Review of "I Found You: A Novel of Suspense" by Lisa Jewell

This book interweaves three storylines involving three families in England.

Single mother Alice Lake is a streaked blonde who looks weary but attractive. Alice lives in a beachhouse in the seaside town of Ridinghouse Bay, Yorkshire with her three dogs and three children, all of whom have different fathers.





Alice is a good person at heart, but - because of her freewheeling lifestyle - tends to hook up with the wrong men and has a 'rap sheet' with child protective services. Alice is trying to do better now, and is helped in this endeavor by her best friend Derry Dynes.



Still, when Alice sees a forlorn rain-soaked man sitting on the beach near her house, she can't help but offer assistance. The man - who's nice-looking and well-dressed - has amnesia, and Alice offers him a temporary home in her guest cottage while they try to unravel his identity.

Alice's little daughter names the man 'Frank', and Frank is soon almost a member of the Lake household.



*****

Meanwhile, in a London suburb, a beautiful Ukranian newlywed named Lily is worried about her husband Carl Monrose.



After texting that he was on his way home from work, Carl didn't return, and has been incommunicado ever since. Lily makes a missing persons report, but the police are rather indifferent until they discover that Carl's passport is a fake.



Lily is bewildered by the revelation, but loves and trusts her husband. Moreover, she isn't about to rely on the lethargic cops, and - with the help of Carl's work acquaintance - launches her own investigation into her husband's disappearance.

*****

The above two plotlines, which take place in the present, alternate with an event that occurred over twenty years ago, in 1993. The Ross family - mom Pam, dad Tony, 15-year-old Kristy, and 17-year-old Gray - are on their annual vacation in Ridinghouse Bay, Yorkshire - where they rent the same cottage every year.



This year, Kristy - who's matured into a very pretty girl - attracts the eye of 19-year-old Mark Tate, who's visiting an aunt in the area.



Mark is handsome and seems personable, and - with the permission of her parents - Kristy starts to spend a lot of time with him. Gray, however, is suspicious of the new acquaintance and tries to put Kristy off him.....with good reason, as things turn out.

The characters in the novel are interesting and well-rounded, and their behavior is (mostly) believable. In my opinion Pam and Tony were too casual about their daughter seeing Mark, who was overly aggressive from the get-go....but I understand that the author had to move the story along.

Readers will undoubtedly speculate about how the plotlines relate to each other, and they'll probably be wrong. 🙂 I don't want to give away spoilers so I'll just say that things come together in a dramatic, well-wrought, and satisfying fashion.

I enjoyed the book and recommend it to mystery fans.



Rating: 3 stars