I've been an avid follower of Joseph Knox since I saw him speak at Noirwich, the crime writing festival in Norwich. Back then, he'd just launched his debut novel. I recently finished True Crime Story, his latest book (number four, if I remember correctly), and found it a compelling, original and astonishing read. I say astonishing as quite early on, I had to Google Zoe Nolan, the missing girl in the story, in case this book was actually based on a true crime. It sort of messes with your head like that.
It's a very clever concept with lots of twists, and I loved that Knox actually turns up in the missing girl story at one point. This seemed like a little nod to his mischievous sense of humour that I remembered from his talk all those years ago.
The book unravels through a series of emails and interviews shared by another writer keen to tell Zoe's story. She interacts with Knox during the book, and as she delves deeper and deeper into the case, I felt more and more uncomfortable about her own situation as things grew more and more ominous. The interviews are with Zoe's family and friends, and we get to read all the differing perspectives on what supposedly happened the night she went missing, as well as finding out about her past. The ending was satisfactory, and finally, I got to read a book featuring twins that didn't use that as a conclusion and which also didn't fall into stereotypical writing.
All in all, I loved this book. It feels very different to other books in the crime genre, and I'd definitely recommend it to others.
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