Mary, Mary

Michael McLoughlin #1

by Julie Parsons

Tells the tale of a woman psychiatrist in Ireland, as she and a police inspector search for and finally confront her daughter's sadistic killer

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Mystery, Crime, Ireland, Contemporary

431 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Julie Parsons was born in New Zealand but grew up in Ireland from an early age. A former producer with RTÉ radio and television, she lives in Dublin.

Reviews

[Belinda Vlasbaard · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,75 sterren- Nederlandse paperback

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[Su · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a story of a 20 year old girl who is viciously raped and murdered and how her mother tries to find justice and then revenge on the guilty man. So many twists and turns made for a great mystery, but I thought the author was very wordy at times. I never, ever saw the ending coming!

[Georgiana 1792 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un giallo molto particolare in cui la storia personale della madre della vittima è più misteriosa dello stesso assassino. Quindi i colpi di scena si hanno più per quanto riguarda lei che per la scoperta del colpevole, che è praticamente reo confesso (solo per il lettore, naturalmente) fin dalla prima apparizione.
Lo stile è allo stesso tempo vago ma affascinante, una sorta di flusso di coscienza in cui i tre punti di vista di Margaret Mitchell, la madre della vittima, dell'assassino e di Michael McLoughlin, il detective della polizia di Dublino a cui è affidato il caso, sembrano sfociare l'uno nell'altro, lasciando il lettore confuso, ma allo stesso tempo ipnotizzato dalla storia, dal mistero che si cela dietro al terribile omicidio e alle fissazioni morbose dell'assassino.
Non sono stata completamente conquistata da Julie Parsons, ma probabilmente leggerò qualcos'altro di suo.

[Laini · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mary, Mary eh? This is the second Mary, Mary I've read this year, the first being the more well-known James Patterson novel. Both crime/thrillers, this particular one severely lacked the thrilling part of that pair.

So, Margaret is a psychologist, she moved to New Zealand when she was pregnant with her daughter Mary, and has just recently moved back to Ireland to take care of her sick mother. Mary has just gone missing and eventually her body is found dumped in a plastic sack in the canal. The story isn't so much about Mary's disappearance as we find out quite early on that she had died, but more about the investigation and even more so about the repercussions after the perpetrator is found and arrested.

Because unlike other crime novels, this book focuses on the aftermath more so than Mary herself, it should have had more of an impact on me that it did. The unusual perspective was meant to spin a different story than the ones we are used to. But whether it was the writing style or the story itself, it just didn't grab me the way it was intended.

Margaret herself, in my opinion doesn't come across particularly well. She seems to have a lot of secrets. There is also an untold mystery about her relationship with her father that we get glimpses of through snippets of conversations with her mother. Instead of these comments spurring me to want to find out what happened there, they just get tiresome. For example, we find out that when her father died, her mother didn't tell her. She was living in New Zealand at the time, but her mother didn't tell her until after the funeral which is something Margaret resent her for, understandably.
The victim of the novel, Mary is very much a background character, we find out small pieces of information about her, but nothing substantial, again I think this was done on purpose but the effect on me was that I just didn't really care about this missing shadow of a person, because that's all that she was in the book.

Then of course, we have the investigating detective in the case, Michael McLoughlin. Could they have put a more ill-suited incompetent detective on the case? For anyone who's seen Brendan Gleeson in the Guard, imagine him, but drunker, stupider and also kind of a stalker. This man really frustrated me throughout. He's in the middle of a very unhappy marriage, which is blamed completely on the wife, even though he is clearly a waste of space. He spends most of his time in the pub getting drunk, oh that is when he's not following Margaret around and spying on her house from his car when off duty. He obsesses about this woman, about her looks, and daydreams about her, basically falling in love with her. Bad policy for a police officer investigating the murder of someone's daughter. His actions get creepier the more you read, and all this adds to the story is an uncomfortableness, as he tries to take advantage of her grief to get close to her. He seems far more intent on getting her to love him back than he does on trying to solve the murder. I didn't understand at all why this was necessary to the story, and had no faith at all in his competence as a detective because of this.

Now to the writing, as mentioned above, this novel was set in Ireland, specifically Dublin, now in case the reader has a very bad memory, this is repeated constantly. It reads like it was written by someone who has visited Dublin once and has taken down a list of all the placenames, and Irishisms they saw and just vomited it back onto the page. Perhaps if I didn't know Dublin even a little bit, I wouldn't have noticed this, but the characters manage to find themselves in every area of Dublin possible at one stage or another, they walk from X to Y to Z for no apparent reason, seems like its just a way for the author to remind the reader that yes, the novel is set in Dublin. This got very annoying very quickly.

Within the first chapter, tea is mentioned at least twice, as are pints of stout. By the way, the book is set in Ireland, cos they love their tea and pints...! The language used at times flows really well, but then someone will say something in a way completely inappropriate to the situation and then I felt pulled out of the story and compelled to complain about it to the other half. Because of this, I couldn't get into the rhythm of the story at all. There is a scene in it where a photography teacher is reporting a rape to the gardai. This report is made a long time after the event and obviously her visit to the garda station is emotional and traumatic. She describes the attack vividly but clearly, distancing herself from it, again understandable, and just as the reader is getting into the scene and feeling for this poor young woman she comes out with something like "How do you think it's been for me here in this room with you? To turn myself inside out like a ripe fig, let you see all those bits which should be hidden." WHAT? A FIG? Who talks like that, is the question I screamed at this point, again turning a very emotional, heart-wrenching piece of writing into a piece of drivel. I'm all for figurative writing and if this character had felt like a fig inside her head I maybe could have accepted that, but do you really tell a member of the police that you feel like a ripe fig in this situaion? Maybe you do, who knows?

In conclusion, I got quite frustrated at points throughout the book purely based on the writing. Any sympathy you may have had for this mysterious victim called Mary is shattered during the trial where she is referred to as a thing by the forensics witness. This is pointed out by Margaret herself and noted that they are trying to turn her into a thing instead of a person, but the author has made no effort to do otherwise with the reader.

Before I started writing the review, I had given it a 3 out of 5, now that I have recalled all the reasons I didn't like this book, I have reduced that to a 1. So there you go. Will not be looking for anymore of this author's works, as my blood pressure is high enough already!

[Sylvia Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was really captivating up to the point of the person being caught that committed the muder, and the stage was set for the trial to begin.
Then things took a turn and there was alot of back history given that was hard to stay as interested in.
Finally the trial happened, with a surprise ending no less, and then a real surprise ending followed, which really was worth finishing the book for.
The slow part to follow was the only reason I gave it a 4 star rating.
All in all very good book!!

[Alicia Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, hard to put down. I was invested from the first page. The book was beautifully written and made me empathizewith the main character. As a mother of two daughters, this was heartbreaking to read. The mom got her just rewards in the end. It left me wondering what I would do in that situation.

[Lana · Rating 1 out of 5]

I struggled and struggled, and I gave up. I made it to almost half of the book. It’s so confusing, couldn’t connect the story, lacking almost everything, it didn’t pull me to read further, to see what comes next. It was boring.

[Katarina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ponovo knjiga sa jako dobrom idejom. Sve u svemu, uopće nije loša, jedini problem mi je stvaralo to što je sve opisano s previše nepotrebnih detalja. Volim kada ima puno detalja u knjizi, lakše mi je stvorit si sliku u glavi i volim kad je precizna, ali nema potrebe da se navodi boja i veličina svih sporednih objekata u priči, da je svaki detalj opisan do najmanje sitnice. Knjiga od malo više od 350 strana koja je komotno mogla biti napisana u 200 stranica. U drugom djelu se priča zakomplicira i događa se zanimljiv preokret, ja ga osobno nisam očekivala. Još jedna primjedba je što je knjiga napisana na način da se mijenja perspektiva. Nemam ništa protiv toga, još mi je draže sagledat priču iz gledišta više likova, ali često bi se dogodilo da mi nije jasno iz čijeg gledišta se priča. Dosta djelova sam morla ponovno pročitat da bih shvatila čija je trenutno perspektiva i o kome se priča, iako bi bilo dosta puta naglašeno, ali jednostavno je napisano na način da se čitatelj zbuni. Nekad mi se znalo učinit da knjiga nema kraj, oči bi mi samo letale po stranici i morala bi se vratit na početak stranice ili nekad čak poglavlja jer nisam imala pojma šta sam pročitala prije 10 sekundi. Nije najgora, ali je daleko od najboljih knjiga koje sam pričitala.

[Sofia Clash · Rating 1 out of 5]

I enjoy a good murder mystery but this was just not it… There were a number of reasons I disliked it but here are the main ones anyway…
It was hard to follow due to the writing style being kind of all over the place (is it past? Present? Who is even supposed to be narrating?) and really just didn’t grip me at all. You find out very early on who has committed the crime and even though there are several twists, they all fall very short of being surprising or exciting in any way. It’s almost like the forced artistic writing style distracts you from what is going on in the story.
Additionally, the characters did not seem relatable or realistic or even remotely likable. The main detective was apathetic and mopey and in some ways just as creepy as the killer. The main woman, mother of the murdered girl, came across as haughty and one-dimensional. I guess the ending was satisfying in some way but in the end I didn’t really care enough to feel anything about it except glad to be finished.
Honestly, I was pretty bored the whole time and read it just to finish it. Kind of wish I hadn’t wasted my time. However, I’ve heard better things about this author’s more recent works and would maybe be willing to give her another try.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Margaret Mitchell, a psychiatrist, returns to Dublin to nurse her sick mother after 20 years. Her daughter Mary goes out one night and does not return, she is found a week later by the canal by an old man walking his dog. Margaret is devastated. Mary was brutally raped and tortured and beaten to death. The killer keeps calling her, but does not speak. Margaret cannot let it go, she is grief stricken. The end was a bit of a surprise.

[Madixoxo · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay. Like literally. Thats it, it was just OKAY. There were some points where I was hooked and then there was some parts that just had me so fucking confused. And the authors numerous times writing about nipples and their appearances and I just…i can’t. Will I ever read this again? No. Book full of cheaters, death, creeps and weirdos…

[Siobhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nowhere NEAR as good as her more recent one--almost like a different writer. Cliched rapist/murderer, boring male gaze, and too damned long.

[Gray · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good ending but unsatisfying story

[Bob Box · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in 1999. Irish murder mystery.

[Sue Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suspenseful

[Jenny Smuts · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gave up about half way through as I was bored with the story.

[vagia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ένα κοινωνικό, ψυχολογικό μυθιστόρημα, που εισχωρεί μέσα σου όπως και η γραφή του. Σιγά σιγά, καθώς ξεδιπλώνεται όλος ο πόνος και η συνειδητοποίηση μιας μητέρας που χάνει το παιδί της.. σταδιακά, καθώς το σκοτάδι της ψυχής του δολοφόνου αναδύεται.. εικόνες μιας ζωντανής κοπέλας και στον αντίποδα η απουσία της..
Ζοφερό, αποπνικτικό, καταθλιπτικό κλίμα, δε γίνεται να σε αφήσει απέξω. Συγκλονιστική αφήγηση του μίσους, της οργής, της εκδίκησης, του πάθους για τιμωρία.
Υπέροχο!

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the premise of this book was interesting it's the writing style that turned me off. It jumps all over the place with no breaks. It can be hard to judge whether it's present or past or a weird mix of the two. It's also unnecessarily wordy and descriptive. Too descriptive about things that seem to add to the word count over adding any substance to the novel itself.

[Vivian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sehr spannend und anschauliche, sprachliche Bilder

[Sanja · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sinopsis me je odmah privukao, a odlična akcija kod Mozaik knjige učvrstila odluku da kupim i pročitam još jedan psihološki triler (ukoliko vas zanima evo i link za webshop https://mozaik-knjiga.hr/proizvod/mar...) iz njihove naklade. Komotno sam ga mogla preskočiti. Šteta jer je knjiga toliko obećavala.

„𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒚, 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒚“ 𝒋𝒆 𝒖𝒛𝒏𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒓𝒖𝒋𝒖ć𝒊 𝒑𝒔𝒊𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒐š𝒌𝒊 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒓 𝒌𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒈𝒂 𝒏𝒆ć𝒆𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒐 𝒍𝒂𝒌𝒐 𝒎𝒐ć𝒊 𝒛𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒊.

𝑳𝒊𝒋𝒆č𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒕 𝑴𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒕 ć𝒆 𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒐č𝒊𝒕𝒊 𝒔 𝒏𝒂𝒋𝒈𝒐𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒔𝒕𝒗𝒂𝒓𝒊 𝒌𝒐𝒋𝒂 𝒔𝒆 𝒎𝒐ž𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒈𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊 𝒋𝒆𝒅𝒏𝒐𝒎 𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒋𝒖. 𝑵𝒂𝒊𝒎𝒆, 𝒏𝒋𝒆𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒂 𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒋𝒆𝒏𝒂 𝒌ć𝒊 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒋𝒆 ž𝒓𝒕𝒗𝒐𝒎 𝒏𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒏𝒐𝒈 𝒛𝒍𝒐č𝒊𝒏𝒂. 𝒁𝒂 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒕 𝒛𝒂𝒑𝒐č𝒊𝒏𝒋𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒌𝒐𝒕𝒓𝒑𝒂𝒏 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒖 𝒑𝒓𝒐š𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕. 𝑮𝒅𝒋𝒆 𝒋𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒋𝒆š𝒊𝒍𝒂, 𝒌𝒂𝒌𝒗𝒆 𝒋𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒋𝒏𝒆 𝒏𝒋𝒆𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒂 𝒌ć𝒊 𝒔𝒌𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒂 𝒐𝒅 𝒏𝒋𝒆? 𝑵𝒂𝒌𝒐𝒏 š𝒕𝒐 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒊 𝒕𝒂𝒋𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒖𝒌𝒆, 𝒌𝒐𝒋𝒆 𝒋𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒈𝒂𝒐 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒐 𝒖𝒃𝒐𝒋𝒊𝒄𝒂 𝒏𝒋𝒆𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒌ć𝒆𝒓𝒊, 𝒖𝒑𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒊 𝒔𝒆 𝒖 𝒏𝒂𝒋𝒐𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒏𝒊𝒋𝒖 𝒊𝒈𝒓𝒖 𝒖 ž𝒊𝒗𝒐𝒕𝒖. 𝑯𝒐ć𝒆 𝒍𝒊 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒏𝒊 𝒔𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒗 𝒖𝒔𝒑𝒋𝒆𝒕𝒊 𝒅𝒐𝒌𝒂𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊 𝒌𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒏𝒋𝒖 𝒊 𝒌𝒂𝒛𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊 𝒖𝒃𝒐𝒋𝒊𝒄𝒖 𝒊𝒍𝒊 ć𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒖𝒕𝒋𝒆š𝒏𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒋𝒌𝒂 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊 𝒖𝒛𝒆𝒕𝒊 𝒔𝒕𝒗𝒂𝒓 𝒖 𝒔𝒗𝒐𝒋𝒆 𝒓𝒖𝒌𝒆 𝒊 𝒊𝒛𝒍𝒐ž𝒊𝒕𝒊 𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒏𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒊 𝒅𝒂 𝒊 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒂 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒆 ž𝒓𝒕𝒗𝒐𝒎?

Čitatelj prati Margaret, od milja zvanu Maggie, i psihološku borbu s ubojicom njene kćeri, mlade Mary. Čini se da Maggie ne može preboljeti nanesenu nepravdu i naglo oduzimanje onog najsvetijeg, djeteta. Kao da ju je jedna kriva odluka u mladosti odvela na trnovit put, samo zato jer se nije htjela suočiti s osobom koja joj je slomila srce. Prepuna ponosa? Možda. Ali zato nemilosrdna kad se tiče njene kćeri.

„Ž𝘶𝘥𝘯𝘫𝘢. Š𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘶 𝘫𝘦 𝘻𝘯𝘢č𝘪𝘭𝘢 𝘵𝘢 𝘳𝘪𝘫𝘦č? Ž𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘰 𝘫𝘦 𝘻𝘢 𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘮. 𝘋𝘢 𝘫𝘶 𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪, 𝘥𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘪 𝘴 𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘮, 𝘥𝘢 𝘫𝘰𝘫 č𝘶𝘫𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘥𝘢 𝘫𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘯𝘦. 𝘜𝘱𝘭𝘢š𝘪𝘰 𝘨𝘢 𝘫𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘫 𝘰𝘴𝘫𝘦ć𝘢𝘫. 𝘉𝘪𝘰 𝘫𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘷 𝘪 𝘯𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘻𝘯𝘢𝘵. 𝘕𝘪𝘬𝘢𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘫𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘫𝘦 𝘱𝘰ž𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘰 𝘯𝘦š𝘵𝘰 š𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘪 𝘮𝘶 𝘮𝘰𝘨𝘭𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘪š𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪 ž𝘪𝘷𝘰𝘵. 𝘚𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘥 𝘫𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘰 𝘫𝘦𝘥𝘯𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘷𝘯𝘰 𝘪 𝘫𝘢𝘴𝘯𝘰 𝘻𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘰. Š𝘬𝘰𝘭𝘢, 𝘧𝘢𝘬𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘵, 𝘰𝘥𝘷𝘫𝘦𝘵𝘯𝘪č𝘬𝘢 𝘬𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘢, 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘬, 𝘰č𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘷𝘰. 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘯𝘰 𝘪 𝘯𝘦𝘰𝘴𝘫𝘦𝘵𝘯𝘰 𝘯𝘢𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘫𝘦 𝘬𝘰𝘫𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘥𝘪 𝘥𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘫𝘦𝘩𝘢. 𝘈𝘭𝘪 𝘰𝘷𝘰? Š𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘰?“

Kraj je doista zabavan, ali ostatak djela – majko sveta, čini se nikad kraja. Sve neka sjećanja, puko preživljavanje, ali toliko opisano do u detalj, da mi je došlo da ju uopće ne pročitam do kraja.

„𝘒𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘭𝘰? 𝘛𝘰 𝘥𝘢 𝘴𝘶 𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘫𝘦𝘵𝘪? 𝘕𝘪𝘫𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘰 𝘯𝘪𝘬𝘢𝘬𝘷𝘰𝘨 č𝘶𝘥𝘯𝘰𝘨 𝘰𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘢. 𝘕𝘪𝘬𝘢𝘬𝘷𝘰𝘨 𝘪𝘻𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘢. 𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳 𝘪 𝘵𝘶ž𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘫𝘦𝘻𝘪𝘳𝘢 𝘪 𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘷𝘪đ𝘢𝘯𝘫𝘢 𝘬𝘰𝘫𝘪 𝘫𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘨𝘢đ𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘢 𝘪 𝘰č𝘢𝘫𝘢.“

Pisana je u prvom licu, čitatelj prati protagonisticu Maggie, od djevojačke dobi do trenutne situacije. Sveukupni dojam knjige mi je dosta mračan, kao da iz nje izvire negativnost i što god napraviti, nikako ju otjerati. Prikazana je i životna priča detektiva McLoughlina koji je odličan na svom poslu, ali privatni mu se život raspada. Rastava braka, konstantno opijanje i uhođenje lijepih žena uzeli su svoj danak.

„𝘖𝘯 𝘫𝘶 𝘻𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘶𝘫𝘦, 𝘰𝘯 𝘫𝘶 𝘯𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘪, 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘢 𝘭𝘫𝘶𝘣𝘢𝘷𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘶, 𝘰𝘯 ć𝘦 𝘫𝘶 𝘯𝘢𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪. (...)
𝘕𝘪𝘫𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘰 𝘯𝘪𝘬𝘢𝘬𝘷𝘶 𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘬𝘶. 𝘡𝘯𝘢𝘰 𝘫𝘦 𝘵𝘰, 𝘢𝘭𝘪 𝘉𝘰ž𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘫, 𝘬𝘢𝘬𝘰 𝘫𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘢 𝘻𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘢 č𝘰𝘷𝘫𝘦𝘬𝘶 𝘬𝘳𝘷 𝘱𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘪. 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘯𝘰 𝘪 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘯𝘰. 𝘋𝘰𝘬 𝘮𝘶 𝘯𝘪𝘫𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘢 𝘯𝘢𝘴𝘮𝘳𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘯𝘢.“

Autorica postavlja pitanje koliko uopće poznajemo svoju djecu i koliko se roditelji prikazuju moralni, zaboravljajući da su i oni nekad bili mladi i nestašni.

