Crime + Family

First, I have to say I went with the audiobook because it’s narrated by Dion Graham who is one of my all time favorite narrators and I will absolutely listen to anything with his voice.

This is a crime story and historical fiction. I don’t know why lately things keep getting the “thriller” label which makes people think of a certain speed/intensity when “crime story” is what they mean. This reminded me a lot of Deacon King Kong by James McBride in both author’s incredible ability to bring to life a time period and community to the point of literally feeling like you were there watching it all.

This centers on Ray Carne, a husband, father with a second baby on the way, and furniture store owner in 1960s Harlem. He is doing well, but there is always better to be doing and aspire to. While he does not consider himself a criminal–looking the other way when his cousin Freddie brings in stolen goods he knows nothing about isn’t really being a criminal, that’s what his cousin is–he starts to find himself in a lot of trouble. Family, am I right?

This is written in three parts that deal with all kinds of crime (including a heist, but again this is not a thriller) following Carney as he gets deeper into his own doings and those that Freddie has roped him into. NY is incredibly brought to life along with the events of the time. There are so many interesting characters and it’s written with nuance and depth, making it not only a wonderful story to get lost in but something that leaves you thinking.

I am not a rereader but I already feel like I’m going to want to read this again at some point to be submerged in this world and watch it all unfold again.

(TW mentions past child abuse)

This has a similar set-up to Big Little Lies while being a totally different novel, which I really enjoyed. You get the mystery at the beginning, and then you follow the main characters, and then it all comes together at the end. The mystery is strong throughout (did he or didn’t he?), and there are even detectives added in along with the family members.

The Big Little Lies adaptation being filmed in California seems to make my brain forget that I love that Moriarty’s novels are set in Australia. This time we have a tennis family. The parents were coaches, including of a player that went pro, and the four kids were all coached and placed in competitions growing up. Now they’re all grown doing separate things with varying views of growing up in a tennis family.

And their mother is missing. After their parents took in a stranger to live with them. And there are confusing things that make it sound like maybe their father was involved with their mother’s disappearance…

I love that the mystery was very much a page-turner to find out what happened but the characters were equally interesting–including the exploration of how we’re pigeon-holed as children and how even if we’re different adults, those who knew us as kids hold on to that childhood behavior. This book reminded me that Moriarty has a great ability of sucking me into a story and writing these asides for all the characters that are always the interesting thing about a person without weighing the reader down with unnecessary details. If you’re looking for something absorbing with equal detail to characters and plot, grab this one.

(TW domestic violence/ briefly mentions past date rape, not detailed/ eating disorder/ mentions past teen having suicidal thoughts with no details/ anxiety)