Title: Tell Me My Name by Erin Ruddy
Publisher: Dundurn
Genre: Contemporary, Suspense, Mystery
Length: 344 pages
Book Rating: C
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley
Summary:
A roller-coaster domestic thriller for fans of Ruth Ware and Shari Lapena featuring a rustic cottage retreat, a suspicious new neighbour, a violent kidnapping, and a wife who learns her husband isn’t telling her the whole truth.
Ellie and Neil Patterson are eager to enjoy some quality time at their new cottage. It’s the first time in ten years they’ve been alone … or are they?
When a friendly encounter leads to their violent kidnapping, they awaken to a living nightmare. Insisting he is Ellie’s soulmate, the stranger gives her three chances to say his name. If she guesses wrong, it’s Neil who will suffer the consequences. This propels Ellie into a desperate trip down memory lane to dredge up the dubious men of her past.
Only after discovering the man’s true identity and sacrificing her own safety to save Neil does Ellie finally learn the truth — that everything she thinks she knows about her husband and their decade-long love story is a lie.
Review:
Tell Me My Name is a chilling mystery debut by Erin Ruddy.
Ellie Patterson and husband Neil are enjoying their newly purchased vacation home. Their two children have been dropped at summer camp and they are hoping to reconnect during their time alone. But their idyllic retreat is shattered when a clearly disturbed stranger kidnaps Ellie and insists she call him by his name or Neil will suffer the consequences. With only three chances to save Neil’s life, will Ellie figure out who the identity of the man menacing them?
Erin is their children’s main caregiver and she is also responsible for household chores. She never imagined her dreamed of career would take a backseat to her marriage. After years of exhaustion and dissatisfaction, Erin hopes the time alone will set their marriage back on track but right before she is kidnapped, she makes a stunning discovery.
Erin has no idea who is holding her captive, and despite what she just learned, she is determined to save Neil. Rapidly sifting through memories from her past, she is uncomfortable with a few choices. Erin also relives a painful time from childhood which forever altered her family. With only three chances to get correctly identify her kidnapper, Erin is under intense pressure to figure out who this man is.
While the premise of Tell Me My Name is unique, none of the characters are likable and they are rather one dimensional. The dialogue is melodramatic and the overall story is a overly dramatic. The antagonist is clearly disturbed and has never recovered from his abusive childhood. The main detective, Flora Fitzgerald, is a bit of an odd duck and she comes across as inept. Neil is an annoying character who interferes in the investigation and puts himself and his brother-in-law in unnecessary danger. An unexpected plot twist late in the novel is quite shocking and completely unpredictable. Erin Ruddy brings this domestic mystery to a realistic conclusion.
