Dark Corners by Megan Goldin

On August 25, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Murder Mystery, Thriller3 Comments

Publisher: Michael Joseph (Trade Paperback – 8 August 2023)

Series: Rachel Krall – Book Two

Length: 352 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

One of Australia’s fastest-rising crime fiction authors, Megan Goldin, returns with another awesome read, the moving and entertaining novel, Dark Corners.

Over the last few years, I have been really enjoying the works of talented Australian author Megan Goldin, whose releases have become something of a must-read for me. Goldin has written some amazing books throughout her relatively short career, including the very gripping and intense The Escape Room (one of my favourite Australian books of 2019) and the brilliant psychological thriller, Stay Awake (one of my favourite Australian books of 2022). One of Goldin’s best books so far was The Night Swim, which was one of my favourite Australian books of 2020. The Night Swim followed protagonist Rachel Krall, a true crime podcaster, as she investigated a notorious rape trial in a small American town. This was a particularly moving and intense read that really showcased Goldin’s range. As such, I was very interested when I saw that Goldin was releasing a second Rachel Krall book this year with Dark Corners, and I made sure to read a copy as soon as I could.

After returning from her latest recording exploit, famous true crime podcaster Rachel Krall finds herself dragged into another sinister case when a phone call from the FBI sees her flown to a maximum security prison outside of Daytona Beach, Florida. A famous social media star has gone missing shortly after meeting with Terence Bailey, a notorious inmate serving time for a relatively minor crime, who many believe is a serial killer. The only clue the FBI have is a message handed between the two requesting that the missing star seek Rachel out.

Unable to let go of such a curious and intriguing case that she is inexplicably linked to, Rachel resolves to remain in Florida until she finds the truth. Checking into a massive influencer convention being held at Daytona Beach, Rachel looks to find out more about the missing girl and finds herself being dragged into the cutthroat world of influencers, Instagrammers and internet celebrities. However, the more information she finds about the missing girl, the more she realises that there is something peculiar about the victim and her past.

Rachel’s investigation uncovers a series of sinister deaths and disappearances in the area, each of which may be connected to Terence Bailey, who is due to be released in a couple of days. Racing against the clock, Rachel and the FBI must uncover the truth before Bailey gets out of prison. But it soon becomes clear that there is another predator lurking around Daytona Beach, one who hides in plain sight and will do anything to cover their tracks, including taking Rachel out.

This was a very impressive new read from Goldin, who follows up The Night Swim in a big way. Dark Corners is a fantastic novel that beautifully combines an intense narrative with some unique and entertaining elements to create an awesome read I easily powered through.

Goldin really comes out of the gate swinging with Dark Corners, and I was swiftly drawn into the clever mystery and intense, character-driven narrative that she pulls together for this follow-up read. The author starts the reader off with the compelling mystery of a social media star who has been kidnapped after contacting an imprisoned convict. With the protagonist dragged in thanks to her internet fame, this swiftly turns into an intense personal investigation, as Rachel and the FBI attempt to find the missing girl and solve several unsolved murders and disappearances. Told through several key perspectives, including that of Rachel and a mysterious rideshare driver who has a dark connection to the case, the story evolves at a rapid and powerful pace, and the author sets up an intriguing series of mysteries both in the past and the present. The story effectively unwraps all of these interlinked and compelling cases, and you are soon powering through the intriguing web of cases, desperate to find the conclusion. With much of the story set to the fantastic background of an influencer convention, there are several great tangents and mysteries that emerge, especially as they provide some great alternate leads and red-herring suspects. The final solution to the case is very interesting, if somewhat spoiled by one of the alternate perspectives, and the big confrontation is well set up and filled with intense moments. While I was a little disappointed that some of the alternate cases were not as connected to the main mystery as they could have been, this was a very impressive and captivating story, and I had such a great time getting drawn in Goldin’s narrative web.

