The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager
The book opens with the statement, “No body no crime“. That gives us an idea into what this book will entail, right? WRONG.
Casey Fletcher, a widower and ex-actress, lives alone in her house on Lake Green. She unexpectedly gets a visit from Detective Wilma letting her know that her neighbor, Tom Royce, is missing. Casey insists that she saw nothing suspicious and has no idea where he went. I should emphasize that Casey likes to spy on her neighbors, acting like a neighborhood watch; except she’s also unreliable due to her alcoholism (sounds like another book, right?). We go back a couple days earlier, where Casey actually saves Tom’s wife, Katherine, from drowning in the lake. They become acquainted and become friendly instantly. That is until Katherine goes missing. Casey suspects the worst has happened and thinks Tom has something to do with it, but how will she prove it?
I may have to give up on reading books by Riley Sager. This one was really intriguing up until THAT happens at 70%. While surprising and unexpected, it felt like two different books in one. Also that narrator doesn’t fit the 35 year old character’s voice. Sorry!
⭐⭐.75
Review on Fable
I had this audiobook on hold from the library for a while. I really enjoyed RIley Sager’s The Only One Left so I wanted to continue reading his books. Unfortunately, I think this book would’ve been better off read instead of listened to. The narrator was not fit for this, although she did a great job all considered. She narrates the book in Casey’s POV. I thought Casey was a middle-aged or older woman because of her voice. No, Casey is actually 35 years old. I honestly couldn’t get passed that. It was really hard to picture her with the narrator’s voice in my head.
No matter how much you look, something just beneath the surface will always remain hidden. I should know. I’ve been watching.
The first part of the book is interesting and seems like it’s going to be a murder mystery, which I was really enjoying. Except the last third of the book takes a supernatural turn that left me a little confused as to why the author took this route. We meet all these interesting secondary characters and Sager does nothing with them. There was a clear route that the author could have explored. I guess that’s the meaning of an unexpected plot twist, except this one fails to drive the plot.
In The House Across the Lake, while an interesting take on the murder mystery genre, fails to deliver in my opinion. By adding a supernatural element, it just confuses the reader. And I really love when books have a supernatural element (i.e. Murder Road or The New Couple in Apt 5B) when done right. If you do decide to give this book a try, I suggest reading it instead of listening to it.
Character Summary
Are you currently reading this book and confused about who is who? For a list of characters without any spoilers, continue reading:
Casey Fletcher – Narrator, lives alone, ex-actress
Katherine Royce – Tom’s wife, ex-model, lives across from Casey
Tom Royce – Katherine’s husband, business man, lives across from Casey
Eli Williams – Casey’s neighbor, ex-novelist
Marnie – Casey’s best friend, regularly calls Casey
Boone Conrad – Widower, ex-cop, temp handyman for neighbor’s home
Detective Wilma Ansen – detective investigating curious circumstances at Lake Green
Leonard Bradley (Len) – Casey’s husband, died drowning at Lake Green
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