As readers of my blog will know I’m not really one for
psychological thrillers, preferring my crime fiction grittier, more noir. That
said, this book appealed to me because of its title. My better half being an
identical twin, I thought I really had to get my hands on this. I had images in
my mind of identical twins suspected of some crime, one innocent one psychotic,
the police stumped as to who’s who. I must stress here that neither my wife or
her sister conform to this picture – neither are villainous murderers as far as
I’m aware – but there you go.
L V Hay’s book isn’t the plot I outline above. In fact, I
was surprised to find that the twins aren’t the major characters as such. Nor
are they identical. Instead this book follows Poppy investigating the death of
her sister, the twins of the title being important, but supporting cast. As
befits a psychological thriller, The Other Twin is more nuanced than the one
line synopsis I just outlined, instead the author has crafted a tale of hidden
lives and the perils of social media. Poppy discovers that her sister had built
a whole new reality through a blog, that there are secrets to her sister she
never realised.
The Other Twin is a well-crafted novel, in some ways it’s
less a psychological thriller than a whodunnit. While the police believe Poppy’s
sister to have committed suicide, I don’t think I’m giving away any spoilers in
saying there’s more to it than that. Poppy’s quest is to discover what this is
and who’s responsible. As I say, psychological thrillers and whodunnits aren’t
my normal fare, and if I’m being honest, The Other Twin isn’t a book I would
naturally reach for. That said it’s well written and compelling. It’s well
plotted, the characters are believable and the social media aspects are quite
chilling.
3 out of 5 stars
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