The Unforgotten

November 27, 2017
In her thoroughly satisfying and suspenseful debut, Powell offers a twisty, dark murder mystery that is as much about taboos and secrets as it is a whodunit. Fifteen-year-old Betty Broadbent’s Cornish village, St. Steele, is usually fairly quiet. But when a series of young women are brutally murdered in the area during the summer of 1956, the coastal community—not to mention the inn managed by Betty’s volatile and promiscuous mother—is inundated by journalists. One of them, a Mr. Gallagher, takes an interest in Betty that quickly goes beyond mere friendship and that affects the shape not only of the investigation but also of both their lives. Scenes from that brutal and eventful summer are interspersed with a more contemporary narrative set 50 years later, in which a woman known as Mary—recently diagnosed with breast cancer—grows increasingly determined to connect with a figure she once knew in St. Steele. While some of the narrative’s revelations will come as little surprise, others are genuinely unnerving. And the final twist in the murder plot will catch many readers unaware, as will the surprising emotional heft of the narrative, which traces the damage wrought by secrets and good intentions gone awry.

In Laura Powell's unusual novel, a serial murderer stalks a quiet village in Cornwall, and the lives of its inhabitants, particularly that of teenaged Betty, are forever changed. Narrator Katy Sobey has a delightful British accent and a delivery that ranges from clipped to languid as the characters and pace of the text demand. Her breathy musings capture the insecurity Betty feels as forbidden love and a vow of silence lead to secrets and a burden of guilt that darken the rest of her life. Sobey skillfully guides listeners through fifty-year time jumps and multiple character shifts as the the effects of those grisly crimes play out to an unexpected resolution. This story offers much to listeners looking for something more than a typical murder mystery. M.O.B. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine