Reviewed by Craig Sisterson
Beautiful twin sisters Iris and Summer are startlingly alike, but beyond what the eye can see lies a darkness that sets them apart. Cynical and insecure, Iris has long been envious of open-hearted Summer's seemingly never-ending good fortune, including her perfect husband, Adam.
Called to Thailand to help sail the family yacht to the Seychelles, Iris nurtures her own secret hopes for what might happen on the journey. But when she unexpectedly finds herself alone in the middle of the Indian Ocean, everything changes.
Now is her chance to take what she's always wanted - the idyllic life she's always coveted. But just how far will she go to get the life she's dreamed about? And how will she make sure no one discovers the truth?
Written with the chilling suspense of The Girl on the Train and Before I Go to Sleep, The Girl in the Mirror is an addictive thriller about greed, lust, secrets and deadly lies.
Near-identical twins create plenty of havoc in this rip-snorting debut thriller by Rose Carlyle that twists and turns its way from Thailand to the Seychelles and back to Australia as the dangling carrot of a massive inheritance induces all sorts of nefarious acts.
Strangers and even friends and family struggle to tell twins Iris and Summer apart. They look strikingly similar on the outside, but their interior worlds are vastly different. Iris, our narrator, has always felt second best to her charming, kind, marginally older twin Summer. Rather than being exactly alike, Iris is Summer’s mirror, from barely noticeable exterior differences like which cheekbone is slightly higher, to her internal organs being flipped from the norm. Whereas Summer seems effervescent and happy, Iris has always been more cynical, anxious, and insecure. Good things come so easily to Summer, Iris gets crumbs. Or so she tells us. Clearly Iris is jealous of Summer – perhaps for good reason, perhaps not – and in her first outing Carlyle adroitly walks readers along a tightrope between empathy and suspicion.
But when Summer calls from Thailand, distraught about the health of her husband Adam’s son, Iris flies to her aid. For the chance to sail the family yacht she’s felt so connected to for so many years, as much as any connection to and feelings for her fortunate sister. But when tragedy strikes on the high seas, and a waiting Adam mistakes Iris for his own wife, could she change her whole life with a lie?
What price to live a fantasy? Will Iris get found out, and if so what will be the consequences for her, her family, and the huge inheritance awaiting whoever can fulfil her scheming father’s most-desired wish?
Carlyle has crafted a tense, compulsive tale where reader sympathies shift like sands scoured by ocean waves. The scenes of sailing on the high seas are evocative; you can feel the spray on your face and the tension ramping up as the twin, so similar yet so different, seek to co-exist in a cramped, bobbling world of their own. THE GIRL IN THE MIRROR offers more twists than a bowline, and while some keen crime readers may predict a swerve or two, there’s so much to admire and enjoy about this debut. Like an America’s Cup yacht, it’s sleek, pacy, and such a fun ride as it zig-zags its way to the finish line.
Craig Sisterson is a lawyer turned features writer from New Zealand, now living in London. In recent years he’s interviewed hundreds of crime writers and talked about the genre on national radio, top podcasts, and onstage at books festivals on three continents. He has been a judge of the Ned Kelly Awards and the McIlvanney Prize, and is founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards and co-founder of Rotorua Noir. His first non-fiction book, SOUTHERN CROSS CRIME, was published in 2020. You can heckle him on Twitter.
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