"PROMISE NOT TO TELL" by Jennifer McMahon : Book review

"Promise not to tell" is an extraordinary debut novel, written by Jennifer McMahon's . More than just a murder mystery, it's a story of friendship and family, devotion and betrayal-tauly written, deeply insightful, beautifully evocative, and utterly unforgettable.

Jennifer McMahon grew up in the suburban Connecticut. She has worked as a house painter, farm worker, and paste up artist, pizza delivery person, and homeless shelter staff member and has assisted mentally ill adults and children.

In the fall of 2002 a 41 year old divorced Seattle school nurse Kate Cypher, has returned home to rural Vermont where she grew up to care for her mother Jean who's afflicted with Alzheimer's .On the night she arrives ,a young girl is murdered-a horrific crime that eerily mirrors another from Kate's childhood. Thirty one years earlier, her dirt-poor friend Del Griswold -shunned and deried by classmates as "Potato Girl"- was brutally slain. She fears that she betrayed Del.Did her betrayal cause Del's death.Who kill Del? It's a part mystery thriller and part ghost story.

Del's killer was never found, while the victim has since achieved immortality in local legends and ghost stories.Now, as this new murder investigation draws Kate irresistibly in, her past and present collide in terrifying, unexpected ways. Because nothing is quite what it seems...and the grim specters of her youth are far from forgotten.

According to the author Jennifer Mc Mahon when somebody asked a question that which was more important when she started a book, plot or a character? She replied that," For me, it's all about the characters. I may have a vague notion of what I want the story to be, but it's the characters who shape it. When I began "Promise not to tell", I knew, I wanted to write a ghost story. And when I sat down to start, I began with an image of a dead crow. I soon saw a dirty little hand stroking the crow, and then I panned back and got the full picture of a young girl. I had an immediate sense of who she was. And I knew she was going to be my ghost."

Indeed it's an easy main stream summer read. Some of it makes you chuckle, and some makes you look just about and behind you to make sure nothings there. It's full of suspense and eerie. But personally I had a pretty good guess of who the killer was about halfway in. There are some wonderful plots and descriptions-like a child dealing with her mother's Alzheimer's, veiled incest and its repercussions, sexual experimentation. I liked her writing style and loved this novel which is deeply disturbing.

Absolutely it was a page turner. If you enjoy ghost stories then "Promise Not to Tell" is the book for you.

All the best !!!!

P.S :I purchased this novel from COSTCO in $8.29 .