Instead, the focus is on the relationship between a 13-year-old and her father.
Yes, there are multiple murders and suspense, but that's where similarities with a standard crime novel end.
After Her is a beautiful piece of work, written in two parts: the first through the eyes of the detective's daughter, Rachel, as a teen; the second, through her eyes 30 years later.
Set initially in 1979, it follows Rachel and her younger sister, Patty, as they roam the hills, spy on their neighbours and let their imaginations run wild. But as bodies start to be found on the hiking tracks near their home, their father is in the limelight as head of the case.
And at the same time Rachel's teenage hormones start kicking in. You can feel her conflict of emotions as she spends less time with her sister and more time with the ''in'' crowd at school.
It is these surges of emotion that also lead her to believe she can help her father catch the killer, without thought of the consequences, and an emotion that consumes her for the next 30 years.
This is a beautifully descriptive book and the story of the love a father has for the women in his life, with a surprising twist at the end.
- Louise Frampton is an ODT communities subeditor.
