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Attorney Hailey Sutter, in her late twenties, now lives in Manhattan and is up for partner in her law firm. Her future seems bright, but her childhood holds many shadows. When she was seven her mother died and her family broke up. Her teenage brother and sister left her life, never to be seen again and she has lived and then worked with her father ever since. When out of the blue she receives a note through the mail that simply says "look closely" and also reminds her that murder has no statue of limitations, Hailey realizes she needs answers to the questions she has surrounding her mother's death. Diverting time from an arbitration case that takes her close to her Chicago childhood home on Lake Michigan, Hailey goes back to question people who might know about her past. From the first page, Hailey's character doesn't ring true, she's super-efficient and competent at every detail of her job, but is completely backwards when faced with her personal life and its mystery. Numerous times in the book she explained that although she always wondered why her family broke apart after her mother's death, her father was too emotional about it, so in order to spare his feelings she never asked questions. But the author never explained why Hailey, a wealthy lawyer in her late twenties with easy access to private investigators, never once started a search on her own. This didn't set right with me and ruined the story's integrity from the start. Too much of the story collapses if you look closely at it. When Hailey finally does decide to find her siblings, all it takes is one conversation and a simple phone call to locate them. In addition, all of her hidden childhood memories only need a small push to come to the surface, so the readers are left to wonder why she never thought of anything earlier in her life. Even the reason for the anonymous letter falls flat when the mystery is revealed. LOOK CLOSELY has little tension as a mystery and its resolution is a complete letdown. By the final chapter I deeply resented the time I spent reading this book. LOOK CLOSELY? Don't bother.
Reviewed by Sharon Katz, June 2005
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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