On 15th June 1994 Travis Green walked through the streets of Hartstead and killed eleven of his neighbours. The final victim was four-year-old Cassie Colman’s father.
With the twenty-fifth anniversary approaching, the Hartstead shooting is brought back into the limelight and, like many, Cassie would rather forget the past. That is, until she discovers something which suggests that those murders did not happen quite like everyone said. However, unlike Cassie, not everyone is so keen for her to dig up the past.
The Anniversary is quite possibly the best crime fiction book I have read in a very, very long time. Having read one of Laura Marshall’s books before and remembering how much I enjoyed it, I was keen to read The Anniversary, and wow, it lived up to my expectations and more! I was thoroughly hooked the entire way through.
Some crime fiction books are predictable but this one was not in the slightest. The entire way through I was kept in suspense, and I truly did not expect any of the twists and turns.
Themes in the book included violence (including domestic violence), becoming a first time parent, single parenting, questioning morals and dementia. I thought the themes were handled sensitively and I actually really enjoyed how the author explored the idea of new parenting and how other parents make it look easy. Whilst I am not a parent myself, I enjoyed the whole façade vs. reality, and how the author dared to go down the route of a character who doesn’t make motherhood look like a breeze. I am sure a lot of parents will appreciate this.
I was sad to get to the end of this book and cannot wait for the next release by Laura Marshall. All in all The Anniversary was a compelling read, full of twists and turns, and worthy of five stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. The Anniversary will published on the 5th August.
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