of her young classmates. It was a crime that rocked Derry to the core. Journalist Ingrid Devlin is investigating – but someone doesn’t want her to know the truth. As she digs further, Ingrid starts to realise that the Doherty family are not as they seem. But will she expose what really happened that night before it’s too late?

My Thoughts:

This was an acceptable and average read. Nothing majorly wrong with it but it didn’t knock my socks off either. It made for a pleasant read, but it’s not one that will be sticking in my head for a long time to come.
The basis for the story wasn’t that unique, in fact, I’d read a similar book which was much more proficiently written. This one fell short because of the characterisation of Ingrid, and the narrative structure wasn’t as engaging as it could have been.
It was nice to have Ingrid as the main character of the book as she has only been in the background of Claire Allen’s other books. I did feel like we really got to know her. However, there was just something off with her character. She was making very questionable decisions, and at times, it was very frustrating.
The twists at the end really saved the book as I couldn’t figure out what had happened or why. So they all came as a shock and this part was quite gripping. So, I certainly got through the last half quicker than the start, but by then, I did just want to finish the book and move on.
Like I said there wasn’t anything wrong with it and if I hadn’t have read a similar cold case story literally this month then maybe I would have felt differently. However, the other book blew me away with their ingenuity and is making one of my top 5 books of the year. So, coming into this one could have gone either way, but it just missed the mark as there was nothing really special about it, but it did make for a sufficiently fair read, and I still wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.

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