There's something very satisfying about picking up a huge thriller, knowing that there will be multiple twists and turns on the way to the mystery being solved. Joël Dicker's novel takes the reader on a complex and addictive ride.
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The novel is set in Orphea, a beautiful American seaside town where four murders were committed in 1994; the mayor, his family, and a jogger.
The two detectives assigned to the case are inexperienced, and this is the investigation that will make their reputation. They work hard, and it seems that they solve the case.
Twenty years later, a young journalist asserts that the wrong man was suspected (though not convicted) of the crime.
This disconcerting news causes Jesse Rosenberg, now a seasoned detective, to go back to that first investigation, particularly when the journalist disappears.
The book, translated from French, is told in these two streams of 2014 and 1994, and the shifts in time add depth and interest. Similarly, the tale is told in a number of voices, and the varying perspectives create richness and complexity.
A theatre festival is at the centre of the two investigations, and this leads to an extremely dramatic moment where a play may force the perpetrator to reveal himself. It's a bit like Hamlet on meth.
In retrospect there are some moments that do not quite ring true. For example, a member of the public is killed when riding in a police car that is chasing a suspect.
Rather than being reprimanded for this reckless act, one of the police officers is awarded a medal for rescuing the other detective. Would this really happen? Does that even matter?
Such quibbles do nothing to detract from the engrossing mystery at the centre of the book.
Those who are addicted to the crime genre may guess the answers to some of the questions raised in the investigations before the fictional detectives, but there are more than enough intricacies and complications to keep interest at a high level.
Many suspects seem to fit the profile of the killer at different times. There are some moments of humour in the book, releasing tension, and a number of subplots that seem to relate to the major crimes at the book's centre. Missing works of literature feature strongly, and perhaps regrettably, female friendships are shown as fickle on two separate occasions.
The Disappearance of Stephanie Mailer is engrossing. Joël Dicker's thriller makes us read one more chapter again and again, until the final revelation.
- Penelope Cottier writes poetry as PS Cottier
