The Dark Rose

Starred review from December 12, 2011
British author Kelly follows her powerful debut, The Poison Tree (2011), with another stunning novel of psychological suspense. When Paul Seaforth meets garden designer Louisa Trevelyan at a garden restoration site in Warwickshire, where the authorities have sent him for safety until he can testify against a friend at a murder trial, Louisa reacts to him with shock. Paul resembles Adam Glasslake, a charismatic musician with whom she was once violently obsessed. Paul, who later becomes Louisa’s secret lover, hopes to give her closure by discovering Adam’s fate, but his plans explode when his own past finds him. The title, which alludes to the way a new rose won’t bloom where an old one has died, perfectly evokes the story’s theme: unhealed damage inevitably stunts fresh growth. With its rich intertwining of viewpoints and time frames, its nuances of character and class, its sustained suspense and its gothic/contemporary fusion, this harrowing novel is a work of true talent. Agent: Zoe Pagnamenta.

Twenty-year-old Paul, who is in a witness protection program, is helping to restore Kelstice Gardens as he waits to be called as the prime witness in a murder trial. Louisa, who is 20 years his senior and is on the lam, sees Paul as the doppelganger of her tragic first love, Adam. Touted as a psychological thriller, THE DARK ROSE disappoints. Narrator Jill Tanner's effort is commendable but can't overcome the flaws of a story that meanders between 1989 and 2009, hinting at the pasts of these two characters whose lives become interwoven in the present. Her delivery is careful and has a steady pace and clear enunciation, but chapters move abruptly between time and character, creating confusion, and the ending leaves too many loose threads hanging. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine