Lead Review
- Book: The Disappearance of Stephanie Mailer
- Location: The Hamptons
- Author: Joël Dicker
Majoring in a small-town feel, The Disappearance of Stephanie Mailer is a police procedural set in the wealthy area of the Hamptons on Long Island, a favoured destination of Manhattan-based New Yorkers. The story opens in 1994 when a woman goes for a jog, accidentally witnesses the murder of the mayor, along with his wife and child, and is then shot dead. Twenty years later, investigating officer of that crime Jesse Rosenberg returns to the town of Orphea to investigate the disappearance of journalist Stephanie Mailer, who had insisted before she disappeared that Jesse had convicted the wrong suspect.
Before long, Jesse teams up with his former colleague Derek Scott and deputy police chief Betsy Kanner, and between them the trio narrate most of the story. Past and present are interwoven, the reader taken on a long long ride as the truth slowly unravels, pivoting on two main lines of inquiry: Did restauranteur businessman Ted Tennenbaum really murder the mayor? And what did Stephanie find out?
The story is light on setting. There is very little to identify the Hamptons and the would-be reader is well-advised to look the area up in advance. Don’t expect rich and luscious prose, character depth or atmosphere either, for this tome of a tale majors almost exclusively in the unfolding of the plot, with the ever-essential twists and turns. The result is a novel that requires little of the reader. I admit I found the story a touch laboured in places and soon lost interest in the characters. The author’s decision to subvert the rules of perspective with an omniscient overlay on the first person point of view proved irritating.
The Disappearance of Stephanie Mailer would make the perfect beach read for those thriller fans after entertainment only. The book would appeal to James Patterson fans over those who enjoy Henning Mankell.
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