The Good Sister

The Good Sister by Diana Diamond was different from any other suspense novel I have ever read (and I have read probably 70% of the Mary Higgins Clark books out there). Keep in mind "different" doesn't necessarily mean better or worse than any other suspense novel. It didn't get my heart racing making me wonder what was going to happen next. It did have me questioning my ability to read the actions and words of the people involved in the novel.

The entire time I agonized over which sister was the "good" sister and which was the psychopath narrating the beginning of each section. There were so many times where I could have sworn I was sure about which sister was the killer, then something would happen that made me question everything I had been thinking previous to that moment.

There were shocks around every corner, but not ones that really make you question the author's decision. Each change made sense to the characters' personalities and quirks. Yes, they were shocks, but not unbelievable ones like you sometimes get. Psychopaths can't act normal all the time. But then again, it's difficult when reading, to see the difference between psychotic and sisterly rivalry. I have sisters who fight more often than not, whether they mean to or not. Neither of them would kill each other like in this story, but their rivalry is fierce and difficult to understand unless you are in their shoes. So, the sisters in the story never seemed too out of line with reality. Until the end when you realize what one of them was thinking the entire time and the things she did throughout her life.

Normally, I don't like stories that go back and forth between a character being the narrator and having an outside narrator, but that was the hook that pulled me through the whole story. I kept reading if only for a glimpse of thought from the crazy sister to see why she was doing the things she did, how she could think the way she did.

Then, of course, there was the HUGE twist at the end that I never would have guessed!