Review of AFTER THE FUNERAL by Gillian Poucher

This is a dramatic book that reads like a soap opera, with a lot of dialog and a great deal of emotion. Julia Butler is still suffering from her mother’s death and her boyfriend leaving her for another woman. She is feeling totally alone and somewhat at odds about how to move on. Then a stranger named Linda introduces herself to Julia at her mother’s funeral and hints at a long-held and deeply-buried family secret. Linda is the character who keeps on giving in this novel because she continues to show up at the most inopportune times and continues with her air of secrecy and mystery. The plot in this novel is very convoluted and complicated, but it not particularly believable since there are a lot of coincidences that just seem to come together, thus taking away from the realism of the novel. The characters are mostly very weak and needy, and none were very likable, although I did sympathize with Julia and her loss. Her quest to discover the family’s secret is the theme of the book and the desire to know that secret kept me reading. I did guess part of Linda’s role in the family secret long before it was revealed, but that did not stop me from wanting to read the rest of the story to find out the fate of the much beleaguered and grieving Julia. Readers of suspense will enjoy this book as long as they don’t expect a great deal of action or reality.

Disclaimer

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not requested to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”