Book Review – Dead Letters

by Caite Dolan-Leach (Corvus) ISBN: 978-0399588860

I was surprised to discover that this is a first novel for Caite Dolan-Leach.  The depth and richness of the experiences she’s crammed into it certainly belie her age.

Ava Antipova fled a failing family vineyard leaving her twin sister Zelda to shoulder the burden of her ailing mother.  Now Zelda is presumed dead, possibly murdered, and Ava returns home to face everything she has tried to forget about.  Ava, however, doesn’t believe that Zelda is dead and when clues to her whereabouts start popping up, Ava realises her sister has set her on a path to discover more than just the truth about her twin’s death.  A path from A (for Ava) to Z (for Zelda).

A raw and real story, I really enjoyed the light mystery and deep emotional experience of the characters in this book.  As someone without siblings, I particularly enjoyed the development and descriptions of the relationships between the twin sisters.

Justine Cullinan
4/5

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