City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita – 304 pages
ARC from Netgalley and Berkley for an honest review
Book Blurb:
When a local teenager discovers a severed hand and foot washed up on the shore of the small town of Point Mettier, Alaska, Cara Kennedy is on the case. A detective from Anchorage, she has her own motives for investigating the possible murder in this isolated place, which can be accessed only by a tunnel.
After a blizzard causes the tunnel to close indefinitely, Cara is stuck among the odd and suspicious residents of the town—all 205 of whom live in the same high-rise building and are as icy as the weather. Cara teams up with Point Mettier police officer Joe Barkowski, but before long the investigation is upended by fearsome gang members from a nearby native village.
Haunted by her past, Cara soon discovers that everyone in this town has something to hide. Will she be able to unravel their secrets before she unravels?
My Review: 4 stars
City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita offered a crazy good mystery set in a fictional town where everyone lives in one building. Can you say claustrophobic mystery? One entrance in the town, one entrance out. If the tunnel closes, you’re stuck there…end of story.
This book packed a lot of witty, smart, sneaky and unreliable characters within its pages. Although I thought this book would be more plot driven, for me, it seemed more character driven as the characters pushed the story forward. The plot had some minor trouble with pacing, but I never lost interest.
Told through the eyes of three female characters: Amy – a young girl who found body parts washed ashore and had a complicated relationship with her mother, Cara – a detective coming to town to find closure, while on forced leave and Lonnie – a woman with demons of her own and a pet moose. Each of them has secrets, as do most of the residents living in this eight months of winter town.
Apparently, this is the first book in a series and because the characters are what I enjoyed most, I’m curious as to who will move forward for the next book. I think this would play out beautifully on screen, which it probably will considering the author is a Hollywood screenwriter.
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