In 1992 Sarah Lingate is found dead below the cliffs of Capri, leaving behind her three-year-old daughter, Helen. Despite suspicions that the old-money Lingates are involved, Sarah’s death is ruled an accident, and every year the family returns to prove it’s true. But on the thirtieth anniversary of Sarah’s death, the Lingates arrive at the villa to find a surprise waiting for them—the necklace Sarah was wearing the night she died.
The Sexy Nerd's Review. . .
Who doesn’t enjoy a good novel where you’re dealing with the past colliding with the present? Helen Lingate was born with a silver spoon in her mouth or so it would appear outwardly. Her life, up to this point, has been all but a mystery and while visiting the villa, the cliffs of Capri, where her mother, Sarah Lingate, was found dead below in 1992, was about to become solved or so she thought.
Sarah’s necklace was mysteriously left at the villa. It has been thirty years and the necklace, out of nowhere, shows up. The Italian authorities always believed that Richard Lingate, Helen’s father, murdered his wife. There were always whispers within the Lingate clan that Richard killed her mother, but why? Sarah was a brilliant playwright. Helen ends up receiving a copy of her mother’s last script. Perhaps there might be clues that could help her find out if her father really did kill her mother.
Only problem was, as usual, the Lingates were silent. No one wanted to talk. That is until her father’s assistant, Lorna, ends up pretty much in the same predicament her mother found herself in thirty years prior. Helen knew without a doubt there wasn’t any way Lorna’s death was an accident or mere coincidence. No, there was a murderer in the Lingates midst and Helen needed to find out who it was before the same fate would become her.
Hmm, so as exciting as that may have sounded to you, I found the story to be extremely boring, slow and just unengaging. And the biggest reason for this is because of the amount of detail the author threw in the story line. I get that to build a story you must give some context as to what is going on, but when every single detail is spelled out and you leave nothing to the reader to discover on his/her own, it becomes very frustrating and grating on one’s nerve—especially this reader’s nerves.
To be fair, the story is very well written, and perhaps therein lies another problem. The story was just too detail-oriented and long. I feel there would have been so much more substance to the characters if a lot of the detail was left out. Having said that, when I got to about seventy percent of the story, it really began to heat up and hold my interest. The fragmented pieces of the puzzle began to come into focus, and I pieced together what was happening and once I did, I enjoyed. It’s just unfortunate that it had to take so much time for me to get there—literally the very end. The Lingates were a very interesting family dynamic, and the ending was sort of what I was expecting.
The Sexy Nerd gives Saltwater three stars. Overall, the book was ok. Did I love it? No! I can’t say that. But after going through the story, it wasn’t terrible either. I guess you could say I’m a little on the fence with this one. Saltwater is out now on sale at your favorite book retailers or wherever books are sold. Until next time, Nerds, you know how we do.
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