I really liked the captivating writing style that Goldin utilised for Dark Corners, which has some intriguing similarities and contrasts to the previous Rachel Krall book. The use of multiple character perspectives, as well as excerpts from Rachel’s true crime podcast for context, work extremely well to tell an extensive and complex narrative. I particularly liked the inclusion of a sinister antagonist perspective for much of the story, especially as it provides some compelling insights into the deadly case as they circle the protagonist like a shark. Despite some similarities in style, Dark Corners has a very different tone to The Night Swim, with more of a faster edge given to the story, and less focus on traumatic character histories. The story does still contain some powerful character moments, especially when the protagonist encounters several victims’ families, but the story was more thriller focused than the last book. Despite the connections to The Night Swim, Dark Corners can easily be read as a standalone novel, and this actually serves as a great introduction to Goldin’s flexible writing style. Dark Corners probably has the quickest pace of any of the Goldin books I have so far read, and you will really get drawn into this elaborate book as a result.

While the fantastic mystery and intriguing character-focused stories are great, I really must highlight Goldin’s entertaining take on the social media world as her protagonist attends an influencer convention at a glitzy beachside hotel. It does not take long for the protagonist’s, and presumably the author’s, true feelings about the influencer crowd to emerge and there is a certain amount of amusing disdain there. You really can’t help but laugh at Goldin’s mocking and somewhat over-the-top depictions of the typical social media stars’ day-to-day lives, including obsessively recording everything they do, exceedingly fake interactions, and hollow personal relationships. Goldin really does not pull any punches here, which I personally deeply appreciated, and it added quite a humorous edge to the book, especially when combined with the protagonist’s exasperated reactions to the various scenarios she encounters. Despite this somewhat critical edge, Goldin does include a lot of intriguing information about the community, such as the various types of influencers, their social makeup, the ins and outs of the trade, as well as the type of personalities that are attracted to the lifestyle. There is even a quite nuanced take on several key influencers throughout the book, and it was quite compelling to see what sort of people they really are. While this background setting is mostly entertaining and fun, it does serve quite a vital role in the story, and I felt that Goldin was able to weave quite an intriguing and unique mystery story around it. This ended up being one of the best inclusions of the entire novel, and I really loved how Goldin made Dark Corners stand out even further with her clever, if slightly acerbic take, on social media personalities and their influence.

Overall, Dark Corners was another outstanding book from Megan Goldin, who continues to shine as one of Australia’s premier authors of thriller fiction. Combing a clever mystery with an intriguing character focus and a unique background setting, Dark Corners was an addictive read from start to finish and I deeply enjoyed Goldin’s latest impressive novel. Highly recommended!

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Guest Review – Welcome to Night Vale and It Devours! by Joseph Frink and Jeffrey Cranor

On April 6, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Comedy/Satire, Guest Review, Science Fiction, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel1 Comment

This week as part of my Throwback Thursday articles I let my eternally awesome editor/wife, Alex, reveal what weirdness she has been reading lately with a guest review of two very fun, if odd, books. Fans of this blog may remember that Alex has previously provided some insightful guest reviews for The Power (soon to be a television series), The Testaments, The Fowl Twins, Pan’s Labyrinth and the latest audiobook versions of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. For this latest guest review, Alex dives into the audiobook versions of the tie-in novels associated with the Welcome to Night Vale podcast, written by Joseph Frink and Jeffrey Cranor. Now, I have to admit that despite Alex’s love of Welcome to Night Vale, I honestly do not know much about it, and I was intrigued to see what stories these books featured. If her review of the first two books are anything to go by, I am missing out on some crazy, crazy things by not listening to this podcast.

Welcome to Nightvale Cover

Alex’s Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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Welcome to Night Vale is a long-running sci-fi podcast that publishes new episodes twice a month. Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor have been writing the show together for just over 10 years now, and have so far published three books in the canon. I recently found myself in need of some audio entertainment to accompany some long drives, and I decided the soothing baritone of Cecil Baldwin was just the thing I needed, so I started with the first two books, Welcome to Night Vale and It Devours!

Regular listeners of the Welcome to Night Vale podcast will know exactly what to expect from these books. New fans will need to strap in for some weirdness, ranging from the merely strange, like invisible pie and the Glow Cloud (ALL HAIL), to the truly terrifying, like throat spiders and librarians. Time doesn’t work in Night Vale. Angels are real, but it is illegal to acknowledge them (and certainly don’t lend them any spare change when they ask for it). Mountains are real, but not everyone believes in them. There is a faceless old woman who secretly lives in your home, but she’s not usually violent. The best advice I can give is to simply accept everything the narrative tells you, as any law-abiding Night Vale citizen would do.

The Welcome to Night Vale book chiefly follows the adventures of three such Night Vale citizens. Josh Crayton is able to change his form at will, sometimes appearing as an insect or a sentient patch of haze, sometimes sporting huge antlers or the legs of an octopus. Like all teenagers, he’s just trying to learn how to feel comfortable in his body and figure out who he is—and who his father is. His mother, Diane Crayton, is just trying to protect and connect with her son; it’s not easy being a mother in a town so strange and dangerous. But she also finds herself transfixed by the mystery of a newcomer to town, a strange man in a tan jacket, whose name and face you forget as soon as you look away. The man in the tan jacket has also caught the attention of Jackie Fierro, the pawn shop owner, who has been 19 years old for as long as she or anyone can remember—decades or perhaps even centuries. When things are strange enough even for Night Vale locals to take note, you know that very strange things indeed are afoot.

It Devours! introduces Nilanjana, a scientist who is investigating a series of terrible, massive sinkholes which have started appearing all over town. Nilanjana is a newcomer to Night Vale, and unsurprisingly she hasn’t found it easy to join the community. The other major character, Darryl, is a member of the Joyous Congregation of the Smiling God, a cult-like religion mostly made up of expats from the nearby town of Desert Bluffs. This pair encapsulate the themes of belonging that are so prevalent in this book—the need to belong to a community, even one as strange as Night Vale or as sinister as the Joyous Congregation—as well as the friction between science and religion.

I found that the real treat of these books is that they give you an insight into the internal lives of Night Vale citizens. Since the podcast is almost exclusively presented from the perspective of journalist and community radio host Cecil, a sometimes unreliable narrator, the audience gets only second-hand knowledge of other characters. But since the books take on a more traditional, omniscient style of storytelling, we are treated to a much fuller view of the day-to-day lives and struggles of the people living in this strange town. As such, they very much operate as a character study (especially Welcome to Night Vale, since its protagonists are all pre-existing characters) but there’s also plenty of action to keep the stories moving.

It Devours Cover

Alex’s Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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Fink and Cranor take care to liberally sprinkle in cameos and references to delight podcast listeners whilst also giving new readers (and those of us who haven’t caught up on the podcast in a while) enough information to go on. At one point in Welcome to Night Vale Carlos the scientist makes an offhand comment about his extensive experience of other worlds, but that he doesn’t like to talk about it. New fans can enjoy this throwaway line as yet another deadpan non-sequitur, but regular listeners will know this refers to a long-running, heartbreaking arc in which Carlos spent a year trapped and isolated in a desert otherworld. It can be hard to tell which elements are simply weird worldbuilding and which are important clues that will assist the characters in their investigations, so the books are full of surprises. The books are also very suspenseful, with the characters facing some kind of peril—physical or psychological—on a regular basis. At one point while listening on a drive, I sat in the carpark for an extra 10 minutes after reaching my destination just to make sure Jackie and Diane made it out of the library alive.

On a similar note, another upshot of the novel format is that the payoff comes much quicker than podcast listeners may be accustomed to. With episodes only released every few weeks, it’s not unusual to have to wait months or even years for some elements to reach a resolution. Here we get a much tighter narrative that arises and resolves itself in a few hundred pages. I would say that It Devours! is the far stronger of the two books, as Fink and Cranor seem to have gotten a better handle on adapting their usual style to the novel format.

Of course the only appropriate narrator for these audiobooks is Cecil Baldwin, who in the podcast portrays Cecil Palmer, the presenter of the community radio show which is the format of most episodes. The books are written in a more traditional novel format but still with the usual Night Vale cadence; when I read the paperback editions when they were first published, I found myself “hearing” Cecil’s voice as I read, so it was a real treat to listen to the audiobooks properly. I also appreciated the use of Disparition’s eerie background music during the chapter interludes, making them feel like they’d been lifted right out of an episode of the podcast.

Overall I really enjoyed the first two Night Vale books, especially It Devours!, but I definitely had the advantage of a fair bit of familiarity with the Night Vale world already. I’m now especially looking forward to finally catching up on the third book, The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives In Your Home, narrated by my childhood idol Mara Wilson.

The Housemate by Sarah Bailey

On October 14, 2021August 13, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Five-Star Books, Murder Mystery, Thriller8 Comments

Publisher: Allen & Unwin (Trade Paperback – 31 August 2021)

Series: Standalone

Length: 454 pages

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Impressive Australian author Sarah Bailey returns with The Housemate, an outstanding and intense murder mystery that takes a complex protagonist through a dark journey as they attempt to solve an infamous murder.

It was the crime that shocked all of Australia: one night, after a fractious party in the suburbs of Melbourne, three female housemates would become infamous for all the wrong reasons. In the morning, one of the housemates is found brutally murdered, another is found covered in her blood, while the third goes missing and her body is never found. Dubbed the Housemate Homicide, the unexplained murder, the mysterious disappearance, and the subsequent controversial court case has baffled and enthralled the country for years. This includes Olive Groves, a journalist who got her first big break covering the murder and who then became obsessed with cracking the case.

Nine years later, the body of the missing housemate is found in a remote property in the Victorian countryside. Despite dealing with her own dark personal issues, Olive is assigned to cover the story, and soon finds herself once again dragged into her deepest obsession. Teamed up with millennial podcaster Cooper Ng, Olive begins to immerse herself in the details of the murder, reigniting her fiery obsession.

As Olive and Cooper work to uncover new details about the case and the three women at the heart of it, they start to make some startling discoveries. None of the housemates were what they seemed, and all had dark and terrible secrets that have remained hidden for years. What really happened to these three friends, and what secret was so terrible that they would kill to protect it? Olive is about to discover that there is a dark conspiracy at work throughout this case, one whose roots may lay far closer to home than she ever imagined, and whose discovery may end up breaking her.

This was an incredible and extremely clever dark murder mystery from Sarah Bailey, who has previously produced some impressive and compelling pieces of Australian fiction. The Housemate was pretty exceptional read and I quickly found myself getting really caught up in this remarkable and well-written piece of crime fiction. The author weaved together a dark and compelling tale of betrayal, murder and tainted love, featuring an extremely damaged protagonist and multiple epic twists.

The Housemate has a pretty amazing and memorable murder mystery narrative that follows a reporter as she attempts to uncover the truth behind an infamous cold case. Bailey does a great job setting up the plot of this book in the early pages, showing the protagonist’s involvement in reporting the initial discovery of the murder, before initiating a time skip nine years in the future. Once there, the author spends a little time exploring how the protagonist’s life has changed in the intervening years, before swiftly starting the next stage of the mystery, with the discovery of a body out in the Victorian countryside that has connections to the murders. The rest of the book flows by at a quick pace after this, as the reader gets stuck into the re-opened investigation. Bailey starts the various twists flying early, and the reader is soon struck with a series of theories, leads, potential suspects and connected side characters, all of which add to the overall tapestry of the mystery, while also serving to keep you guessing about who is responsible for the murder, and that isn’t even mentioning the compelling flashbacks from the surviving housemate.

As the investigation continues, The Housemate’s story continues to get even more complex, as the personal life of the protagonist, Olive, gets dragged into the plot, especially as Olive is in a complex relationship with the widower of the primary police investigator of the original case. This results in some extremely intense moments as Olive begins to suspect everyone, which has a major impact on her grip on reality. I deeply appreciated the psychological thriller aspects that were worked in, as the reader starts to really question Olive’s grip on her sanity, and it helped to make the story even darker and more unpredictable. Everything really kicks off in the final third of the novel, especially after the case becomes even more potentially convoluted and connected to a wider conspiracy. There were some great reveals in this final third of the novel, and a pretty major and surprising event that really changes everything. I found myself absolutely glued to this book in the final stages, as I couldn’t wait to see what happened. While I did think that the author was a little too heavy handed when it came to suggesting that one particular character was the murderer, I thought the eventual reveal of who was behind everything was extremely clever. The solution to the historic murder was very impressive, especially as some of the elements were set up extremely early in the novel and you didn’t even realise it. I really loved the impressive way the case was wrapped up, although the end of the final confrontation was a tad too coincidental for my taste. Still, it was a really great way to finish the novel, and I was well and truly hooked by this awesome and dark tale of murder.

You can’t talk about The Housemate without mentioning the author’s great characters, especially protagonist, Olive Groves (a fun name). Olive is a complex and damaged woman, who has been obsessed with the novel’s central case ever since she saw the suspected killer and the various family members emerging from the house during the initial media coverage. Years later, Olive now has a complex life, as she is living with the controlling widower of the cop who was originally investigating the crimes, something she is immensely guilty and conflicted about. Her already fragile mental state is put at risk when she starts working on the latest developments in the Housemate Homicides case, which reawakens her long-dormant obsession. This obsession drives her to investigate the case by any means and takes her to some dark spaces as she tries to get into the head of the three housemates and figure out what happened to them. Olive slowly goes downhill as the novel progresses thanks to a combination of stress, obsession, anger, and multiple personal reasons, such as the actions of her emotionally abusive partner and her own massive guilt for sleeping with him while his wife was still alive. Olive has a big breakdown towards the end of the novel, especially after a major surprise event, and it was fascinating to see such a dramatic and powerful burst of emotion. This compelling personal crisis is perfectly worked into the plot of the book, and it really helped to enhance the main murder mystery storyline, especially as you become really concerned for Olive’s mental and physical safety. I appreciated the way in which Bailey wrapped up Olive’s character arc by the end of the novel, and I cannot emphasise what an impressive bit of character work Bailey did around her.

Aside from Olive, there is a great collection of complex side characters throughout the novel, each of whom play a vital role in the case. The main one is Cooper Ng, the socially shy tech expert and social media whiz who is assigned to help Olive investigate, with the two required to develop a new podcast for their paper. Cooper is a fun and energetic figure who stands as the complete opposite to Olive’s gruffer and irritable personality. Cooper and Olive make for an interesting partnership throughout the book, and it was fun to see them combine their vastly different skills and experiences. The author also spends a bit of time examining each of the three housemates who were at the centre of the book’s mystery. It initially appears that all three were bright and optimistic students when the fateful night occurred. However, as the book progresses you begin to see that they are a lot more complex than that, with all three involved in something dodgy. Seeing how they were driven to the events that occurred the night of the killing is pretty fascinating, and I really appreciated the dark and intense storyline that Bailey weaved around them. All these characters, and more, added a lot to the story, and I loved the fantastic and realistic interactions that occurred within.

The final thing that I wanted to highlight about The Housemate was its interesting examination of Australian journalism. I have always rather liked journalist protagonists in fiction, due to their less formal way of investigating crimes, and this worked very well in the context of The Housemate, with Olive employing some interesting methods to get answers. The focus on obtaining information for a story rather than attempting to bring someone to justice is very compelling and I loved seeing the protagonists setting up stories and podcasts. I also quite enjoyed the interesting examination of the evolving form of journalism that was represented by the two main characters, Olive and Cooper. Olive is the more old-school reporter, who just wants to do good journalism without resorting to popular gimmicks. Cooper, on the other hand, is the flash new kid, focusing on social media and podcasting, which he sees as the future of journalism. This fun comparison between reporting styles formed an interesting basis for their partnership, especially as they are brought together to do a podcast on the murders, and I felt that this was a great inclusion to an already exciting and entertaining narrative.

