Marni Scofidio

This is the story of a wrongful death but ... this is not a whodunnit, this is not a whydunnit, it is not even a howdunnit. And those are good things because it leaves the reader with a novel about how the pursuit of justice can be a long and dogged and frustrating journey for those left behind after a murder.

Marni Scfidio assembles a cast of characters that are relatable and believable who she develops in a masterful and unhurried fashion over the length of the novel and weaves a set or show more relationships among them that rings true in a very ordinary sense of the word.

As the main protagonist, the solitary and socially inept brother of the victim, pursues a seemingly never ending quest for justice we encounter the formation of a friendship, corruption and indifference in the police, and that sense of hopelessness so common in modern society and the author manages it all in a well crafted prose that leads us on. Soon we are invested in the brother's quest as we watch the development of the characters happening before our eyes and engage with what becomes a real page turner and we turn the page to see how the characters develop rather than how the plot develops.

Bravo to Marni who has clearly honed her craft over her career in short stories and brought us a novel which we are promised is part of a trilogy. I shall be looking out the rest of this trilogy and I wish her luck with her work. show less

This was my 2nd encounter with Marni Scofidio and her Ffrynt Trilogy which I managed to start at book 2 but no matter. Although I can see no link between the two books in terms of their plots I may be missing something though of course both are set in the same Welsh village.
As with book 2 this starts with a gripping chapter that got me invested and from there on in Scofidio weaves her masterly, or should that be mistressfully, prose to keep you turning the pages and uncovering new links and show more the odd red herring. That her two protagonists in this tale are both damaged women is to be applauded and the chemistry she details in their befriending and eventual friendship is done so well that you hardly notice what is happening.
Soon this develops into a tense page turner with real jeopardy at its heart.
I have recommended this to a few people as a xmas stocking filler. Another winner from this writer and I look forward to book 3. show less

Content Note: rape, fatmisia, [critical treatment of] racism

Plot:
Leonora is desperately looking for a job as her current live-in situation is becoming untenable. Since her options are limited because she doesn't currently have a visa, she is very glad when she finds a job ad for a housekeeping job with Dr Nye and her husband Duncan. Even though the two are a little odd, the job comes with a room to live in and is exactly what she needs. But things become more and more difficult for show more Leonora.

Doctor Knife is a rather good read. I wouldn't have wanted it to be longer, and I thought the ending was a little much, but it definitely had me hooked.

Read more on my blog: https://kalafudra.com/2022/11/19/doctor-knife-marni-scofidio/ show less

I wouldn't quite call this a page-turner, but the story certainly did draw me in and I was so curious to find out where it was all going. It's a more psychological book than I was expecting - reminiscent of an older style of tense cerebral thriller. Really interesting characters and I loved the Welsh setting. I generally enjoyed the switching points of view, but found it a bit jarring in places where there was suddenly a new (and ultimately minor) character whose head we were inside. For me, show more the ending felt a bit rushed, especially after the slower pacing of the rest of the book. Perhaps some of the harried frenzied feeling was intended by the author, but it seemed like quite an abrupt shift in pace. The ending spooked me though and I'm interested to see what #2 has to offer! show less