November 2020 Value Read: Only You by S. Williams

[Bill]

The atmosphere of this story is unlike Tuesday Falling, much more brooding menace from the past with a two-track time line and less slam-bang action.

[Bill]

Are ‘psychological thrillers’ actually ‘mystery” stories. Not of the classic ‘who killed Sir Roger?’ or even ‘who stole the Countess’s jewels?’ variety, but certainly in the vein of the stranger who comes into the village in search of revenge, whether the stranger is Orestes or ‘the Man with No Name’ or here, where she in named Athene, and arrives at a coffee shop belonging to Mary. Athene is trying to find a holiday house called Blea Fell she rented, but Mary assures her it burned down some twenty years ago. We also discover that it belonged to the family of Mary’s best friend Bella, killed in a terrible motor accident the night of the fire. The novel continues on two timelines. The backstory is told in varied order, recounting the relationship between Bella and Mary (nicknamed ‘Mouse’) and their involvement with two slightly older boys, Jamie and Trent. In the present story, Jamie keeps a pub and inn called The Craven Head, and Trent is about to be paroled from prison where he was serving a term for manslaughter.

The is the second book by S. Williams that I’ve read, and it’s quite different from Tuesday Falling, which I simply loved, featuring the almost comic strip adventures of a young woman revenge seeker capable of simultaneously kicking the arses of thugs whilst controlling the entire London Underground system with her iPad. Only You is a quieter and sadder story, though it also includes child sexual abuse, fortunately not portrayed in detail.

Currently very complex plots where a myriad of seemingly unrelated stories turn out to be closely related at the end are fashionable. Personally, I don’t particularly enjoy them, especially when the author conceals essential information from the reader. Here readers will try to suss out what can be Athene’s mission? How is she related to any to the characters of the backstory? And why has she come to Blea Fell? Like most readers, I soon developed a hypothesis that indeed proved largely correct, although one that also failed to fit the apparent chronological sequence. (We are also offered an attractive red herring, which like all good red herrings supports the plot.) When we finally discover the truth, I had to do some off-line research, which found that it is indeed possible, though quite unlikely to occur to but few readers. Like Aristotle, I prefer probable even though impossible explanations (such as found in paranormal and ghost stories) to improbable but scientifically barely possible causes. But that may be a matter of taste. Only You is a skilfully plotted and told story, but Tuesday Falling was a lot more fun.

[Bill]

Yes, quite different from Tuesday Falling. But are we assuming that a ‘mystery’ story has to involve a murder? Many of the classics concern a missing valuable object or a hidden identity, as here.

[Pat]

Only You by S. Williams just didn't engage me as I plodded through it. Characters weren't likeable; pacing was too slow; I really never cared what happened to anyone in the plot or how it ended. I rate it a three.

I agree with you, Bill, that a mystery doesn't have to involve murder to interest me and keep me turning pages with eagerness to learn how the main story question plays out.