Peeking Between the Pages

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Book Review: No One You Know by Michelle Richmond

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No One You Know by Michelle Richmond is an emotional novel of loss, heartache, secrets and betrayal interwoven with a murder mystery at its core. It doesn’t read like a normal murder mystery though as there is so much more behind the story. It’s really about a life cut short and another life interrupted because of it and then the hard fight to come to terms with the truth when it’s finally revealed.

Ellie had always lived in her sister Lila’s shadow. Lila was the mathmatical genius in the family and Ellie’s parents were very successful also. Yet, while Ellie was only average in most things she loved her sister. When Lila disappears and is later discovered murdered, Ellie’s life is turned upside down. Nothing is ever the same after that. Ellie’s parents eventually divorce and Ellie herself wanders aimlessly through her life for several years.

Ellie ends up confiding in a friend, a professor of hers who she trusts. Andrew is the one person she can pour out all her feelings to. She tells him all about Lila, about their lives growing up, about how the family and she herself feel about the murder. She invites him into her home…and then he betrays her confidence by writing a novel about the murder. The novel is a bestseller and eventually Ellie reads it in order to discover who Andrew names as Lila’s killer.

Imagine Ellie’s surprise when years later, as a coffee buyer, Ellie, in a not so chance encounter in a cafe has a strange yet eeringly familiar man approach her. It turns out he is the man who had been accused of being Lila’s killer. Somehow though Ellie just can’t believe it’s him. He ends up leaving Ellie a mathmatical journal that Lila had that had disappeared when she died and this leads Ellie on a search to find out whether this man Peter was actually the killer or it was someone else. This takes her on a journey that brings her much more than she expected. It brings her both a better knowledge of the intimate side of her sister that she hadn’t known existed and at the same time she learns a lot about herself too.

Much of the story deals with two of my favorite things-coffee and numbers. I really enjoyed reading about the mathmatical sequences and the need to prove certain equations. Numbers are simple, clear and concise-they are unemotional-you know what to expect from them. I think that’s what I love about them. Then the parts about the coffee buying and the process behind getting the beans ready was fascinating. If it’s one thing I can’t live without it’s my coffee.

I’m going to leave you with a few quotes I enjoyed…

  • ‘Walking through my mother’s garden as a child, I was enthralled by the way the heady sweetness of jasmine gave way to the tartness of lemon trees, or the way musky wisteria was buttressed by the piney smell of sage. I loved the crispness of peppermint against a carpet of cedar bark mulch, the earthliness of roses paired with delicate lavendar.’ (pg 29, No One You Know by Michelle Richmond)
  • ‘Everything about the moment was stunningly familiar. Had I been there before? Had someone described this very scene to me? Or maybe, I had simply read it all in a book. Sometimes it felt as if books and life formed a strange origami, the intricate folds and secret shadows so inextricably connected, it was impossible to tell one from the other.’ (pg 303, No One You Know by Michelle Richmond)

No One You Know is beautifully written both in its story and descriptions. Ellie is an easy character to connect with and you feel with her the emotions of all she is going through. It’s also a novel that keeps you on the edge of your seat a bit as Ellie goes to all lengths to discover what really happened to her sister. This is a book I would recommend. Some might find the mathmatical stuff overwhelming but it wasn’t for me and it does not in any way dominate the story.

You can visit Michelle’s website here and her blog here. The paperback edition of No One You Know releases on May 19 and you can buy it here in the US and here in Canada. Please check back sometime in June as I’ll be having a bit of a giveaway of a few of Michelle’s books.

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Comments

  1. By your words it doesn’t as you say sound like the typical murder mysterym which I usually don’t go for. But this one really seems to have something else

  2. Murder mysteries are almost a dime a dozen at this point, so it would be refreshing to read one with a twist or a different approach. Great review!

  3. I’ve heard so much about Michelle Richmond’s work and haven’t read any yet. I definitely need to add it to my wish list.

  4. I will read this book only because Lila is my Polish name (Lilly is an English nickname). I don’t find this name anywhere vey often. I know, I’m shallow. Anyway, I also like Richmond’s writing so that’s another reason to read it, lol.

  6. Great review! Sounds like a book I need to add to my wishlist 🙂 Glad you enjoyed it!

  7. I've had my eye on this one. Lovely review Dar. Now I really want to read it.

    ♥ Nely

  8. This definitely sounds like a murder with a twist. It reminds me of a film where the lead actor had to experience what happened to his girlfriend in order to find out how she died. I can’t remember what it is called – I think Kiefer Sutherland was in it. Anyway I am digressing – this will definitely go on my list. Thanks for a great review Dar.

  10. I read this book in hardback and it was my first review on my blog last summer. I liked it as well and the mystery angle was very interesting. I enjoyed the tie in to coffee as I’m a coffee lover also.

  11. This sounds really great! I am going to have to keep an eye out for it. Great review!

  13. Coffee? I’m in!!

    Sounds like a good story brewing between the covers despite the #’s thing… 😉

  14. This sounds like a good story.

    Thanks again for your support during this difficult time…it helps to have a friend to talk to. 🙂

  17. I’ve got this one on my nightstand but haven’t started it yet. Sounds pretty good except for the math, ugh!! SO not my favorite thing! But still, I’m looking forward to it. It really does sound good.

  20. I had to return this book to the library..ran out of time. Now I know that I’m going to have to request it again because I loved your review!! Another book that used math a lot was John Green’s An Abundance of Katherines- I thought it added to the story too and didn’t dominate it but just gave another dimension to the story.

  22. Interesting tid-bit about you and math sequences! Do you do any math in your profession? I was always better at math than I was English type stuff growing up. I’m glad you enjoyed the book–not sure if this is one for me or not? Oh, and I can’t live without my coffee either! 😛

  23. i am a numbers person as well!:) I love the simplicity of Maths.. It is nice to see that you feel the same way. I haven’t heard of this book before but it definitely sounds like an interesting one!

  24. Great review Dar. This is not your typical murder mystery book. I have chills just thinking about the story.

  25. Wow, great review! It sounds like you really loved this story. I will have to check it out.

  33. Thanks for that review! I just won this book in a giveaway and was wondering if I would ever get around to reading it… but thanks to your post I’ll definitely be reading it once it gets here!

    Thanks!
    *Vanessa*

  35. Dar.. this is certainly another one for the pile. I will be trying to win this one.. if not it sounds very “buyable.” Thank you.

  37. As I am gearing up for a summer of great reads, I would love to add this to my pile.

    madamerkf at aol dot com

  38. For those who thought this post was a giveaway, it’s not. Read closely-it says check back in June.

    Everyone else, thanks for the compliments on the review. I really did enjoy this one. If any of you get to read it, pop back and let me know. I’d love to read your thoughts on it.

  39. I'm glad you posted your May Wrap Up because I neglected to comment the first time around. I love math and coffee, so I'm hoping to read this one sometime. 🙂