Picked this up from the Bookcrossing shelf in the Nag's Head so it could be registered and re-released.

All I can say in this book's favour is that it was a mercifully quick read. I mean, I guess it's not that bad, but there's just not a lot to it. The story concerns a woman whose older sister is murdered when they are both young. Obviously, this traumatic event - our heroine is the one who discovers the body - destroys their happy family and shapes the sister's life. Years later, our heroine is a journalist, estranged from her father while her mother has already drunk herself to death in grief. The murderer is up for parole and about to be released, so her sister goes back to the place where she grew up to try and ensure he is kept in prison.

As it happens, the murderer is from a very rich and influential family, and this family appears intent on clearing the wayward lad's name. So we have a rich and influential family on one side, and a plucky investigative journalist driven by memories of her murdered sister on the other. Something's got to give.

There are no real surprises here, and the writing is basic and quite bland. Characters are cliched - plucky female journalist, evil rich kid, kindly old lady, nice-but-dim kid, dodgy villain, etc. - and one dimensional. There's no depth here, so, without wanting to sound too snobby, it's not really my kind of thing. Christ, that does sound snobby, doesn't it?