Book Review: "The Lost Night" by Andrea Bartz
“The Lost Night” by Andrea Bartz
Synopsis: What really happened the night Edie died? Years later, her best friend Lindsay will learn how unprepared she is for the truth.
In 2009, Edie had New York’s social world in her thrall. Mercurial and beguiling, she was the shining star of a group of recent graduates living in a Brooklyn loft and treating New York like their playground. When Edie’s body was found near a suicide note at the end of a long, drunken night, no one could believe it. Grief, shock, and resentment scattered the group and brought the era to an abrupt end.
A decade later, Lindsay has come a long way from the drug-addled world of Calhoun Lofts. She has devoted best friends, a cozy apartment, and a thriving career as a magazine’s head fact-checker. But when a chance reunion leads Lindsay to discover an unsettling video from that hazy night, she starts to wonder if Edie was actually murdered—and, worse, if she herself was involved. As she rifles through those months in 2009—combing through case files, old technology, and her fractured memories—Lindsay is forced to confront the demons of her own violent history to bring the truth to light.—Penguin RandomHouse
Rating (out of 5): 3.5
Review: One of my most common literary complaints is that it’s hard to find a really great mystery. It’s a lot like loving horror films: 99% of them are terrible, but a really good one is unbeatable. I’m not a huge fan of detective novels or police procedurals, which already narrows my mystery reading pool. The synopsis for this book really drew me in, and it was blurbed by a number of authors I do like (Jessica Knoll, Camille Perri).
The early pacing of the novel is very well done, and the atmosphere is excellent. The setting in Brooklyn of course was also a huge sell for me. I recognized a lot of the locations, and also the wild nights of one’s early twenties (mine were never THAT wild, but…)
I did find that other characters were a bit quick to assist Lindsay in her sleuthing, and weren’t weirded out to the extent I think they would be in real life. However, I love a well-written unreliable narrator, and Lindsay is just that. We see her instability both at the time of Edie’s death and in the present.
My biggest issue with the book is the ending, which is obviously key to a mystery. Since we’re 100% spoiler-free, I can’t give away too much, but it falls into a common mystery trope. Overall, I think Andrea Bartz’s writing has a ton of promise, and I will definitely check out her next novel!
TL;DR: A good and absorbing mystery, but also one that doesn’t tread a ton of new ground. Worth a read, but maybe pick this one up at the library instead of buying it.
If you liked this; try these:
“Necessary People” by Anna Pitoniak
“Kind of Cruel” by Sophie Hannah
“Give Me Your Hand” by Megan Abbott
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