BOOK REVIEW: The Chateau by Jaclyn Goldis

What are secrets, lies, betrayals and murder amongst friends?

When I first heard about the premise of this story, I was immediately intrigued. I like those mysteries where the suspect pool is small, everyone has a motive, but it wouldn’t make sense for anyone to actually be the murder and everyone is forced to stay locked up together until the crime is solved. Naturally, I was stoked when I saw this pop up on my NetGalley Shelf.

Unfortunately, it didn’t quite live up to my high expectations. While I enjoyed the plot and some of the twists surprised me, I really struggled to connect with any of the characters. Even though the story was told from the four main characters’ POV with a few others scattered in, I just felt that there wasn’t enough differentiation between them all. I had to keep going back to the beginning of the chapter to remember which character I was reading. By now, everyone should know that I love multiple POVs, so I was left a little disappointed.

A quick summary would go something like this: Four friends who studied abroad in France 20 years ago are called back for a week at the French chateau of Darcy’s grandmother. The Chateau they spent many weekends at all those years ago. Now however, Seraphine has brought them back with something important to reveal to all of them. Unfortunately, she is brutally murdered during the night before she gets a chance to tell anyone her secrets. The suspects? Darcy and her friends, Jade, Arabelle and Vix, and Raph, the groundskeeper, and finally, Sylvie, Seraphine’s longtime housekeeper and friend. One of them is the killer; all of them have secrets.

The setting is created well. I loved the description of the French countryside, the market, and the chateau itself. Throughout it all, the mysterious, secretive and desperate tone of the characters shines through some of the moments that might otherwise feel dragged out. The secrets that everyone is hiding from each other is really more of the focal point of the story than the actual murder and that’s where the twists and turns come in. As pieces begin to fall into place, previous actions and comments make more sense. This stylistic approach to the writing is successful. But again, there are points where I was disappointed in the characters and in their reactions and behaviors to certain developments. 

The only character I felt any type of connection to was Raph, and he really wasn’t even a major character even though he was important and also surrounded in mystery. I’m not sure if it was because I felt these 40 year old women were acting like they were 15, and he was just there looking on shaking his head. I really don’t know. He had a maturity to his character that the others lacked.

At the beginning of the book I felt that it had been written with a thesaurus in hand to look up and replace every other word, but thankfully it smoothed out as I got further into the story and it wasn’t an issue. It just felt forced and overdone at moments. It might have been a smoother read if I wasn’t wondering at the point of the sophisticated, elevated word choice which didn’t really fit the impression of the book. I do suspect that it impacted my initial connection to the story and characters.

The ending was a little interesting even if I’m not sure how I feel about it. I do like stories to provide closure, and while this one was a little more open ended as to what was going to happen next, I didn't mind it. It definitely falls in line with the psychopathic tendencies of the character who is discovered to be the killer. The ending acts as a way to support that particular character’s development. And out of all the characters we are introduced to, the only one that really stands apart is the killer and that only happens when the identity is revealed. At that point there is no reason to be secretive.

As I think about it, I feel the characters aren’t developed very clearly and uniquely as a means to make it more difficult to figure out exactly who the killer is. While that is an effective strategy for making the plot not very predictable, it prevents readers from fully connecting with any of them.

Overall, it was a decent read. I enjoyed it; I just feel that it took me way longer than it should have to get through it. The plot was interesting, and I didn’t see many of the twists coming. I was strangely satisfied with the ending, but it really was the characters that caused me to struggle. I found that I just didn’t really care who the killer was as long as it wasn’t Raph!

Where does this land on my bookshelf?

Middle Shelf. Not too high on it, but it is there. Not a bad book, but not a great one either. I think there will be plenty of people who will read this one and love it. I definitely don’t want to discourage anyone from reading it. It’s definitely not in the “don’t read this” category!! The Chateau hits shelves on May 23. It comes out just in time to take a deadly summer romp in France.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Don’t forget to check out my other fun sites!

Website for book lovers: www.azdesertbookworm.com It has links to my podcast Speaking LITerally, book reviews, breaking literary news, games, links to small business and more! I also have a lot of content on my Instagram! Check it out - @azdesert_bookworm

Speaking LITerally podcast! Our monthly misadventures into all things literary. Separated the Atlantic, Liz and I come together in our love of reading!!! Find us wherever you listen to your other favorite podcasts! Click here to find us on iHeartRadio!

If you are really bored, you can read about some of my personal adventures in life raising two teenagers, commentating on professional wrestling shows and loving a husband who is fighting Chronic Myeloid Leukemia and all the lesson I learn along the way. Educate This.