Literary reviews by Tim Love.
Warning: Rather than reviews, these are often notes in preparation for reviews that were never finished, or pleas for help with understanding pieces. See Litref Reviews - a rationale for details.

Wednesday 16 October 2024

"The Family Remains" by Lisa Jewell

An audio book

Samuel (detective) is called to the mudflats of the Thames. Body parts are in a binliner - 20+ years old, but recently dumped.

Rachel Rimmer's husband is found dead in his French house. The wife's unconcerned.

Henry Lamb, 42, has a sister, Lucy, staying with him, who was pregnant at 13 because of who moved into their house at the time. Their parents are dead - suicides. They've recently inherited millions. Finn had got her pregnant. Henry fancied him and goes looking for him in Chicago. Clemency/Libby is Finn's younger sister. Henry discovers that Finn is bisexual. Libby (Serenity) is Finn's daughter. Birdy brought in David (40+) in the house where she was a gues - a healer - her lover. David brings his wife (Sally) and 2 kids (Finn and Clemency). He rips the family off. She grooms Lucy to have sex with him because she can't have a child herself.

Rachel met Michael in the US. They met later in London. He's rich, and several years older than her. She makes jewelery. On their honeymoon she shows an interest in BDSM that puts him off sex. She wants a divorce. She goes to French to find his first wife (Lucy?) and his son. Lucy is poor, and has another child - a daughter.

Rachel's sensible father is sent porn pictures of Rachel and pays £700,000 to the blackmail (unlikely!). Rachel goes over to France again to sort things out. She finds him dead. She sees Lucy cleaning up.

The dead person was Bridget (Birdy), a pop star. Samuel traces her back to the Lamb house. Several of the people from that time have disappeared. As he points out, nearly all of them have changed their name. The bones were thrown in the Thames roughly when Libby was 25 and inherited the house which she quickly sold, giving lots of the money to 2 people.

The police interview Justin - Bridget's boyfriend at the time. He knew she was bad and left the big house.

Lucy takes her 2 kids to Chicago, looking for Henry who once chained Finn to a radiator. Lucy has done some bad things.

The police interview Lucy and Henry from London.

In Justin's suicide letter we learn that Birdy died by accident when Justin and Henry tussled. Henry knows it's untrue - it was Henry alone who's to blame. Henry's touched that Justin took the blame. Henry had been fixated by Finn. He'd had surgery to be more like him. He sometimes used his name. Now he thinks his old self may have been ok.

Later, Rachel goes over to Lucy telling her the the case is closed, but she knows. Rachel's father got his money back.

Too many names for me. Also some parts of the book strain credibility - the need to continue from the earlier book dictates the plot which in turn take precedence over character.

We learn that Henry had found Finn after all. A few months later, Finn visits his kids.

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