Never has an everlasting daisy held so much menace…
Three Reasons for Revenge, the latest standalone novel by crime writer Dervla McTiernan, offers an intriguing and exciting new premise for a thriller.
Set in Melbourne, three packages are delivered by courier to three seemingly unrelated people – a television personality, a single dad and a glamorous social media influencer. However, these aren't your usual Amazon deliveries. The packages are beautifully wrapped with a black velvet bow and topped with an everlasting daisy. The contents of each package have been carefully customised to destroy the lives of their recipients.
Detective Sergeant Judith Lee is on the case and soon discovers the packages are linked to the disappearance of a university student who recently lodged a sexual assault claim against a prominent Melbourne psychologist.
This is a tense and gripping thriller. At one stage, I even stopped reading the novel because I was feeling so uncomfortable about what was happening to one of the characters. I think that's a sign the author is doing something right!
I did have some trouble connecting with Judith, though, as I felt her backstory was discussed but not fully fleshed out. I was also keen to find out what happened to one of the other main characters by the end of the novel, but their fate was only hinted at and never fully resolved.
Overall, this was a great read – I finished Three Reasons for Revenge in one day. I'm now looking forward to reading McTiernan's debut novel, The Rúin, and What Happened to Nina?, both of which I've recently purchased and are waiting patiently on my shelves.