Under the Harrow

April 4, 2016
At the start of Berry’s tight debut, Nora, the book’s initially guarded narrator, travels from her home in London to her sister Rachel’s house in the Oxfordshire countryside, where she finds Rachel dead, stabbed multiple times. Devastated, Nora proceeds to insinuate herself into the ensuing police investigation, while starting her own among the people Rachel came in contact with. Determined to the point of obsession, she manages to offend nearly everyone. Old secrets come to light in all of their ugliness, including an attack on Rachel as a teen (and the sisters’ ongoing efforts to find the perpetrator). Nora struggles to resolve her love for her sister with the resentment that’s always simmered below the surface. Readers will enjoy trying to ferret out the clues along with Nora, but those who think they have the mystery figured out may be caught off guard by the surprising, if a bit abrupt, ending. Five-city author tour. Agent: Emily Forland, Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents.

Fiona Hardingham's appealing British accent proves the perfect vehicle for this fast-paced psychological thriller. Her subtle shadings of tone and cadence allow for effortless character differentiation and highlight the author's talent for dialogue. Hardingham grabs the listener from the first sentence of this tightly written mystery, which opens with the protagonist, Nora, discovering the horrific murder of her sister. As Nora obsessively searches for the murderer, the secrets and lies she uncovers cause her to question everything about her life as she has known it. Hardingham sets a quick pace as she follows Berry's intriguing characters and evocative descriptions through Nora's desperate search for truth. Berry's skillful writing charges every word of the story with action and drama; Hardingham's equally skillful narration delivers every satisfying bit. M.O.B. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine