The Reckoning

Összefoglaló

They buried three girls. They buried the killer. But did they bury the truth? In June 1973 the bodies of three missing teenagers were found on the tiny Scottish island of Fidra. And when his father was arrested for the murders, 11-year-old Miller McAllister's life fell apart. Thirty-two years later, Douglas McAllister has died in prison and Miller returns home after decades of self-imposed exile. Because, though the rest of his family protested Douglas's innocence, Miller always maintained his guilt. But when Miller is given the legal archive and a letter his father wrote to him just days before his death, suddenly everything looks less clear. Could Douglas have been innocent after all? And if he didn't kill the girls - who did? For a good two thirds of the book I was completely hooked, but then i began to work out where "the truth" lay. Somehow it all seemed just a bit too implausible; could anyone have really kept those secrets for thirty years? Could anyone really be as bitter as Miller had been? And did such quantities of alcohol have to be consumed?!
The setting certainly added to the atmosphere, but I think that, by the end, I was just a bit annoyed at how people's lies and secrets could have resulted in such tragedy and unhappiness.
However, it was extremely well written and I shall search out the other books by the author.