#BookReview The Winter Sister by Megan Collins @TouchstoneBooks @AtriaBooks

The Winter Sister by Megan Collins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In this spellbinding and suspenseful debut, a young woman haunted by the past returns home to care for her ailing mother and begins to dig deeper into her sister’s unsolved murder.

Sixteen years ago, Sylvie’s sister Persephone never came home. Out too late with the boyfriend she was forbidden to see, Persephone was missing for three days before her body was found—and years later, her murder remains unsolved.

In the present day, Sylvie returns home to care for her estranged mother, Annie, as she undergoes treatment for cancer. Prone to unexplained “Dark Days” even before Persephone’s death, Annie’s once-close bond with Sylvie dissolved in the weeks after their loss, making for an uncomfortable reunion all these years later. Worse, Persephone’s former boyfriend, Ben, is now a nurse at the cancer center where Annie is being treated. Sylvie’s always believed Ben was responsible for the murder—but she carries her own guilt about that night, guilt that traps her in the past while the world goes on around her.

As she navigates the complicated relationship with her mother, Sylvie begins to uncover the secrets that fill their house—and what really happened the night Persephone died. As it turns out, the truth really will set you free, once you can bear to look at it.

The Winter Sister is a mesmerizing portrayal of the complex bond between sisters, between mothers and daughters alike, and forces us to ask ourselves—how well do we really know the people we love most?

**********

I was looking forward to reading The Winter Sister. I love books about cold cases and this book about a young woman's unsolved murder intrigued me. I love reading thrillers and I found this book to be very easy to read. In fact, I breezed through it on a single evening, with even impressed myself. I'm a fast reader, but in this case and in other cases is it just that the story isn't overly complex so that I pretty much can skim the text quickly and still without any problem get the gist. It's probably a gift that I acquired since my days of studying. LOL

Anyhow, as I stated before isn't it an overly complex story. We have Sylvie the surviving sister, guilt-ridden who travels home to take of her sick mother. Her mother hasn't truly been the same person since Persephone was murdered and their relationship is not what it used to. Sylvie starts to unravel the mystery surrounding her sister's death. There are not many suspects, and the red herrings were pretty easy to spot and the book just doesn't have that many surprises. It's simply a decent thriller. Hence, the rating. If the story had grabbed me more, the character moved me more had I been able to give a higher rating. As it is, it's just an OK thriller, the story kept my interest up all the way to the end and I felt that the ending was if not that surprising at least satisfying.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!