Plot in a Nutshell
Violently attacked in her own home Jet finds out that a cruel biproduct of an existing chronic health condition means she has a low chance of surviving any surgery. She decides in light of this to proceed towards a likely death by trying to solve what will be, her own murder.
Thoughts
About 30 pages into Seven Days to Solve a Murder, I found myself checking whether it was actually a young adult novel. I had not expected it to be, but the tone felt distinctly YA.
The protagonist’s voice is light and informal, even while she is describing or moving towards something that is terrible. It took me a while to realise that she was a grown woman, because her language and approach to the people she meets in the he opening scenes made her feel as though she could easily have been 15.
That said I found the central premise is very interesting with the potential to really hook a reader. There is a distinct need to take a leap with this storyline. Jet does not go home and grieve or even really take any time exploring her trauma. Rather she moves out of home, shies away from the police and takes to sleuthing with gusto. Whilst there is nothing you’d expect a person to realistically do in the circumstances, it created a strong setup for a more playful or entertaining murder mystery. The realism may be stretched, but the device works well as the basis for moving the story along.
As a serial procrastinator I found there was something really interesting about Jet’s determination to become a “completer-finisher” at the end of a life in which she feels she has not completed very much. Her evolution through this journey was satisfying and I thought the exploration and character development of Jet herself was one of the most enjoyable parts of the book.
Characters around her however are a lot less developed but all offer a simplistic description of a troubled family. Jet and her mother have a tense relationship. Her mother appears self-absorbed and often seems to view the entire situation through the effect it has on her, rather than focusing on her daughter, who has been violently attacked.
Her father has a chronic health condition. He also feels somewhat flat. This common experience doesn’t seem to make him closer or more sympathetic to Jet. His dying daughter feels chased from her own home and starts gallivanting around town physically placing herself in the investigation and he doesn’t really do very much about it other than make excuses for his wife. Other than an occasional visit or call the parents feel strangely absent. Her older brother Luke is present but was incredibly frustrating as a character. His anger and attitude are visible and prevalent and he clearly pursues his own path with little regard for anyone around him . Her sister-in-law was once her best friend, but that relationship has broken down, there is clearly pain about this but we never really go deeper into the why of how this happened or how their relationship has evolved to this point.
As the novel progresses, the sibling relationships and friendships become much clearer, but there remains a distance around the parents and the other older adults.
This feels slightly odd in a family whose children are around 27 and 30. It also contributes to the continuing young adult quality of the book, in which the relationships between siblings and friends are more fully developed than the relationships with the parents.
A word on love at this point- the parents are married and we don’t ever really see a deep or caring relationship there, Luke and Sophie are married but it’s never very clear if they like each other at all. Jet and Billy are bosum friend in childhood who drifted apart after Jet seems to all but ghost him. Their relationship is given a refresh when Billy finds and saves her. The unsubtle longing and friends to lovers vibe could have worked but needed more space to see and experience.
The crime itself is very cleverly constructed. The mystery is layered so that the reader gradually peels back different versions of what is true and what is not. It raises questions about what individuals believe they are owed, what they feel responsible for and the extent to which family history shapes who a person becomes.
Despite the darkness of the crime, the complexity of the family history and the effectiveness of the twists, the book retains a slightly frothy but still enjoyable quality throughout.