"You already know who died and how. Very shortly you will know who was responsible. The only question this story concerns itself with is why. Why did flight GFA578 crash into a mountain, killing two men?"
When an empty passenger plane crashes in the Lake District, Carly Atherton's hopes of getting back together with the man she loves vanish - Luke Emery was one of the two pilots on board. Investigating the story behind the doomed flight might just be the chance disgraced journalist Carly needs to rescue her career, as well as giving her the answers about Luke's death that she desperately wants.
But when she contacts the family of the other pilot, Daniel Taylor, she finds the two women he was closest to - his devoted sister and his loving wife - have very different memories to share. As Carly delves into the dynamics of a seemingly ordinary family, she uncovers a far darker story than she could possibly have imagined. A story she risks becoming part of even as she tries to piece together the truth.
Review:
"This is not a work of fiction, it is a cautionary tale. The story of a family that, on the face of it, could be yours. A story in which you may even recognise elements of yourself. But at its heart is a monster."
They say a tragedy has a way of bringing out the best in us; of pulling people together — but sometimes, tragedy just creates more tragedy.
A compelling, surprisingly dark story with a clever and engaging way of storytelling: Presenting itself as though it’s written by one of the characters like an autobiography, mixing up multiple perspective narration spanning different years, media snippets, testimonies and more to make it feel like we’re all a part of the investigation. At times certain sections lasted just a bit too long and broke the constant-jumping pace that was set out which made it a little jarring but it was generally a similar pacing throughout. Hailey definitely has a unique voice, I loved her last release and loved seeing how she experimented with bringing her own brand of storytelling to life again.
From the opening scene, we’re confronted with a psychological report letting us know we’re about to be up close and personal with narcissists and psychopaths— starting me off thinking I had no clue if I trust anyone we meet and that air of suspicion and threat creating a delightful kind of suspense.
Who appears at the start to be the “main character” almost acts like a curator of everyone’s stories rather than just a narrator - Carly, who lost her boyfriend and almost lost her brother in the crash is desperately trying to solve the mystery — her storytelling frantic, clawing and desperate, making me so curious about her even when she runs on tangents or shows us a messy side. Most other characters we meet are entirely unlikable, manipulative, deranged — an undeniably intriguing in a morbidly curious way.
We almost forget we’re solving a fatal mystery, getting caught up in the backstories and lives of the major players; and while it’s clear who the “monster” of the story is after a while, we’re left to keep reading through because if we already know that, what else is there still to find out?
A dark, highly disturbing but enigmatic story about control, trauma and real life monsters.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Scenes from a Tragedy is available from March 6th with Corvus Books. I was gifted a reviewers copy of this title in return for a review.
- This title contains potentially upsetting subjects including miscarriage, violence, bullying, rape, assault and underage sex.
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