Look Closer by David Ellis

Hello everyone.  I hope you are having a good day.

Does your family have odd sayings?  They were probably mainstream at one time and have fallen out of favor, or maybe it's something wacky Aunt Marge made up.  With hubby and I, our sayings are often based on movie lines.  My mom had some doozies.  If something was complicated she would say you had to "go around your elbow to get to your knee."  During something frustrating I often expand on that saying you "have to go around your elbow, behind your left knee, under the coffee table" and if it's really an annoying issue it may include a reference to having to go "under the neighbor's fence."  Mom's favorite, however, was "around Robin Hood's barn."  First of all, did Robin Hood actually have a barn?  I'm pretty sure he was too busy with all that steal from the rich and give to the poor stuff to mess with growing crops and milking cows.  Then there are the arrows, the short pants with tights, and all those merry men.  Definitely no time for milking cows. With or without a barn, life is complicated.

I recently read Look Closer by David Ellis. This is the story of a wealthy married couple, Simon and Vicky.  The book opens with Lauren, dead, hanging by the neck in her house and Simon fleeing from the scene. As the police try to piece together how Lauren died, they discover some interesting clues indicating this may be much more complicated than a simple suicide.  As they try to build a case, the reader is sent back a few weeks to discover what really happened.  Simon and Vicky both have secrets of their own, which are starting to unravel.

This book is a monster, at 464 pages, it literally hurt my hands to hold.  Every bit of future arthritis inducing pain it caused was worth it.  Despite its length, this novel reads in a breeze, don't be intimidated, you'll swear it's only 200 pages.  The writing is pleasant and easy to follow.  The story is complicated, yes, I'm using that word yet again.  It's all the mayhem going every which way that makes this story so interesting. David Ellis is a master of misdirection.  He will have you looking one direction then the other, and you'll still miss what is actually going on.  I considered rigging up one of those maps on a wall, with the topics and people attached to each other with string.  This book is so good, I'd end up trapped against the wall like a giant spider's web.  While this is more mystery than thriller, if you like trying to figure books out...beat the author....I promise you'll never win against David Ellis.  So fun!

When I think of Robin Hood, I think I'm picturing Peter Pan.  Same tights, difference sidekicks.