By Sarah Murray
Content Warnings: sexual and physical abuse, murder, kidnapping, car accident-causing major injury, death of loved one, substance abuse
A Slow Burning Fire is my first by author Paula Hawkins and most certainly will not be my last! I plan to go back and revisit her backlist of two previous works after reading this one! A Slow Burning Fire begins with the brutal murder of Daniel Sutherland on his houseboat and tells the story of the people connected to him and his murder. It is based in London, and I always enjoy reading stories that take place in this location.
A Slow Burning Fire is told through the multiple people connected to Daniel and the different ways they interacted with him. Within the story they share their connection to Daniel and the various aspects of their pasts that have affected their present. The characters we hear from are Carla (Daniel’s aunt and the sister of Daniel’s mother Angela), Laura (a girl who connected with Daniel while visiting the neighbour of his mother), Irene (the neighbour and friend of Daniel’s mother), and Theo (Carla’s ex-husband, and Daniel’s Uncle through marriage). Lastly, we have Miriam who was Daniel’s neighbour and the one who found his body after his murder.
All the characters are vastly different from one another, and I enjoyed reading all their POVs. They also are all connected in various ways and not just through Daniel, so seeing these interactions and relationships added to the mystery of the murder. This feels like a very character-driven story and I very much enjoyed this about the book. I also enjoyed how unlikable and unreliable the characters were as this kept me on the edge of my seat and changing who I believed was responsible for Daniel’s murder. Due to the character’s interactions with Daniel we can see who he was as a person and I know my feelings changed multiple times throughout the telling of the book. Hawkins also tells multiple stories within this book which I found fascinating and I wanted to know the conclusions to these mysteries as well. One example is that Theo is an author and one of his novels has several chapters contained within.
Throughout the story I felt many emotions and degrees of interest. In the beginning, I felt unsure of the story and if I would connect with the writing and the way the story was being delivered as I had been in a reading slump. Luckily, after the beginning, I became entranced with the story, its characters, and the way it was being told and I literally could not put this book down. For example, it was Thanksgiving, and I was visiting my in-laws and had to go into the bedroom to sneak a few chapters in. Hawkins has a unique and captivating writing style and, as I previously stated, I cannot wait until I can read her other two works.
Thank you, to Penguin Random House Canada, for the e-book copy for my honest review!