The Safe Place is being released at the perfect time this year---when we all desperately need an escape! Aspiring actress Emily is given the chance of a lifetime when her boss at a prestigious company offers her a position as an 'au pair' of sorts at his idyllic estate hidden in France. Without the interruptions of technology and with a mysterious young girl Aurelia and Scott's lovely wife Nina to keep her company, Emily can finally relax and truly unwind at her new dream job...right?
The absolute best part of this novel for me was Anna Downes' attention to setting and enveloping the reader in the beautiful home and its surroundings. I could only dream about visiting such a gorgeous mansion with infinity pools and the requisite heavy wrought-iron gate, but Downes brought it to life. Her characters fit well in this world, but for me, I still feel like there's so much I don't know about them at the end of the novel. While this had all of the hallmarks of a classic mystery in most respects, my biggest frustration was the lack of full explicated backstories. The author did such a fantastic job setting them up and laying the framework, but most of them ended up only half explained by the conclusion of the book. I think due to the author's own background as an actress, she is probably used to creating backstory in her head rather than coming out with it outright, so perhaps that didn't translate fully in her writing. I also wasn't really a fan of the "love story' in the novel and didn't think it added much to the plot. So many interesting ideas were present in this novel, but I just wanted more!
Downes is definitely a writer with a great sense for creating atmosphere, and I think with some more fully realized backstory, this would have been a home run for me!. It is a good summer read and anyone else looking for a bit of escapism in their mysteries should pick it up!
The absolute best part of this novel for me was Anna Downes' attention to setting and enveloping the reader in the beautiful home and its surroundings. I could only dream about visiting such a gorgeous mansion with infinity pools and the requisite heavy wrought-iron gate, but Downes brought it to life. Her characters fit well in this world, but for me, I still feel like there's so much I don't know about them at the end of the novel. While this had all of the hallmarks of a classic mystery in most respects, my biggest frustration was the lack of full explicated backstories. The author did such a fantastic job setting them up and laying the framework, but most of them ended up only half explained by the conclusion of the book. I think due to the author's own background as an actress, she is probably used to creating backstory in her head rather than coming out with it outright, so perhaps that didn't translate fully in her writing. I also wasn't really a fan of the "love story' in the novel and didn't think it added much to the plot. So many interesting ideas were present in this novel, but I just wanted more!
Downes is definitely a writer with a great sense for creating atmosphere, and I think with some more fully realized backstory, this would have been a home run for me!. It is a good summer read and anyone else looking for a bit of escapism in their mysteries should pick it up!