From the very first line—“The lake is the great devourer; the giver and taker of life”—I knew this was going to be more than just a mystery. Jennifer Fawcett’s Keep This for Me is layered, haunting, and deeply atmospheric. What begins as a decades-old disappearance tied to a notorious serial killer grows into something much larger: a meditation on grief, identity, and the shadows that linger across generations. The lake itself is more than a backdrop. It is a living metaphor for memory, loss, and inevitability, the unknowns, fear, swallowing secrets and reflecting truths in equal measure.
One of the aspects I loved most was the use of multiple points of view and shifting timelines. Instead of distracting from the story, these perspectives added richness and emotional depth, allowing me to connect not just with Fiona, but with the echoes of her mother’s disappearance and the reverberations through the Ward family. The book takes its time, unfolding layer by layer, building both suspense and meaning. Yes, there’s a mystery to unravel, but what you are the reader will take away, are the undercurrents: mental illness, depression, motherhood, trauma, and the ways silence and secrets can ripple through families for decades.
The atmosphere is chilling, the characters flawed and human, and the themes profound enough to spark long conversations. My own thoughts have shifted and evolved even as I write this review, which for me is a sign of a story with real staying power. I could talk about this book for days, and I believe it would make a phenomenal book club pick because there’s simply so much to unpack. Dark, unsettling, and unforgettable, Keep This for Me should not be missed.
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Barrington Books
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