The Butcher's Daughter by Jane E. James

Synopsis

Trust no one.  Not even yourself.

When Natalie Powers returns home for the first time in thirteen years, she must convince everyone hat she has fully recovered from the mental illness, which has seen her institutionalised for most of her young life.

But instead of being welcomed back, Natalie enters a baffling world of deception.  She must fight her way through the lies in order to discover the truth about her mother's sudden disappearance sixteen years earlier.  To do this, Natalie must also try to make sense of the hazy memories from the past that continue to haunt her.

In the village of Little Downey, everybody appears to harbour a mysterious secret, including her father, Frank, the village butcher, who refuses to discuss the circumstances surrounding Natalie's mother's disappearance, but who can Natalie trust if not her own father? Especially when it becomes clear her protector and confidante, Dr Moses, is not all he appears.

Meanwhile a spate of unexplained clifftop suicides has seen the seaside resort go into decline. Are the villagers somehow involved or is it something more sinister at work?

Determined to find out what happened to her mother, Natalie must make sure her own frailty and self-doubt does not catapult her back to the mental institution before she can uncover the truth...

My Review

I hate saying this but this book wasn't for me.  I've read some reviews that raved about the book and it sounded right up my street, a good psychological  thriller with lots of blood and gore but sadly I just didn't connect with the characters.

The ending was very good and neatly tied everything up together and there is no getting away from the fact that there were some really shocking and gruesome moments in the book that made my cringe but for me there was just something missing,

Natalie clearly has issues as does every character in the book.  Her mother's death had obviously taken it's toll and clearly it has been something that she has never gotten over.  The village of Little Downey is a sinister place and one that I hope I never have the pleasure of visiting and it's really made me wonder about what really goes on in butchers shops.

I would put this in the horror category as there is plenty of blood and lots of gory scenes.  The reference to the red silk dress of her mothers is something that I could definitely see in a movie and would make a scary, hide behind the cushion moment.

There were a lot of moments in the book that I really did enjoy reading, the complex relationship with Daniel, Natalie's father's employee and Natalie's one time best friend and moving on from there her new found friendship with the Irish gypsy Jed and his slightly wild sister Merry. Despite me not loving the book, I certainly didn't hate it and I do think that elements of the book will stay with me for some weeks to come.