Review: The Girl in the Glass by James Hayman

The Girl in the Glass (McCabe & Savage Thrillers, Book #4)
by James Hayman
Release Date: October 6th 2015
2015 Witness Impulse
Ebook Edition; 384 Pages
ISBN: 978-0062435163
ASIN: B00WR18S72 (August 25th 2015)
Genre: Fiction / Mystery
Source: Review copy from publisher

4 / 5 Stars

Summary

Two identical women.
Two identical murders. Two lives brutally cut short
108 years apart
 
June 1904.
Aimée Garnier Whitby, a beautiful French artist and wife of one of Maine's richest and most powerful men, is found near death on the Whitby family's private summer island, the letter "A" mysteriously carved into her chest.

June 2012.
Veronica Aimée Whitby, the eighteen-year-old descendant and virtual double of the first Aimée, becomes the victim of a near perfect copycat murder. With another beautiful, promising young Whitby woman slain, the media begin to swarm and pressure builds for Mike McCabe and Maggie Savage to bring the killer quickly to justice. But the key to solving Aimée's death just might have been buried with her beautiful ancestor.

My Thoughts
The Girl in the Glass is a bit different from the previous installments of the McCabe & Savage Thrillers and although it wasn't my favourite in the series so far (the first one was), it definitely had an interesting story to tell, with a few twists and turns that will please many readers of this genre. 

First of all, I really liked learning about the two Aimee's and wished that there was more story to tell, especially about the earlier one as her life seemed so interesting and quite bohemian for a woman married to a rich, well-respected man of the community.  An artist, who also taught part-time in Boston, would certainly have turned heads during that time period and would have liked that explored a bit more, especially as her husband's anger and the marriage difficulties seemed a bit 'forced' to make them fit into the story. And I will admit that I didn't catch the twist to this one, although I should have as the clues were right there in my face. 

I didn't really like the second Aimee very much and didn't really empathize with her situation; in all fairness though, her character was killed off before giving the reader a chance to get to know her very well, but what the reader saw a spoiled, pampered young lady of eighteen, used to getting her own way, thinking everyone around her should worship the ground she walks on because of who she is and because of her looks.  Not a set-up for sympathy.  McCabe and Savage haven't really changed much over the course of the series, except for a few broken relationships, and a teaser that perhaps the two will finally get together, and personally, I would like to see their characters develop a bit more as I feel they have stalled in their personal situations.  For whatever reason, they felt a little flat to me in this one.

Luckily, the plot was interesting enough to deflect from the McCabe and Savage character situation, and the other characters were intriguing enough to keep me flipping the pages.  I thought the mystery was well-written, with quite a few twists and turns, and although I suspected who it was who committed the crime, I didn't exactly get it right, or get all the details right, which I enjoyed. 

Verdict
The Girl in the Glass in an easy mystery to read, with an interesting plot, and a few twists to keep you guessing.  I liked the comparison between the two Aimee's from the past to the present, and it goes to show that sex, adultery, murder, and mystery haven't really changed in one hundred years, just the methods of detecting it have; discovering the two endings to the two crimes was absorbing.  Although I didn't feel that McCabe and Savage really grew and developed as characters in this one, I am curious enough about their personal relationships to look forward to the next book when it is released.  Will they or won't they finally get together?