Under the Harrow

Flynn Berry
Star Rating
★★★
Reviewer's Rating
Jun 21, 2016

Flynn Berry's Under the Harrow is a murder mystery turned inside-out, where "Whodunnit?" is overshadowed by "How do you process tragedy and loss?" It's a dark, haunting ride, with a few twists you may not see coming. (I didn't.)

When Nora goes to an English village to visit her sister, only to find her brutally murdered, she immediately decides to investigate the murder herself, despite the police doing everything they can to solve the murder. What Nora doesn't realize, but what quickly becomes apparent to the reader, is she's in no psychological state to do this. The book flashes back and forth between the present and Nora's memories of the past with her sister, a past that's rife with tension between the siblings, an unsolved sexual assault, and obsession. Nora may not be telling the police and her friends everything that's happened. She may even be misremembering or blocking out her own memories.

If you like dark psychological mysteries like the TV series Broadchurch, you'll like Under the Harrow. Much like Broadchurch, even after the mystery is solved, you're left with unanswered, uneasy questions about the people involved. This isn't Miss Marple, but it's intriguing and compelling.

Reviewed by Josh N.
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