The Housemate by Sarah Bailey was an exceptional and captivating read that I had an outstanding time reading. Featuring a dark and thrilling mystery storyline, this Australian murder mystery was incredibly addictive, especially once you get caught up in the unique investigation and complex personal life of the protagonist. I really enjoyed seeing this fantastic story come together, and I was really impressed with how Bailey tied her brilliant mystery together. Easily one of the best pieces of Australian fiction I have read all year, The Housemate gets a full five-star rating from me and is a very highly recommended read.

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The Night Swim by Megan Goldin

On August 27, 2020March 1, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Murder Mystery14 Comments

Publisher: Michael Joseph (Trade Paperback – 4 August 2020)

Series: Standalone/Book One

Length: 344 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Australian crime fiction sensation, Megan Goldin, returns with an impressive third novel, The Night Swim, an intense and heavy-hitting read that quickly drags the reader in with its captivating narrative that refuses to let go.

Following the success of the first season of her true crime podcast show, Guilty or Not Guilty, which set an innocent man free, Rachel Krall has become an overnight sensation and a beacon for people seeking justice or their freedom. Determined to keep her momentum going, Rachel decides to set the latest season of her podcast around the most contentious trial in the country, a high-profile rape case in the small town of Neapolis. The town’s golden boy, a famous swimmer with Olympic potential, has been accused of raping the popular granddaughter of the town’s legendary police chief. The resultant case has divided both the town and the country, and many are eager to see how the hearing unfolds.

Arriving in Neapolis, Rachel begins her own investigation, interviewing people of interest and trying to provide an unbiased version of the case to her listeners. But as she attempts to unwind the legal and moral complexities surrounding the case, Rachel finds herself distracted when she begins to receive a series of letters from a mysterious woman. This woman, Hannah, is a former local who has returned to Neapolis because of the trial and is requesting Rachel’s help in getting long-overdue justice for her sister, Jenny Stills, who died 25 years earlier.

Officially, Jenny’s death was ruled as an accidental drowning and barely anyone remembers who she was or how she died. However, Hannah’s letters reveal a far different story about a poor girl who was brutally murdered and whose memory and legacy was tarnished from beyond the grave. As Rachel beings to investigate the death of Jenny, she soon finds parallels between this old case and the modern-day rape. Something truly rotten occurred 25 years ago in Neapolis and now the past has come back to haunt those involved. Can Rachel bring justice after all these years and how will her findings impact the current trial?

Now that was a powerful and compelling read from Goldin, who has once again produced an excellent and impressive read. Megan Goldin is a talented Australian author who debuted back in 2017 with The Girl in Kellers Way. I first became familiar with Goldin when I received a copy of her second book, The Escape Room, in 2018. I really liked the curious synopsis of The Escape Room, and once I started it I found that I was unable to stop, resulting in me reading it entirely in one night. As a result, I was quite eager to get my hands on Goldin’s third book, The Night Swim, and I was really glad that I got a chance to read it. This new standalone crime fiction novel proved to be an extremely intriguing read with an outstanding story that expertly deals with some heavy and controversial issues and which takes the reader on an intense and memorable journey.

At the centre of this book is a complex and multi-layered narrative that is loaded with emotion, mystery and social commentary. The main story follows Rachel as she arrives in Neapolis and attempts to uncover some background behind the events of the rape case she is covering. This part of the story sees Rachel interview several key witnesses or associated individuals to get their side of the story, explores how the case is impacting the town, witnesses the details of the dramatic court case and then reports her finding and feelings in separate extended chapters made to represent a podcast episode. Rachel also investigates the events that occurred 25 years ago to Jenny Stills. Rachel is guided in this part of the story by Hannah’s mysterious letters, which paint a detailed picture of Hannah’s childhood and her memories of the events that occurred. Rachel follows the clues left in the letters as well as her own investigations to attempt to uncover what really happened all those years ago and who the culprits are.

