This book was disappointing! With an interesting premise and a good start, I was hoping this to be good, but nah, the plot kept getting predictable and lethargic, and went completely downhill post the 50% completion mark. A story that begins with Maggie Scott spotting a strange woman in her neighbour’s house who seems to know everything about the owners and Maggie as well (thanks to cyber stalking), and calls herself their house-sitter, could have been dealt in a much better way. As a reader, I hate it when the author tries to spoon feed me the clues. Give me a complex plot, drop subtle clues and let me work my way out. This is exactly what McQuestion got wrong for 214 Palmer Street.
Sadly, the characters had no depth and took ridiculous decisions which made me stop and sigh a few times. There were so many things/events beyond any logical reasoning: why Sarah chose to trespass Cady’s property instead of confronting her husband, or why Gavin exhibited the unpopular machete at his place and even demonstrated it rather proudly, or why Phil thought helping fulfill Sarah’s unreasonable plan was completely okay - well, we’d never know. I did find Stephanie interesting for most part, but like everything else, she got predictable and boring too.
Overall, a quick read, not quite the one that’ll amaze you.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Publication Date: April 6th, 2022.
1.5/5🌟.
TW: Assault, Death of a child, Murder, and Stalking.