FINDING ANSWERS THROUGH UNEXPECTED SOURCES -- A REVIEW

It begins in 1987, with two little girls walking home from school. Rosie is older and in charge of her five-year-old sister Joanna. She concentrates on stepping over the cracks in the pavement. She grows impatient and tries to hurry her sister along. She thinks about the sweet shop ahead and is distracted, for just a minute. Then in a split second, Joanna disappears.

Despite endless searches, Joanna is not found. Years pass. Rosie feels exceedingly guilty and stuck.

Twenty-two years later, in the bustle of an early Monday morning in London, four people are crossing the square: a young couple, a cleaning woman, and psychotherapist Frieda Klein, whose early Monday morning walk is a routine for her. Her life is all about keeping her surroundings clean, orderly, and free of the chaos she sees in the world around her. The world populated by people like her patients. Early morning walking helps her clear her mind.

Blue Monday: A Novel is a mystery, a psychological thriller, and a story of what happens when chaotic minds flourish. So when one of Frieda's patients, Alan Dekker, begins having strange dreams of a lost child whom he describes completely and fully, and who then goes missing a day later, her intuitive radar sounds off alarms.

We are soon caught up in how Frieda and a police detective named Karlsson join forces to try to find the missing child. From early on, it appears as if the missing child from twenty-two years ago might share some common characteristics with the missing boy Matthew.

What does Alan Dekker have to do with any of these events? How does Frieda find an unexpected connection that eventually helps her and Karlsson arrive at some conclusions?

I enjoyed the flawed and somewhat compulsive psychotherapist and the determined detective. The two made an interesting pairing, with their quite different work patterns and ways of approaching problems. Other characters, like the burned out therapist Reuben and the Polish handyman Josef added a nice balance to the canvas.

Lest I spoil the story, I won't say anymore. Except that just when things started coming together, an unexpected twist set off alarm bells for me. But because this book is the first in a new series, I'm expecting more will be revealed. I can't wait! Five stars.