Review: The Blue Hour

3/5 stars

The Blue Hour, by Paula Hawkins (2024)

TW: Domestic violence

When I picked up this book I couldn't remember what else Paula Hawkins had written, but thought I remembered liking her. As it turns out, I was half right. Hawkins wrote Girl on the Train, which I loved, but also Into the Water, which I was pretty luke-warm on. My biggest complaint with that book is that while I enjoyed the mystery while reading it, it was utterly forgettable. With Blue Hour I feel similarly. I think I liked the story itself more, but it's not anything that has stuck with me. Still, if you like a kind of mindless murder mystery with a great build up of tension, then go for it!

Vanessa was a famous but reclusive artist, who lived on a completely isolated island called Eris (hers is the only home). When she passed away, she left her home to her long-time friend, Grace, who now lives there in isolation. Vanessa's paintings and all other work related to her art she left, surprisingly, to a former rival. Much of the art is on display in a well-known museum. But when a well-meaning visitor points out that one of the pieces contains a human bone (previously labelled as animal), the museum contacts the art's curator to investigate further. What makes this discovery particularly interesting is that Vanessa's philandering husband has been missing for many years, having last been seen on Eris. The curator decides to visit Grace to try to uncover the truth... but, of course, he only finds more secrets and lies.

The suspense builds for the majority of the book, as the narrative shifts back and forth in time, slowly revealing truth after truth from Grace, and from Vanessa's diaries. I don't think the ending was particularly satisfying because of how open-ended it is... Not to say that this can't be effective, but in this case, it sort of felt like a set-up for a sequel, and the story isn't interesting enough for a sequel. As I said, forgettable.

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UP NEXT: The Graceview Patient, by Caitlin Starling