Everyone pays a premium to live in this town. But someone’s paid with their life.
The rules of the running club are the same as they have always been: keep your breath steady, keep your mind sharp, record your laps! Only now there’s a new one: don’t get killed.
The wealthy community of Esperance is picture-perfect. Big houses, stunning views, beautiful people. A brand new running track for the local club to jog around in the evenings. From the outside, it looks like paradise.
But the women of the town know the truth: you can hide anything – from wrinkles to secrets from your past – if you have enough money.
You could even hide a murder.
Ali Lowe’s debut was the brilliant page-turner, The Trivia Night. Polished and compelling, I was eagerly waiting to see what she’d deliver next. The Running Club is a gripping, twisty page-turner full of secrets, lies and reveals you won’t see coming – think Big Little Lies by Lianne Moriarty but with more twists and turns.
This is far from a novel about running, though. When a group of women in a wealthy, coastal Australian suburb start a running club, and one of them is murdered, you’ll go on a twisty rollercoaster ride of jealousy, betrayal, secrets and lies. As the group’s glamorous façade is unveiled, you’ll discover rivalries and resentments that prompt discussions about social hierarchies.
As early as the prologue, this domestic thriller had me engrossed until its gratifying end. I’ll say, I pride myself on my predicting abilities in most murder mysteries, but this is one that had me completely floored. Lowe is that good. The Running Club is well-paced with a well-woven plot, slowly revealing a bit more of each character with riveting suspense throughout. Part Two is where the thrilling action is really ramped up, elevating the characters and plot lines revealed in Part One.
I was invested in each character’s story; you’ll constantly feel torn as you go through waves of liking, disliking and suspecting each character – anyone could be the killer. Moving between the past and present, there are four main voices, each of their stories seamlessly unfolding as you learn their backstories. And just when you’ll think all loose ends are tied up, Lowe throws another curveball at you. The last 100 pages had me racing to the finishing line, my jaw dropped the whole way through.
The Running Club is an enthralling, captivating, whodunit puzzle of a novel that will satisfy your curiosities when you put the pieces together – especially when you find out the ‘why’ alongside the ‘who’. This makes for a perfect page-turning weekend read.
Leave a Reply