Book review: Everything She Didn’t Say by Jane Casey

Everything She Didn’t Say by Jane Casey opens with a woman’s death. Well, her murder to be more specific. Of course Casey keeps us guessing as to the who and why and throwing several twists into the whodunnit and whydunnit mix. On the case are mismatched (Irish) Gardas, Ben Butler and Liam Farrell initially trying to work out what happened to a young woman found covered in blood, and more importantly the source of the blood, which would indicate murder.

About this book

The perfect place
When Ruth arrives at a cliff-top cottage on the Irish coast overlooking the Atlantic, the last thing on her mind is murder. She and her best friend Maura are spending a month there and she intends to make the most of it.

The perfect crime
But then Ruth wakes up alone, covered in someone else’s blood. Something terrible has happened, and Maura is gone, as if she’d never been there at all.

The perfect witness
Ruth is a suspect, but she’s also the key to finding out what happened. She’s eager to help. But is her version of events the whole story?

Or is the truth everything she didn’t say?

My thoughts

It’s hard to describe this book without giving pieces of the puzzle away but we learn that two friends Ruth and Maura entered a competition to win a stay at a remote schmick Irish cottage atop a cliff… however the competition was only for one person, Maura the official entrant with plans to bring roommate Ruth along anyway.

A lot of the backstory here falls into the ‘tell’ rather than ‘show’ trap, but it works because Ruth is giving Ben and Liam her account of her initial meeting with Maura and the way their friendship developed quickly… obviously a little one-sided or potentially codependent where Ruth was concerned who comes across as captivated by her outgoing vivacious friend.

The police however, can find no trace of Maura and the obvious question is if Ruth, for reasons unknown, is playing both roles? When a woman’s body is discovered however, it seems obvious that Ruth has been telling the truth about Maura, although now becoming a potential murder suspect.

There are a few other players here, including other Gardas as well as the owner and architect of the cottage whose PR person suggested getting a ‘creative influencer’ to stay and share it all online, helping promote the cottage as a desirable destination.

This took me a while to get into but I enjoyed the twisty story of Ruth and Maura and found myself considering several scenarios at various times. Not what actually unfolds however, and Casey does a great job at eking that out, creating suspense and and intrigue as everything finally unfolds.

Everything She Didn’t Say by Jane Casey was published by Harper Collins UK.

I received an electronic copy of this book from the publisher for review purposes.