Title: The Heatwave by Kate Riordan
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Historical ’90s, 70s, 80s Mystery, Suspense
Length: 330 pages
Book Rating: B
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley
Summary:
Under the scorching French sun, a tense homecoming unearths a long-buried family secret in this deliciously propulsive beach read of a mother’s greatest fear brought to life.
Elodie was beautiful. Elodie was smart. Elodie was manipulative. Elodie is dead.
When Sylvie Durand receives a letter calling her back to her crumbling family home in the South of France, she knows she has to go. In the middle of a sweltering 1990’s summer marked by unusual fires across the countryside, she returns to La Reverie with her youngest daughter Emma in tow, ignoring the deep sense of dread she feels for this place she’s long tried to forget.
As memories of the events that shattered their family a decade earlier threaten to come to the surface, Sylvie struggles to shield Emma from the truth of what really happened all those years ago. In every corner of the house, Sylvie can’t escape the specter of Elodie, her first child. Elodie, born amid the ’68 Paris riots with one blue eye and one brown, and mysteriously dead by fourteen. Elodie, who reminded the small village of one those Manson girls. Elodie who knew exactly how to get what she wanted. As the fires creep towards the villa, it’s clear to Sylvie that something isn’t quite right at La Reverie . . . And there is a much greater threat closer to home.
Rich in unforgettable characters, The Heatwave alternates between the past and present, grappling with what it means to love and fear a child in equal measure. With the lush landscape and nostalgia of a heady vacation read, Kate Riordan has woven a gripping page-turner with gorgeous prose that turns the idea of a summer novel on its head.
Review:
The Heatwave by Kate Riordan is an atmospheric domestic mystery set in the French countryside.
In 1993, Sylvie Durand and her thirteen year old daughter Emma return to the family estate in France. Sylvie has not been back since fleeing from the home ten years earlier. She and her now ex-husband Greg were at one time blissfully happy but their marriage eroded due their oldest daughter Elodie’s disturbing behavior. Emma has no memories of the older sister she idolizes and Sylvie fears her youngest daughter’s forgotten few years in France will rise to the surface. What is Sylvie keeping from Emma?
Chapters flashback to various times spanning from the late sixties to the early eighties. After their marriage, Sylvie and Greg are excited about the impending birth of their first child. But over the years, Sylvie becomes more and more troubled by Elodie’s actions but Greg does believe there is anything to worry about. But Greg is gone more often than he is home and Sylvie is exhausted by Elodie’s exploits. And she is very careful to keep a close eye on Emma.
Narrated by Sylvie, The Heatwave is a slow burning (in more ways than one) mystery. Sylvie’s account of their years in France are harrowing and a heavy pall hangs over her return with Emma. With unexpected plot twists and plenty of tension, Kate Riordan brings this mystery to an intriguing conclusion. I enjoyed and recommend this suspenseful mystery to readers of genre.
