Book Review: Look Closely

Look Closely

Laura Caldwell

Genre: Chick Lit, Mystery, Suspense

Publication: June 2005

Format: Paperback, 379 pages

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository, Acmamall

This book has been on my to-read list for since last year and finally bought this book last month. It was a recommended chicklit mystery and I decided to read it.

Hailey Sutter, an attorney had no idea who sent an unsigned letter with a message: There is no statute of limitations on murder. LOOK CLOSELY. But she did know that the note was hinting towards her mother’s death when she was seven.

In between her case with a difficult client; Sean McKnight, and trying to make partner with the law firm, Hailey made a trip back to Woodland Dunes where she lived before her mother’s death to find out the truth. But she can’t ask her father as he would refuse to discuss about it. Hailey thought that his father was upset about her mother’s death and she decided not to mention her again. So she decided to search for her brother, Dan and her sister, Caroline to learn on her mother’s death but later learned that her siblings went missing on the same day. Coincidence?

Look Closely was a good mystery novel. I’m glad that the author decided to focus on the mystery itself rather than touching a bit on the mystery and focus on romance. Although the mystery was a bit predictable, I find that this book was an absolute page turner. I find myself wanting to know on what and how Hailey is going to find out what happen to her mother. Overall, it is a good chicklit-mystery! I would have given this book a five star if it is not for the flat ending.

Book Cover’s Description:

"Look Closely"
That's all the anonymous letter said, but attorney Hailey Sutter understands the meaning behind the well-chosen words. Someone wants her to investigate what happened to her mother, who died when Hailey was only seven.

The death was ruled accidental, but Hailey begins having flashbacks that tell a different story; a pounding at the door . . . her mother struggling to stand . . . a man with a gold ring that flashed in the night as he held her mother's lifeless body.

Obsessed with uncovering the truth, Hailey can't trust anyone, especially her father, whose secrecy both unnerves and protects her. Desperate to remember that fatal night, she seeks out the brother and sister who left home after their mother's death. But they have disappeared. It's soon clear to Hailey that the answer is right in front of her -- all she has to do is find the courage to look closely . . .