The Brighton Mermaid
By Dorothy Koomson
Genre: Crime Fiction
Publisher: Headline Review
Watch the Breakdown
This book is a madness where do I even begin? Two teenagers, Nell and Jude, are on their way home from a party, after sneaking out of their houses, when they find the body of a young woman. They really want to believe she's sleeping but she's definitely not. Well, she's sleeping but she's never going to wake up. No one comes to identify the woman so she becomes known as the Brighton Mermaid. Meanwhile other bodies are washing-up around different shores making people think they have a serial killer running riot.
Nell and Jude both struggle to cope with their discovery, and more so the aftermath of it. Then 3 weeks later out of nowhere, Jude, who has starting dressing like the dead woman, vanishes. Nell's dad then gets accused off being a murderer and also being linked to Jude's disappearance, which cuts deep for each of the family members, in particular Macy, Nell's younger sister. Legally and mostly illegally their family are pursued by the police for years, with one officer holding a very strong grudge that turns him into a full-blown stalker.
25 years later, as the Brighton Mermaid anniversary is approaching, Nell quits her long term job, after being backed up into a nasty corner by a certain stalker, to find out who murdered the Brighton Mermaid, and also to discover what happened to her best friend Jude.
As Jude gets closer to finding out all the pieces to the Brighton Mermaid murder puzzle people helping her get closer to solving the mystery start getting physically attacked, including herself.
Someone is hell-bent on the truth not coming out, seeming to know all her next steps and her paranoia increases. As independent as Nell is, she also has some eye candy assisting her.
Seasoning Level
CO2 | Salt | Pepper | Mixed Herbs | All Purpose Seasoning
Favourite Character
My favourite character from the book is Macy/Macenna. She's really sensitive, vulnerable and extremely impulsive and I just want to give her a big hug (& I don't even like hugging people.) She has OCD and anxiety issues which developed as a result of the aftermath of the murder. She was about 11 years old when the murder of the Brighton Mermaid happened and she's also been holding in a major secret for nearly 25 years which has clearly taken a massive toll on her.
She has random outbursts that I honestly really get. When her paranoia gets too high she imagines the worse scenarios, which then make her switch on others. An example being when she forced her partner and sister to sit in a room and discuss their issues with each other. Then days later she's having sex with her partner and she stops midway.
“You practically jumped on me when she left. Are you doing it because of her? Because of Nell?”
It hit me when
It hit me right at end, there were little bits throughout the book that my mind thought was weird or out of place and all questions that I'd had were then answered towards the end when all the dot-to-dots were completed. When Nell and Macy's dad was strict about so much, in particular sleepovers it reminded me of my upbringing. For whatever reason if there was a man in the house I wanted to stay in, especially if it wasn't my friend's father, my dad was not involved. Chances are I wouldn't be attending! *I can't say too much more without giving too much away*
That how you're feeling yeah!
I've read so many of Dorothy's books and expected big things from this one. I'm also really used to her writing style which I find really effective, having females as main characters and using different chapters to go back and forth between 2 periods of time. There is so much going on and lots of layers in this book, but everything slots in like a jigsaw piece. Every raw emotion, every gasp is so deliberate and lasts longer than the moment it triggers you. I read half the book in one sitting and when it got to the evening and the sun went down I felt scared. No that's an understatement I was shook-eth. Every little sound set me off. I just kept thinking of the dead woman washed up on the beach in Brighton, remembering her curly afro and tattooes. I'm dramatic but stick with me... I'm sitting in bed, hearing voices outside thinking, ahhhh that could be me in the River Thames next.
The book casually covers important themes such as police brutality, prejudice and White privilege. Let's be clear you need a life vest on when reading this because this book will grab you by two hands and pull you right into the sea, basically like a mermaid would. It's not going give you loads of funny moments, but there's so many other moments you'll get that are more rewarding. Saying that though there is one part that will make you chuckle. Nell kicks the guy she is dating out of her flat and he asks if he can call her.
“Nell: Of course
Zach’s His face brightens and relaxes in relief
Nell: I’m not going to answer, but feel free to call as many times as you like
FX: Door slamming in Zach’s face”
I thought that was so jokes, and I really needed that moment to be able to exhale everything else that had been happening. I always looked forward to little interactions between Nell and Macy, I wanted to lock them in a room and keep them there until they dealt with their issues because their relationship throughout the book is super intense and they clearly walked on eggshells around each other.
Length
429 plus teasers for past books. I read the book in 24 hours because once I opened the book I struggled to put it down. The pace was perfect and the drama kicked off from the beginning.
The big quote
"Every time I blinked I saw her: the untroubled face, the motionless body, the detail of her tattoo. Every time I breathed I realised that the woman with the Brighton Mermaid tattoo wasn't going to do that ever again."
Questions for the author
1. Will Nell and Jude ever be reunited?
2. Will Nell eventually make one of the 2 men her boyfriend?
3. What inspired this book? It's so spooky and calculated.