And we won't know any of it, what Louisa is hiding or how/why did the murder happen to which Paul was a witness, until half of the book. And the half was all about Paul and Louisa meeting and getting to know each other. And also having a relationship! Reminiscent of the beautifully written suspense novels by Daphne du Maurier, Erin Kelly has delivered a stunning look at human desperation, loyalty, and absolute terror. Like Daphne, she has found a way to wrap a chilling tale inside a tranquil setting. She was relieved and hurt at the same time. But this time the hurt was more. And she was done. Done with him. Sometimes I really crave a slow-burning, character study of family secrets and relationships, and Erin Kelly does this so well! Whilst HE SAID / SHE SAID remains my all-time favourite by this author, I really enjoyed her portrayal of the friendships in THE POISON TREE.

This book had SUCH potential, and I found myself really getting into it, but unfortunately it just ended with me scratching my head and saying, "...Really?" I can't tell whether Erin Kelly just didn't know what she really had here or if she thought she could throw in one huge twist and that not following through with what should have been the rational choices was what...another twist? No, I don't buy it. Despite the slow build-up, Kelly makes it very clear that nothing good can come from these dynamics. And whilst I did predict a major part of the “twist” (I read A LOT of these mysteries), I was still invested to watch the slow descend into disaster as both Karen and Rex act as if remote-controlled by Biba’s destructive hand. I love a good character study, and the way poor Karen gets drawn into the Capel siblings’ world was well executed. I related to some of Karen’s fascination with the Capel’s lives – “straight A student falls for more exciting personalities” is a theme that really does play out in real life. A wonderful premise for a novel that is part character study and part domestic thriller and will undoubtedly stun some readers with its twist. But that doesn't happen. Louisa was more upset than be happy. Upset and scared, that he might be searching her for some revenge? And also that she spent 20 years of her life crying about someone who had been alive all this time.

And funny part is, they took this seriously. Thought about all pros and cons. Practised tripping and hitting him at some place they planned. Apart from the guilt feeling gnawing at them, they were all set to get this plan into action. And like we all guessed, that hits the nerve, it was as good as the person handing himself over to him in a silver platter. Throughout the novel, I had to keep reminding myself that the past story actually took place in 1997. It is because of the author’s detailed descriptions of Biba and Rex, how they lived, behaved and socialized that made me think the story took place in the mid-1960s – the hippie era.

When I was young, I devoured Barbara Vine, Daphne du Maurier, Ira Levin, Patricia Highsmith and Nicci French. I still re-read their books now and feel as though those writers are my mentors: that through them I absorbed the essence of storytelling and suspense, without realising I was learning at all. These days I still love Nicci French and also really respect Louise Candlish, Gillian Flynn, Sarah Hilary, Wil Dean, Megan Abbot, Dennis Lehane, Eva Dolan – I could go on for days. The brilliant thing is that new writers are coming through all the time. The first time I read The Poison Tree is one of my strongest and most enduring reading memories. It was an unseasonably hot day in April 2011, and I got through almost all of it in a few hours while sat on a grassy bank in a park near my old sixth form college. Both setting and weather seemed a perfect fit for Erin Kelly's debut, which brims with heady nostalgia.Anyway. Such behavior makes them move to a different place, where he was treated like a normal student, but not for long. The bullying started again soon by some nasty students, but then Paul makes a friend called Daniel.

Louisa.. Louisa.. Alan recollects the name. Memories starts coming to him. His already existing headache worsens tenfold when he starts remembering everything and.. He screams. All in all, THE POISON TREE should probably be avoided by readers who don’t enjoy a slow-burning mystery, because their attention may wane in the first half, when the interpersonal dynamics are being set up. However, lovers of a good character study will appreciate the way Kelly builds her characters’ relationships that ultimately lead to disaster. I felt like I was watching a train chugga-chugg towards the abyss, unable to stop it as it built momentum with its unsuspecting passengers still dazzled by Biba’s light. A well-written story simmering with an undercurrent of tension and menace. I look forward to reading more from this author in future!Crucially, I also disliked the ending. Where I had related to the younger Karen so much, I found the older version's final actions impossible to sympathise with. Very strongly reminiscent of Barbara Vine's A FATAL INVERSION, the main events of THE POISON TREE are set in a rambling old house in Highgate during the summer of 1997, when Tony Blair became Prime Minister of Britain for the first time, and, at summer's end, when Princess Diana died. These matters are of little concern, however, to Karen Clarke, a linguistics student coming up to the final exams of her degree course at the (fictional) Queen Charlotte's College, London. Up to that point, Karen regards herself as having a boring life, the only child of anxiously loving parents, and renting a room in a house with some identikit female students for the previous two or three years. Karen's boyfriend Simon, a fellow-student and rugger player whom she doesn't really like, ends their relationship as the novel begins, leaving Karen at loose ends for the summer as her flatmates decamp for a long holiday after Finals. Wandering round the college corridors, Karen bumps into Biba, a drama student who is urgently seeking someone to teach her German as her part in a play demands it. Immediately attracted to this eccentric and glamorous-seeming girl, Karen visits Biba at her family home, a rambling, decrepit but beautiful old mansion in north London, and in the process of the German lessons, falls for the whole thing - the house, the casual ambience as exotic characters drift in and out, and of course Biba and her brother Rex. In present, soon it's new years. Louisa had gone to her sister's place while Paul was snooping around trying to find information on Adam. There's news! Paul comes to know Adam didn't die after all. He was saved and lost his 2 years memory. Didn't remember any people except for his mother. And there's another news, Adam was his band name, his actual name was Alan Murray, and Louisa wasn't aware of even that. So much for being a girlfriend? Biba's brother Rex is completely different from Biba but he too drew Karen further into their world.