Meeting Point by Roisin McAuley

               This book had been on my shelf for a few years, after selecting it on paperbackswap.com, a book exchange site I joined in 2007.  I keep a small wish list there of books I’d like to read eventually, which puts me in line to request them when another member posts.  The site offers the opportunity to select additional book(s) from the same member, to save shipping costs.  That’s how I came upon this book, which caught my eye as a murder mystery taking place partially in Ireland.  Used paperbacks are good hot tub reading, as the steam does deteriorate the covers a bit.  Next stop for this book will be one of the dozen or so Little Free Libraries here in my town.

               The plot not only asks “Who Done It?” but also raises the question of whether the body at the bottom of the cliff in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, was even a murder victim.  Was it a suicide?  Or an accident?  Much like a video game I used to play on my tablet called “Criminal Case,” the police find bits and pieces of evidence and encounter a plethora of suspects – all of whom seem to drive red sports cars.  Like the video game, it’s easy to get confused about who’s who – who smokes French cigarettes, who was having an affair, who has an alibi? 

               Only half the book takes place at the time of the mysterious death.  The other half takes place 10 years later, when the death has been relegated to the unsolved cold case file.  One of the investigators encounters the victim’s husband – one of the suspects – on vacation on the French Riviera.  He does not recognize her, and they become romantically involved before she finds the right moment to tell him they’ve met before.  With every date, we wonder “Did he do it?”  Various other former suspects find their way to the same vacation spot, and grab our attention again.

               The author does a good job of keeping the reader guessing.  At one point, I congratulated myself for having guessed the answer early in the book, only to learn I was wrong.  The settings are well-evoked and fun, as are the exploits of the main character’s teenage son and his friend.  Paring these down by about a third, though, would have improved the pace.

               I enjoyed reading the book, although it never achieved “can’t put down” status for me.  The end was satisfying, but abrupt. 

               A fun book club discussion would center around the believability of all the red cars, the coincidences, and the main character not being recognized by so many people who had met her 10 years earlier.