Remember Where You've Buried the Bodies - Julie Lancaster

REMEMBER WHERE YOU'VE BURIED THE BODIES

JULIE LANCASTER

**

What happens when a serial killer forgets that he’s a serial killer?

At Sunset House the tea is barely introduced to a teabag, the carpets are permanently flecked with glitter and care assistant Jolene would rather be watching daytime television than caring for the elderly – but someone might just have confessed to murder.

Most think Gilbert’s sudden claim – ‘When I killed her’ – is likely to be the dementia talking. Or a spoiler for Midsomer Murders. Probably. Now, between bingo, staff drama and a suspicious game of pass the parcel, someone’s about to dig up more than buried memories…

Darkly funny, sharply observant and unquestionably deadly, this is no Thursday Murder Club.

MY REVIEW

**

When carer Will hears what sounds like a murder confession from one of the residents in his care home, he is unsure what to do. Is this a misunderstanding of a dementia addled mind or is something more sinister about to be uncovered?

The blurb and premise for Remember Where You’ve Buried the Bodies is great, and I was really looking forward to reading it. I think part of the reason I struggled with this book is it’s marketing, the way the blurb is written makes it sound like a dark comedy (in-fact the phrase ‘darkly funny’ is used). However, the book is a complex crime thriller, with no real comedy involved. In fact, strangely, the murder confession and the elderly man at the centre of them seems to take a backseat to the drama going on with other characters in the plot.

The chapters alternate perspectives – there’s Will, the carer who initially hears the confession, but who also has a dark habit of his own and Jolene, another carer whose sister disappeared when she was younger. There’s also Rex, the police officer with a sick wife and his partner Cathy who loves musicals and fancies herself a forensic investigator. There’s then flashback chapters from the perspective of the victims of an unknown perpetrator. It’s a lot to keep track of and some of the characters seem to blur together at points as well. There’s also no-one to really root for – all of the main characters have some kind of secret which shows them as deeply flawed, but this comes at a detriment to being able to empathise with them.

When I finished the book, I wondered if I had been pushing myself too hard to finish it and missed something, as I found the entire plot to be very confusing. However, reading other reviews I am not the only one to feel this way. I was following it up until a point and then suddenly, lots of threads seemed to come out of nowhere and I still can’t really tell you what actually happened to most of the plot points. This isn’t helped by a narrative that seems intent on introducing lots of new characters and ideas, even right up to the end, when really an author should be wrapping up what we already know, and not presenting new things to the reader. Also, the writing style includes a lot of tangents throughout which made it hard to follow what was happening.

Overall, I sadly found Remember Where You’ve Buried the Bodies really hard to follow and confusing - and looking at other reviews I am not the only one to have this opinion. It’s a great premise but it needs a lot of editing and re-working to help in its execution. Thank you to NetGalley & Harper Collins UK – One More Chapter for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

LINKS TO BUY

Amazon UK

Waterstones