Thursday 17 August 2017

Girl in Snow by Danya Kukafka

Girl in Snow is a deep debut novel by Danya Kukafka about a murder; but concentrates more on those affected by it, whether friend, family or suspect.

Lucinda Hayes has been murdered and her body found in a pile of snow. Suspicion is immediately cast on Cameron Whitely as he is perceived as Lucinda’s stalker. Slowly more suspects enter the picture; Jade, from whom Lucinda stole a job and a boy, and Ivan, the janitor from the school who found her. Or could it possibly be Edouard, Lucinda’s ex, or Mr O, a teacher dating Cameron’s mother? With so much possibility pointing at someone, surely the most obvious person is the killer? Or is there more to this than meets the eye?

The story is told from 3 perspectives, one from Cameron, one from Jade and one from Russ, Cameron’s father’s partner in the police force.
Cameron from the off is a very intriguing character; slightly oddball, slightly scary. After his father was arrested for assault, let off and did a runner, his mother did her best to raise Cameron normally, but let’s just say he has quirks. He sees the world in a very different way and his thoughts tend to become tangled, to a point where he would respond to a situation in a different way to what is perceived as normal. To him the game of Statue Nights, where he stands very still at night outside a person’s house and watches, is not being a stalker. It’s taking in life; it’s learning and absorbing. He has memorised everything about Lucinda, from her appearance to her habits. Lucinda’s dad has seen him and chased him away so his night games are not unknown and clearly make him the prime suspect.
Unbeknownst to Cameron, Jade has seen his statue game too so can verify his strangeness. However Jade is not quite a mainstream teen either as she has her own reasons to hate Lucinda. Jade is the only character’s perspective to be written in the 1st person which is very clever. It allows the reader to come closer to her angst and puts her story on a different level to the others. It’s almost as if her story can be changed by her actions whereas the others are guided by outside forces. Jade has a horrible home life with an abusive mother and has every reason to want to lash out at the world. Was Lucinda’s stealing of her job and guy enough to send her over the edge?
The janitor who discovers the body is Russ’s brother-in-law, a reformed convict who preaches a religious ideal. Russ is struggling with his present and future; so much that looked rosy is turning sour and with what happened to Cameron’s father he is reluctant to see Cameron as a suspect.

As more incidents happen and more memories surface you are torn between characters and whether they are guilty or not. I found myself rooting for someone then changing my mind as I thought it could be them. A book that keeps you guessing until the end is a rare find. Even though the revelation itself it rather quick, I enjoyed that fact that the story didn’t end there. The author takes you to those affected and shows you the ramifications; something a lot of stories don’t do. It breaks down the nitty gritty of people’s feelings and explores sharing and love and emptiness. Along with the excellent editing the interesting storyline and depth of character makes this an intriguing read.


Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review the book.