Nora's world was shattered in an instant. She walks into her sister's home only to find Rachel dead, the victim of a brutal attack. The police appear stymied by the investigation but Nora is determined her sister's killer will be caught. Will Rachel's killer be found before Nora's grief completely overwhelms her?
Nora is a somewhat frustrating narrator at times, as she rambles quite a bit. Her train of thought can be hard to follow as she sinks further and further into an almost obsessive state of grief. Her perspective is quite skewed as Nora is a perfect example of the unreliable narrator. However, UNDER THE HARROW is intriguing in spite of, or perhaps even as a result of, Nora's unreliability. We question her own motives and reasoning, wondering what secrets lurk beneath the seemingly close friendship of the two sisters.
The story of the murder is somewhat straightforward, once you reach the ending. The journey, however, is quite convoluted. Nora gets fixated, both on a prior attack on Rachel from years past as well as the current associates of Rachel. The inappropriate involvement with the police detective seemed a bit unnecessary, as it muddles the storyline.
UNDER THE HARROW is a short but fascinating psychological thriller. I couldn't stop from reading, even as I questioned Nora's sanity throughout the storyline. Readers who enjoy stories with an unreliable narrator taking them on various twists and turns will appreciate Flynn Berry's narrative style.
When Nora takes the train from London to visit her sister in
the countryside, she expects to find her waiting at the
station, or at home cooking dinner. But when she walks into
Rachel’s familiar house, what she finds is entirely
different: her sister has been the victim of a brutal murder.
Stunned and adrift, Nora finds she can’t return to her
former life. An unsolved assault in the past has shaken her
faith in the police, and she can’t trust them to find her
sister’s killer. Haunted by the murder and the secrets that
surround it, Nora is under the harrow: distressed and in
danger. As Nora’s fear turns to obsession, she becomes as
unrecognizable as the sister her investigation uncovers.
A riveting psychological thriller and a haunting exploration
of the fierce love between two sisters, the distortions of
grief, and the terrifying power of the past, Under the
Harrow marks the debut of an extraordinary new writer.