The Dark Room

Rating:
Summary: Thrilling!
Review: Jinx wakes up at a clinic with no memory of what have happened or how she got there. She is told that she has tried to kill herself after that her fiance has left her for her best friend but Jinx feels that there's something wrong here... And then her ex-fiance and her friend is found murdered...is it Jinx's doing? Minette Walters writes brilliant as usual and You can feel the story take a grip on You from the start. She's somewhat similar to Ruth Rendell and Laurie R King in style but with more exciting intrigues. Just read it

Rating:
Summary: Another well crafted mystery
Review: Minette Walters keeps the plot humming with red herrings, mysterious characters and plot twists. There is no lacking in gruesome detail. She defines the whole idea of dysfunctional family. I could not put this book down until it was finished. And I found the ending satisfying as well.

Rating:
Summary: Suspend your assumptions. It's a bumpy ride.
Review: The best handling of the amnesia plot device I've ever read -- primarily because by the end I was not completely certain the amnesia even existed. The plot twists so hard it nearly breaks, and every character has a motive -- I was even doubting the police at one point! But the writing implies far more than it states explicitly; suffice it to say I found the ending perfectly in keeping with what I knew of the characters -- and there was no suicide.

Rating:
Summary: Minette Walkers-The dark room
Review: The newspaper reported the case with relish. The famous photographer Jane (JINX) Kingsley tried to kill herself after her fiance left with her best friend Meg; both disappeared afterwards...But when Jinx wakes from her coma, she cannot remember the suicide attempt. With the help of Dr. Alan Protheroe, she slowly begins to piece together what she remembers of the last couple of weeks. the memories seem to come back...Memories of depression and absolute terror and nobody knows the real truth... Minette Walkers' book cought my attention from the first page and held it to the very last. You keep guessing the truth until the ned and even beyond it. The plot twists so hard it nearly breaks and every character has a motive. It is a brilliant writing and it wakes you think. Her characters are complex and interesting. "The dark room" is a fascinating and satisfying psychological mystery with interesting characters and a lot of twists in the plot. I love Walkers' style of writing especially because you have to find the truth for yourself.

Rating:
Summary: Unlocking the Mind
Review: The story revolves around Jane 'Jinx' Kingsley, the daughter of a millionaire businessman and, until very recently, fiancée to another well-to-do gentleman. She has just been involved in a car accident, which looks very much like an attempted suicide. To top things off she's suffering amnesia as a result of the accident and can't explain the events leading up to the crash.

It's the all-important amnesia that is the key to this mystery/thriller as the police are desperate to piece together events leading up to the accident. They want to know whether Jinx was so distraught over the break-up with her fiancé that she tried to kill herself, or was there some other motive at work. They become even more desperate to get inside Jinx's mind when a couple of bodies are discovered dumped in suspicious circumstances.

From this point we are taken on a somewhat surreal journey through Jinx's life as police, and Jinx herself for that matter, try to work out what actually happened. Had she attempted suicide or was it staged by her to look as though someone tried to murder her. Or was it something more sinister, a murder attempt made to look like suicide.

Minette Walters has written a very interesting story of intrigue providing us with plenty of possible scenarios and suspects. As readers, we are displayed with a picture at the start of the book that is very incomplete and blurry. As the story continues, the picture is gradually filled in and starts to become sharper and easy to understand. It was very well done by the author. Another aspect of the book I found particularly interesting was the character of Adam Kingsley, Jinx's father. He never actually made an appearance in the book, yet his presence is almost overbearing thanks to the regular references to him. By keeping him at a distance to us he seemed much more menacing.

Although I thought this was quite a good story, it tended to ramble on a little in the middle and so, fell flat, before it was gathered up again for a strong ending.

Rating:
Summary: Way too long and repetitive
Review: The story revolves around Jane `Jinx' Kingsley, the daughter of a millionaire businessman and, until very recently, fiancée to another well-to-do gentleman. She has just been involved in a car accident, which looks very much like an attempted suicide. To top things off she's suffering amnesia as a result of the accident and can't explain the events leading up to the crash.