„𝘕𝘪𝘫𝘦 𝘫𝘶 𝘮𝘰𝘨𝘢𝘰 𝘯𝘢𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪. (...)
𝘚𝘦𝘣𝘦 𝘫𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘢𝘰 𝘰č𝘪𝘮𝘢 𝘬𝘰𝘫𝘦 𝘴𝘶 𝘫𝘰š 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘦 𝘯𝘫𝘦. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘬 𝘫𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘶ž𝘷𝘶 𝘥𝘢 𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘨𝘢𝘰 𝘫𝘦 𝘰𝘴𝘫𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘰 𝘯𝘫𝘦𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦. 𝘋𝘰𝘬 𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘰 𝘳𝘶č𝘯𝘪𝘬𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘰𝘨𝘢𝘰 𝘫𝘦 𝘰𝘴𝘫𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘰 𝘯𝘫𝘦𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦.
𝘋𝘫𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘫𝘬𝘢 𝘫𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘢 𝘯𝘫𝘦𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘫𝘦𝘵𝘦. 𝘕𝘪𝘫𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘰 𝘯𝘪𝘬𝘢𝘬𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘯𝘫𝘦 𝘶 𝘵𝘰.“

Dakako, psihološki aspekt je sveprisutan, od analize djevojčinih postupaka, do majčine konstantne patnje i traženja osvete, odnosno uzimanja pravde u svoje ruke.

„𝘉𝘪𝘭𝘰 𝘫𝘦 𝘪 𝘥𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘪𝘩 𝘯𝘢𝘬𝘰𝘯 𝘯𝘫𝘦. 𝘈𝘭𝘪 𝘯𝘫𝘪𝘩 𝘯𝘪𝘬𝘢𝘥𝘢 𝘯𝘪𝘫𝘦 𝘻𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘰. 𝘒𝘢𝘥 𝘫𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘢 𝘰𝘵𝘪š𝘭𝘢, 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘫𝘢𝘰 𝘫𝘶 𝘫𝘦. Č𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰. 𝘉𝘪𝘰 𝘣𝘪 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘯, 𝘢 𝘣𝘶đ𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘦 𝘬𝘰𝘫𝘦 𝘨𝘢 𝘫𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘰 𝘶𝘷𝘪𝘫𝘦𝘬 𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘭𝘰 𝘪 𝘯𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘯𝘰.“

Preporuka ljubiteljima psihološke analize, s naglaskom na analizu koja je u ovom djelu opisana, za moj ukus, previše detaljno.

[Ian Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

First half slow with abrupt changes in scenes without paragraph break markers. Second half has a twist or two... Not a bad read all in all.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

“You could say it began with a phone call. After all, that’s the way most cases begin. And you’d wonder then, looking back, whether there was anything about it that warned you, that reached out and grabbed you, that said, Hold on a minute, this is serious….but at the time it was just another anxious mother. Worried, embarrassed. Not sure she should be phoning. Not sure if she was doing the right thing. Her fear turning to anger.” So begins MARY, MARY by Julie Parsons, a book that explores the bond between mother and child.

Margaret Mitchell and her daughter, Mary, have recently returned to Ireland. Margaret moved to New Zealand when her husband died, just after Mary was born. Margaret and David had made their plans for a life away from Ireland and Margaret saw no reason not to continue on, doing what David wanted. She is a highly successful psychiatrist, an expert in women’s health issues, an author of books on domestic violence, a media star, photogenic and seemingly accessible. For twenty years she has been living the life she built for herself and her daughter, that is until the call from Ireland, her mother telling her she must come home. Catherine is dying and wants her only child and her only grandchild by her side.

Mary has adjusted easily, quickly establishing a circle of friends, and Margaret is grateful that her daughter is happy. Then one night, Mary leaves the house to meet them and she doesn’t return. Forty-eight hours after Mary walked out the door, Margaret receives an anonymous phone call. Margaret worked for years in a hospital for the criminally insane. She recognizes insanity when she hears it and she knows Mary won’t be coming home.

A week later, a dog finds Mary’s body, wrapped in plastic on a river bank. Margaret’s terror turns to stone cold anger.

Then the cat and mouse game begins. Mary’s killer contacts Margaret and they begin a relationship, he thinking he is in control, Margaret knowing he is not. The roles of cat and mouse are reversed.

Margaret is a master at manipulating the mind. How far can a mother go when a child is murdered? When does love become obsession? Who is really destroyed when revenge is the reason to continue living?

