Dead Letters

Twenty-five year old Ava Antipova receives the dreaded message that her twin sister, Zelda has been killed in a fire. It has been two years since Ava has been to their family vineyard in upstate New York. After a love triangle misunderstanding (meaning snarky Zelda misunderstood it would be wrong to sleep with Ava’s longtime boyfriend, Wyatt) Ava said goodbye, got on a plane to Paris and never looked back. Sipping wine in café’s with her very French boyfriend Nico, the last thing she wanted was to chase her sister’s ghost and have the dysfunctional family problems dumped in her lap. Upon her return she has to contend with her divorced parents, Marlon the abandoner and alcoholic mother who is suffering from dementia. It takes little time for Ava to grasp the reality of Zelda’s existence. Even though Ava was always the responsible, reliable sister, Zelda has apparently worked hard to take care of their sick mother and schemed to save the vineyard on the edge of failure. As the twists begin to turn through mysterious messages Ava is on the hunt for the truth. The clues, which appear to be an alphabet game to Zelda leave her running from A to Z with the help of still swooning Wyatt. Excellent writing, debut thriller but I had a hard time liking anyone. Very confusing emotions and exhausting alcoholism made me tired rather than curious. I was more excited to be finished than I was to find out what happened. I would try this new author again as I really liked her style of writing. Not a Gone Girl for the masses but if you love and read mostly suspense this is probably for you!!