Molly Archer’s latest book, Birds At Night, is a bestseller and although life seems good, Molly is under pressure. She has split up from her husband, is juggling childcare and needs to deliver a sequel, fast. And then Molly gets an invitation from a woman called Anna French to talk at a book club in her hometown in Ohio. Molly accepts, but who is Anna French?
With A Different Type of Poison, the reader is getting two books in one. Liz Alterman skilfully weaves the story that Molly has written with narratives from both Molly and Anna. I’m sure many readers ask the question, how much of an author’s life plays out on the page? And herein lies the core of the book. How much of Birds At Night is drawn from Molly’s own experiences, or is it, as she insists, all a figment of her imagination?
This book is fast-paced, oh-so-twisty and very, very clever. I literally raced through the last half, my fingers flying to turn the pages, breath caught in my throat, as the tension mounted, and everything came together. Most of the characters are flawed and yet that makes them more believable. There are so many interesting themes including some dark subplots, however it was the authors exploration of motherhood that really stood out for me. This is a book that I will be thinking about for a long time.
If you like beautifully written, clever suspense thrillers, then this is a must-read.