Review: The Bay at Midnight by Diane Chamberlain

Goodreads: Her family's cottage on the New Jersey shore was a place of freedom and innocence for Julie Bauer - until her seventeen-year-old sister, Isabel, was murdered.

It's been more than forty years since that August night, but Julie's memories of her sister's death still shape her world. Now someone from her past is raising questions about what really happened that night. About Julie's own complicity. About a devastating secret her mother kept from them all. About the person who went to prison for Izzy's murder - and the person who didn't.

Faced with questions and armed with few answers, Julie must gather the courage to revisit her past and untangle the complex emotions that led to one unspeakable act of violence on the bay at midnight.

Kritters Thoughts: The Bay at Midnight was a longer book than I usually read, although it kept me interested and completely entertained from cover to cover. This book is much deeper than your normal chick lit or beach read, but not too intellectual.

A story filled with family secrets that eek out slowly enough not to ruin the plausible twist ending. With all mysteries, my fear lies in discovering the ending too soon. Not so with this book. I enjoyed every chapter that bounced between different points of view and different moments in time.

The main character Julie has been living with a large burden of guilt thinking that she helped cause the murder of her older sister, more than forty years earlier. Her younger sister Lucy, her mother Maria, and Julie have been completely affected by their loss and never pulled together as a family unit to complete the grief circle.

I enjoyed the slowly unfolding of events through both a glance back in time and the revealing of struggles that these ladies are facing in their current lives.

A definite must read that I would recommend to ladies of all ages.

Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Total pages: 377

2010 Challenge: T.B.R.