Payback (Payback #1) by Charlotte Mills
- Publisher: Ylva Publishing, February 20th 2019
- Genre: Mystery, Romance, LGBTQ+
- Format: eARC
- Page Count: 238 pages
- My Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5)
Content warnings: off-page arson, murder, suicides, pedophilia, rape, deaths of family members, sexual harassment; blood, cancer
I did not expect the story to escalate like this.
Dead body. Arson. Missing person. Throughout most of the story, I had trouble getting into the plot, connecting with detective Kate Wolf (34) and her boss Helen Taylor, as well as understanding their attraction. A lot of things did not add up for me, so it took me a very long time to get past the first few chapters and keep reading. Even as I was close to finishing, I couldn’t understand why everyone loved it so much. Until I did.
This is difficult to review without spoilers, but if you start off feeling ambivalent about the story like me, please stick around until the end. The last 10% is definitely the game changer. I love how Mills dropped little hints here and there and each plot line completes one another. Some seemingly throwaway comments also make appearances again later. Though many of these deliberate choices are minor to the plot, I love the attention Mills put into wordings. I skim read the book again after finishing it for the first time and picked up on even more subtleties. Everything makes sense. Everything. I finally see all the ironies and truths that shine through the story after getting the bigger picture.
Everyone’s good when they’ve gone missing. Everyone. […] Suddenly a missing person becomes a saint. All their annoying and destructive character flaws are overlooked. Happens every time.
It was incredibly difficult to warm up to Kate, even with her geekiness so relatable for me. I couldn’t understand why she can never keep calm and liked the more professional Helen better. But after finishing the whole book, I sat in shock and was in an emotional mess. Now, I adore them both and cannot wait to devour its sequel Fair Game.
Payback is a puzzle. Only upon finishing will you realize its beautiful picture. This mystery novel has the best moral grayness depiction I have read in a long time. If you love an anti-hero, Payback is for you. Highly recommend a reread as well. [22 Aug 2020]
I received an electronic review copy from Ylva Publishing in exchange for an honest review.