I really liked how Goldin split out the story, especially as it combined cold case elements with a modern legal thriller and investigation. Both the present case and the historical crime had compelling, if dark, narrative threads, and I really appreciated where both storylines ended up. Naturally both cases were connected in some way, especially as a number of key people associated with the modern-day rape, such as the police investigators, lawyers, the parents of both parties and several other characters, were in Neapolis 25 years earlier and are potential suspects in this previous crime. While I was able to guess who the main perpetrator of the Jenny Stills case was about halfway through the story, I still found it extremely intriguing to see the rest of the story unfold and the joint conclusion of both narratives was rather satisfying. Some of the key highlights of this story for me included the exciting and dramatic court scenes and I also enjoyed the use of the true crime podcast in the story. Having the protagonist run a successful true crime podcast or television show is a story element that has been a little overused in recent years, but I still find it to be an intriguing inclusion, especially as Goldin utilised it well in this novel as both a plot device and a forum for the character/author’s social musings. Overall, this was an excellent piece of crime fiction with an impressive narrative that will draw the reader in and ensure that they will stick around to see how it all unfolds.

One of the most distinctive aspects of The Night Swim is Goldin’s frank and comprehensive look at sexual assault crimes. The book’s narrative focuses on two separate but similar sexual assault cases that occurred within 25 years of each other. Goldin not only provides details of these crimes but also dives into other elements of rape and assault, such as how victims are impacted in the aftermath, how sexual assault crimes are viewed in society and very little has changed around this in recent years. This novel paints a particularly grim picture on the entire legal process surrounding the process for investigating and prosecuting rape cases and there are some fascinating, if horrifying, examinations of how society still has trouble coming to a consensus when it comes to these crimes, and how cases like these can divide communities and nations. There are a number of examples contained within the plot about the public perception of the crimes, with doubt and blame being placed on rape victims who are forced to relive their assaults in different ways and who face unfair and often malicious attacks on their reputations and psyches. It was also interesting to see the author examine some of the fear that women experience all the time at the possibility of an attack, and the protagonist’s emotional podcast posts are particularly good for exploring her experiences and thoughts on the matter. There is also a clever and apt bit of symbolism around this in the form of a caged mockingbird at the protagonist’s hotel who is bothered by several random men for not singing, which I thought was rather striking and memorable. Goldin does a fantastic job diving into this subject and she really pulls no punches in showing what a terrible and mentally damaging crime this is, as well as the impacts that it has on the victims. Because of this The Night Swim is a bit of tough book to read at times and some readers may find a lot of the content quite distressing. However, I really appreciated that Goldin spent the time exploring this subject and it proved to be a captivating and memorable addition to the story.

The small fictional town of Neapolis also proved to be a great setting for this novel, and I liked the way that Goldin utilised this location in The Night Swim. I think that the author was able to produce an excellent approximation of classic small town America, complete with social power players, economic troubles, well-to-do former residents who have returned to face their past and old secrets and lies that are only now bubbling to the surface. It was really intriguing to see the protagonist uncover all the secrets of the town, especially the ones told in Hannah’s cryptic letters and childhood musings. It was also fascinating to see the impacts of family reputation and parental legacy on how crimes are investigated and covered up and this becomes a major factor in both of the cases being investigated. I also liked how Goldin examined how a controversial sexual assault case could divide a small town like Neapolis, with all the resultant friction and disagreement obvious for an outsider like Rachel to observe. Overall, this was a compelling setting, and I think that it really helped to enhance the intriguing narrative that Goldin produced.

With this third impressive novel, Megan Goldin has once again shown why she is such a rising star in the crime fiction genre. The Night Swim is a powerful and captivating read that expertly examines a heavy, relevant and surprisingly divisive real-world topic and utilises it to create a clever crime fiction story set across 25 years. This was a truly outstanding piece of fiction, and the combination of a great mystery, dramatic writing and an in-depth examination of crime and society proved to be rather compelling and memorable. While The Night Swim is a standalone read, I think that the protagonist introduced in this novel has some potential as a repeat character, and it might be interesting to see her travel around the country, investigating crimes for her podcast. In the meantime, The Night Swim comes highly recommended and I look forward to seeing what Goldin comes up with next.

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