2 Book Lovers Reviews

​Last summer I spent some time in Greece with The Girls of Summer. This year, with her second novel, I was visiting the Côte d’Azur. Of course, despite the lovely locations, Katie Bishop delivers a story that is anything but a relaxing romp in a beautiful spot. She delivered another suspense-filled novel that left me wondering who and what I could believe.

When the daughter of a socialite is found unresponsive in their swimming pool on the night of her mother’s birthday party, the only witness is her six-year-old sister, Nina. How reliable could the testimony of a young girl be? Well, it was enough to satisfy the French court system. Twenty years later, and Nina is wondering if she was an accurate witness to her sister’s death. The more she thinks about it, the less she's convinced that she knew exactly what had transpired all those years ago. All she knows is that her sister is gone and she may have sent an innocent girl to prison.

Nina isn’t the only person to show interest in this old case, though. There is a true crime podcast that has been talking about it, digging up things from the past, getting all of the armchair detectives buzzing about it, and focusing on the possible innocence of Josie Jackson. With all of the popularity that resurfaced pertaining to this case, a documentary series is in the works.

Josie Jackson was released after ten years in prison. She still claims that she didn’t commit the crime that day, but she is out of prison and just trying to get some semblance of a life. Returning to the Côte d’Azur to stay with her brother, she knows that she will be an unwelcome presence in the community, but life hasn’t been kind to her, and she needs a place to stay. Josie’s return brings with it a lot of attention back to that ill-fated day all those years ago.

High Season goes back and forth between the present and the past. This allows the reader to see what events had transpired that led up to that terrible day when Tamara died. I got to witness friendships being formed, teenagers having crushes, trying to fit in and be accepted in peer groups of the upper crust of their community. In the present day, Tamara’s family is still feeling the effects of her death. Trying to move on with their lives is difficult when people keep trying to dredge up the past and possibly uncover a different reason that Tamara died.

High Season is a tense, fast-paced, suspenseful read. It not only deals with the accuracy of memories, but also female friendships, and social class and privilege. Once again, Katie Bishop has swept me up and away into a story that was gripping and relevant. I’m already wondering to where she will be taking me next summer.

*4 Stars

See more of Shelley's

 Suspense/Mysteries

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