What's Become of Her by Deb Caletti: A Review

Former editor at a publishing company, Isabelle, has returned to her home and the family airport on a small, tight-knit island after her divorce and mother's death.  While welcoming a client, she meets Henry North, a charismatic professor on sabbatical who is making a go at writing a poetry anthology.  The couple quickly become inseparable even though memories of her ex-husband's infidelity and abusive childhood leave her wounded and slow to warm up.  Professor Weary, an ornithologist, covertly alerts Isabelle through a series of anonymous tips to local police and strange trinkets in the mail that Henry was investigated in relation to, not one, but two deaths of a fiance or spouse.  Unfortunately, Isabelle has already moved in with Henry and Henry has asked Isabelle to marry him.  Will Isabelle be savvy enough, despite Henry's controlling nature and put-downs, to find out what happened to Henry's former wife and fiance before she becomes his third victim?

This story moved very slowly for me.  I kept reading because I thought that the suspense was building and that something amazingly surprising would happen at the end.  Something surprising did happen at the end but I can't say that it was amazing.  I enjoyed the lesson on bird behavior but it did add to the slowness of this book.  The story had real potential but it just fell flat with the lack-luster ending and the building of suspense that ended up going nowhere, leaving one bored.  The characters were rather flat.  I didn't see Henry as the twisted character that he could have been and I also didn't see Isabelle as particularly savvy.  The only character who ended up surprising me was Sarah.  I did like that the themes of the banality of evil and that people can evolve and become someone they didn't know that they could were addressed but the examples of it in the book were not well told.  Rather, the themes were spelled out literally instead of being interwoven into the story.  I didn't really like this book as it just wasn't as exciting or surprising as I would have hoped it would have been.  I think it would be a good book for a reader who enjoys reading mostly romance novels but would like to take a break from them with a mystery or thriller that is not too suspenseful. 

Watch a book trailer for Deb Caletti's book He's Gone:

 

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I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher in order to review it but that did not have an effect on my review of the book.  This is my honest opinion of this book.  I am a participant in the Amazon Affiliates program.  By clicking on the Amazon link and purchasing this product, I receive a small fee.  I am not associated with Goodreads or Barnes and Noble in any way and the links provided are available strictly for your convenience and not to imply a relationship of any kind.