MARY, MARY captures the reader from the very first sentence.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This crime fiction book actually has a twist at the end that really surprised me. It wasn’t a violent unexpected twist like Minette Walters may throw at you though. It is a slow realization of what certain people have done. And it makes you smile even if you do not approve.



The story is about a woman whose daughter is horribly murdered while they are both visiting the woman’s mother as she is dying. What this poor woman must have gone through with her daughter’s murder and her mother’s death sets the scene for the rest of the book. That this all happens in Ireland when the woman and her daughter now live in New Zealand just makes it all seem so much worse.



Part two of the book is somewhat involved in the court scene in the trial of the man accused of Mary’s murder. Other than John Grisham, I am not sure anyone can make court room conversation interesting, and I did labour through these bits.



But it was so worth it for the very last bit of the book. I was cheering Margaret (the mother) on even while slightly cringing at what she was doing.



A great story but the book did have some dead bits and I thought some aspects which were glossed over could have done with more fleshing out. Or perhaps the book needed more of an edit and the bits left thin should have been chopped out.



Not my best book thus far this holiday but if a tattered version is lying about in your holiday home, its worth the day and a half it takes to read on the beach.



I will read another Parsons though because I think she is an author worth reading perhaps this just wasn’t her finest creation

[Martina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mary, Mary is quite an atypical thriller. There is no classical murder investigation, no ultra-clever detective in the spotlight who doggedly pursues the murderer... Moreover, we catch glimpses of the murderer's thought processes, as it's never a question whether he is guilty or not - we know he is. I'd say that the author concentrates on the other side of the medal - the people who are usually marginal characters in usual detective stories. In this case, the book focuses on Margaret Mitchell, a single mother whose only daughter Mary is a victim of a gruesome murder. So the novel is basically an expose of her grief; her attempts to come to terms with such a life-shattering event; her slow assembly of the mosaic of her life... and the final demonstration of her love for Mary.

Mary, Mary is no light, easy read. The narrative techniques (lots of retrospections, and certain passages of almost flow-of-consciousness...) require more mental engagement from the reader than an average crime novel. Also, there is a lot of showing going on, so that the reader can enjoy the subtle characterization of almost all the cast that defiles through the pages. I realize that this novel is not for everyone, but for people who like a tad more challenging read.

On a side-note: The novel is set in Ireland, which is an interesting change of pace for people used to American and Scandinavian crime novels.

[Jean Boobar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, I came across this book on my own bookshelf and took it with me on a trip, but then ignored it for a few months. It was a grim book, filled with passions of both love and hate. It was pretty dark, but well written.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written first novel for Julie Parsons about a mother's love .... a love filled with the need for justice when the daughter is murdered. Some of the details of the story setting get a little redundant and hard to follow if the reader finds Irish countryside and peoples personalities hard to understand but still a great read. Fast paced, makes the reader wonder what is going to happen next.

[Julieanne Thompson · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book was so poorly researched. I live in New Zealand, I've never seen a picture of Queen Elizabeth up in a school hall, we don't have houses with mews, nobody would ever refer to the Maori language as a 'dark language' and we rarely, if ever, call small towns villages. our television production companies are highly unlikely to produce three series on mental health disorders in post partum women featuring one eminent psychiatrist either. not a convincing story at all.

[David Linzee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A woman psychiatrist beset by personal tragedy, a hard-drinking detective, and an angelic-looking sex murderer make a memorable trio. Seldom in the mystery genre do you find an author who develops her characters in such psychological depth. The characters' solitary broodings are actually more interesting than their interactions. The plot twists late in the story are surprising but stretch credibility to the breaking point.

[Carla Nicolosi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't care for the writer's style. She jumps between time and characters with no breaks to indicate the change which causes confusion. It was a struggle to get into the story and I would have rated it even less than I did except for the fact that it did get very interesting in the second half and I really liked the ending.

[Gerry Durisin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fair first novel. Interesting characters, but writing style was too obscure -- often had to re-read to figure out just who was speaking, and whether events were current or flashback. Psychiatrist mother wreaks revenge on the murderer of her only child -- aided by the conveniently re-appearing father of the out-of-wedlock child, who just happens to be the defense attorney.