Little Deaths
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3.6 • 20 Ratings
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILEYS WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2017
"A phenomenal achievement ... a lightning fast, heart-pounding, psychologically resonant crime novel that effortlessly transcends genre. If you believed that literary fiction can't be a one-sitting read, think again" Jeffery Deaver
It's every mother's worst nightmare. But Ruth Malone is not like other mothers.
It's the summer of 1965, and the streets of Queens, New York shimmer in a heatwave. One July morning, Ruth Malone wakes to find a bedroom window wide open and her two young children missing. After a desperate search, the police make a horrifying discovery.
Noting Ruth's perfectly made-up face and provocative clothing, the empty liquor bottles and love letters that litter her apartment, the detectives leap to convenient conclusions, fuelled by neighbourhood gossip and speculation. Sent to cover the case on his first major assignment, tabloid reporter Pete Wonicke at first can't help but do the same. But the longer he spends watching Ruth, the more he learns about the darker workings of the police and the press. Soon, Pete begins to doubt everything he thought he knew.
Ruth Malone is enthralling, challenging and secretive - is she really capable of murder?
Haunting, intoxicating and heart-poundingly suspenseful, Little Deaths is a gripping novel about love, morality and obsession, exploring the capacity for good and evil within us all.
MORE PRAISE FOR LITTLE DEATHS
"Utterly atmospheric and with style to burn, Emma Flint's Little Deaths is a novel that troubles and transfixes from its simmering first pages all the way to its searing final words" Megan Abbott
"Destined to make waves this year." Express
"I absolutely believed in the setting: the sleaze, the corruption and the glamour. The dialogue is pitch perfect and Ruth Malone is a complex and fascinating character. This is a novel about sex, obsession and discrimination, but it's also a thriller that keeps you guessing until the last page" Ann Cleeves
"A gripping read that is at the same time deeply real. A beautifully written and realized debut. I absolutely loved it." Kate Hamer, author of The Girl In The Red Coat
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Little Deaths is so skillfully written that you’d think debut novelist Emma Flint already had a dozen crime fictions to her name. When Ruth Malone’s children go missing in 1960s New York City, the police peg her as a suspect, since she doesn’t fit the profile of a bereaved mother. Only a dogged reporter seems keen to rummage for the truth. Flint cleverly uses Ruth as a cypher upon which others project their own insecurities. This story of sex and murder simmers along at a cracking pace, keeping readers on their toes with red herrings and a denouement that’s truly explosive.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
One of New York City's classic tabloid crime cases cocktail waitress Alice Crimmins's controversial conviction for the 1965 murders of her two young children becomes the springboard for British author Flint's affecting, achingly beautiful debut. That Ruth Malone, a separated single mom, leads an active sex life, including trysting with married men while her five-year-old Frankie Jr. and four-year-old Cindy remain home alone, locked in their bedroom, makes her the only suspect police seriously look into after her estranged husband reports the youngsters missing. And yet the deeper that fledgling crime reporter Pete Wonicke digs into the story, the more he becomes convinced that while Ruth may be guilty of many things, killing her kids isn't among them. Eschewing easy answers or Perry Mason miracles, Flint focuses squarely on Ruth's stiflingly straitened life in working-class Queens, close enough to gaze at the bewitching lights of Manhattan yet distant enough to feel marooned in another galaxy. This stunning novel is less about whodunit than deeper social issues of motherhood, morals, and the kind of rush to judgment that can condemn someone long before the accused sees the inside of a courtroom.
Customer Reviews
Death wash
3.5 stars
Author
British literature and creative writing graduate with life-long interest in crime fiction and non-fiction. This, her first novel, generated plenty of publicity and was long listed for 2017 Bailey Prize for Women's Fiction. (which involves a group of women knocking back Bailey's while they chat about books. Or not.)
Precis
Ruth Malone, an attractive young redhead, divorced mother of two lives in working class mid-60s Queens where she works as a cocktail waitress. Our gal is partial to a drink herself and to picking up dudes to sleep with. On ya, Ruthie. After a nice day out with the kids, she feeds them and puts them to bed as usual. In the morning, they're gone. The girl is found strangled half a mile away that afternoon; the boy’s body turns up 10 days later [see footnote]. The gruff, hard-nosed copper investigating likes Ruth for the perp, but hasn’t enough evidence to arrest her. The locals and the media give her a hard time because she’s a loose woman who doesn’t seem grief-stricken enough. An idealistic young reporter becomes infatuated and strives to prove she's innocent. Will he succeed in this quest, and win the love of his obsession?
Writing
Twin narrators (Ruth and reporter); frequent time shifting to fill in backstory. Prose clear, crisp enough; interior monologues of mercifully modest duration. Characters a trifle cliched; plot twists telegraphed; ending meh.
Bottom line
Notwithstanding the misgivings expressed above, this is a solid first effort.
Footnote
The book is based on a real case - Alicia Mullins - that scandalised the Big Apple at the time, spawning several previous novels too.