It's the all-important amnesia that is the key to this mystery/thriller as the police are desperate to piece together events leading up to the accident. They want to know whether Jinx was so distraught over the break-up with her fiancé that she tried to kill herself, or was there some other motive at work. They become even more desperate to get inside Jinx's mind when a couple of bodies are discovered dumped in suspicious circumstances.

From this point we are taken on a somewhat surreal journey through Jinx's life as police, and Jinx herself for that matter, try to work out what actually happened. Had she attempted suicide or was it staged by her to look as though someone tried to murder her. Or was it something more sinister, a murder attempt made to look like suicide.

Minette Walters has written a very interesting story of intrigue providing us with plenty of possible scenarios and suspects. As readers, we are displayed with a picture at the start of the book that is very incomplete and blurry. As the story continues, the picture is gradually filled in and starts to become sharper and easy to understand. It was very well done by the author. Another aspect of the book I found particularly interesting was the character of Adam Kingsley, Jinx's father. He never actually made an appearance in the book, yet his presence is almost overbearing thanks to the regular references to him. By keeping him at a distance to us he seemed much more menacing.

Although I thought this was quite a good story, it tended to ramble on a little in the middle and so, fell flat, before it was gathered up again for a strong ending.

Rating:
Summary: After I read this book, I read all her other books!
Review: This book is suspensful, involving and clever. I have read all her other books since, and look forward to her new titles, knowing I will not be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: The Dark Room
Review: This book was my introduction to Minette Walters-I have since read two more titles by her! This book was full of suspense--and it was the first storyline involving amnesia and mind-control that was actually believable! This book really brought home to me the power of the human mind and how we can achieve anything--as long as the desire to do so is there!

Rating:
Summary: Very good - - but predictable
Review: This is the first book I have read by Walters, and I was impressed by her ability to weave a creative story line and suspenseful plot. My disappointment in the book was the use of the same old sterotypes which gave away the villian of the story. A good number of the characters fell into those same old sterotypes of people that you see in movies and read in books, but hardly ever (if at all) meet in real life. I found myself catagorizing each as they came into the story and half way into the book, I suspected, to my chagrin, that she was going to play one sterotype to the end. I kept hoping that she would turn from the course, but as each clue was dropped, it became obvious who the murderer was well before the end of the book. My only suspense at that point, was hoping beyond hope that there would be an Agatha Christie type plot twist which showed me I was wrong, but it was not to be. I liked the ending though, as it restored some of the unpredictablity that had left the story earlier, and gave you a chance mull over the various possibilities.

Overall though, the story was well written and sometimes fun. The author played fair in leaving clues that, in the absence of sterotypes, would have left me going back and saying it should have been obvious, and I found myself liking even hard to like characters.

If you're looking for a good mystery, try Agatha Christie first, but then give Minette Walters a chance, but start with another one of her books.

Rating:
Summary: Very good - - but predictable
Review: This is the first book I have read by Walters, and I was impressed by her ability to weave a creative story line and suspenseful plot. My disappointment in the book was the use of the same old sterotypes which gave away the villian of the story. A good number of the characters fell into those same old sterotypes of people that you see in movies and read in books, but hardly ever (if at all) meet in real life. I found myself catagorizing each as they came into the story and half way into the book, I suspected, to my chagrin, that she was going to play one sterotype to the end. I kept hoping that she would turn from the course, but as each clue was dropped, it became obvious who the murderer was well before the end of the book. My only suspense at that point, was hoping beyond hope that there would be an Agatha Christie type plot twist which showed me I was wrong, but it was not to be. I liked the ending though, as it restored some of the unpredictablity that had left the story earlier, and gave you a chance mull over the various possibilities.

Overall though, the story was well written and sometimes fun. The author played fair in leaving clues that, in the absence of sterotypes, would have left me going back and saying it should have been obvious, and I found myself liking even hard to like characters.

If you're looking for a good mystery, try Agatha Christie first, but then give Minette Walters a chance, but start with another one of her books.