So this month’s Book Nook read was The Locked Door by Frieda McFadden. I honestly thought I would not get the chance to finish it since I’ve been so busy but I stayed up one night really late to finish it, and I’m happy to admit that I did enjoy it. It was a book I thought was straight A to B, but of course here’s Frieda who zig zags through to points C to D.
Genre and First Impressions
So this book is a crime/thriller which is my favourite kind of genre so I knew I would love it. The fact that the main character wasn’t the one killing people is a nice touch, so used to that being the case. Her father being the murderer in the past was brilliant, the oddity was the fact he kept killing people who had dark hair (like his daughter) and bright blue eyes (like his wife) – a combination of the two people he’s supposed to love.
My Early Theory
So in the beginning I thought I had the whole thing clued out instantly, in my mind Brady, her ex lover was the one who started the new killings. Why, you say? That’s because he appeared from no where, he knew her from her past (not everything but enough), then he suddenly wanted to start seeing her again more often. Of course, this could be downplayed and the fact he that he just does like her and in the past he was happy with her. Maybe he just wanted to relive that experience. Unfortunately, it seemed so suspicious, but of course I should never downplay Frieda’s artistic talents, nothing is ever that straightforward.
Suspicion Turns to Phillip
In the book, Nora who is a great surgeon (in the legal way she enjoys cutting into people) maybe a little of her dad lives inside of her, anyways, she herself questions the possibility of Brady being the killer due to his past preferences of slasher movies and even liking her father’s murders. But her mind eventually changes to her work colleague, only he would have the information about her patients, only he would know about her security she wanted. Now Phillip is prime suspect number one, as who wouldn’t follow a handsome surgeon down a dark path… No? Me neither.
Rising Tension
This follows into how scared she is for her receptionist, a dark haired, blue eyed young girl who has taken such a liking to her work partner. Could she be in trouble? Nora persistently calls both but to no avail she does not get an answer. So she heads home, eating the soup her receptionist has made for her, a nice chicken soup, yummy. In her rush to leave to find poor Harper, she hesitates to see if her cat was okay after leaving her in the basement. Maybe she needed feeding, or let out for a little bit? This turns out to be the wrong move, one she may regret, now or later.
The Basement Reveal
Upon entering the basement she’s instantly got a gun pointed towards her, expecting to see Phillip at the other side of the trigger, she was shocked to see it was in fact Harper. Tied up to a chair, bleeding from his wound, as his hand has been fully severed off, sat Philip. How had she gotten this so wrong? In her head, it being Phillip was the only explanation that made sense, how did Harper being the one that did the killings make sense, why would she do this?
The Twist
This was an amazing twist that even I, did not see coming. I for sure thought Brady was the one and that thought did not change even till the end. Thankfully Brady did turn up in the end, and Harper was accosted, so our main girl Nora didn’t get the blame for these murders. Harper, however, that was a complete shock and definitely not what I expected. She was presented to us as a nice, innocent girl who was upset about her boyfriend dumping her, this turned out to be all a lie. She was in fact a complete psycho, who’s boyfriend had followed Nora home and got injured in the process. Sucks to be him really.
Flashbacks and Nora’s Character
I really enjoyed the flashbacks throughout the book, showing how young Nora was so different to her father. She had the chance to hurt another but she chose not to last minute, and that young girl grew up to have her own family in the end, a very nice touch to the book.
Nora’s Moral Complexity
Although, she didn’t hurt the girl in her past, Nora wasn’t quite squeaky clean, she protected those that needed it, resorting to murder in the hidden way for a domestic abuser. Did he deserve that? Maybe, maybe not, but a woman lived because he died.
The Final Shocker
The shocker for me is that it turned out Nora was the one who told on her father, she was brave enough to go against her own dad, even though it changed her life forever. But in turn this also ensured that she lost her mother, in the beginning she hated her mother for taking her own life but in the end she understood, she was still upset but she knew why she had to do it.
She understood because her mother didn’t want to have another baby to a monster who could easily kill over 30 women. Yeah, you heard that right, her mother was pregnant again when her father got caught. So she tried to end her life in hopes that she wouldn’t have another baby to that monster.
Have you worked it out yet? I won’t spoil that fun for you, it was a nice touch.
Final Rating
So that’s my review of this month’s book, if I had to rate it I would rate 4 out of 5 stars, and that’s only because I felt the ending was a bit rushed. I would have preferred the suspense of the murderer being found out, then suddenly disappearing and not getting caught. Would’ve added a hint of mystery and what if, to the atmosphere of the book. It was a brilliant read though and I think I will be dabbling into a few more of her books.
