When the Time Comes (Kennedy and Kelly #3) by Adele O'Neill
Genre: Domestic drama, Mystery
Read: 3rd January 2020
Purchase: Amazon
(publication date: 21st November 2019)
★ 1 star
I literally LOVED Adele O'Neill's first book "Brothers and Sisters" and I couldn't wait for more of Kelly and Kennedy. But somehow I missed the second one so when I saw WHEN THE TIME COMES up for request I jumped on it.
Liam Buckley left his wife Jenny two years ago to move in with girlfriend Alex - who incidentally is Louise Kennedy's twin sister, the detective in this series. But then Jenny was diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease and as the diseased progressed she told those closest to her that she will end her life when the time is right and before she is unable to do so. Her intentions were always made pretty clear. But for the moment, she needs her estranged husband to return home to care for their two teenage children Josh (17) and Abbie (15). Liam agrees. The next day Jenny is dead and Liam is charged with her murder.
When Liam fronts up to the Garda station, he is sure someone is trying to frame him for Jenny's death although he is certain she committed suicide. DS Louise Kennedy questions Liam thoroughly but he denies any involvement. And yet Louise is convinced someone assisted Jenny in ending her life...after all, that's what Jenny always intended. So what really happened?
Determined to restore his good name, Liam hires retired detective Kelly to delve into the family's secrets and prove his innocence. But with Jenny's best friend, Sarah, conducting her own campaign against him, exposing him as a liar and a cheat, it proves to be no easy task. But secrets begin to surface and the web of complexities that is the Buckley's family life is put under the microscope.
And then there is Alex, Liam's girlfriend and lover, cast aside as he returns to the family home. How does she fit into this new way of life? He left his wife for her and now he left her for his family. He doesn't appear to have any plans for the future which leaves Alex somewhere in limbo. And the fact that she is Louise's sister should have been reason enough for Louise to have to recuse herself from the investigation. It just all becomes one big messy tangled web of complexities.
The story is told from many different viewpoints - Liam, Louise, Sarah, Jenny, Abbie, Josh - which is not necessarily a bad thing, but in this case it was a little confusing. I don't know whether it was just me because I normally love split narratives but I just couldn't seem to get my head around what the actual point they were making was. For half of the book I under the impression Sarah was Jenny's sister the way she referred to their life before Liam. At one point she was even called Sarah Buckley which threw me as I thought her name was Sarah Barry. In Sarah's third person narrative, I remember being thoroughly confused as to whose narrative it was as it seemed to switch between Sarah's thoughts and Abbie's. I was thoroughly confused.
The story is incredibly dysfunctional with everyone somehow displaced with a timeline all over the place. What I also found disappointing was this was more of a family drama than a mystery thriller or police procedural. But even so, I found each of the characters irritating which disappointed me given how much I absolutely LOVED "Brothers and Sisters".
In all, what I expected was not what was delivered and the central storyline is buried somewhere under all the other incidental elements in the web of family drama.
The premise for the book was intriguing - did Jenny Buckley commit suicide or was she murdered? Given that the topic of assisted suicide and euthanasia is a controversial issue the idea of it being interwoven with a mystery thriller was a fascinating concept. But it failed to, not only address the issue, but also keep me as a reader enthralled with a captivating storyline. The fact that it is titled WHEN THE TIME COMES alone suggests that assisted suicide is the underlying theme. But what was really dished up was a main course of family drama with a side of investigation. Given that BI was worthy of 10 stars, I sadly felt this one could only rate 1 or 2.
Maybe I missed the plot with this one but sadly WHEN THE TIME COMES wasn't as captivating as it promised. But I won't give up. Adele O'Neill's first one, as I keep saying, was so brilliant I still have high hopes for future releases. Just not this one.
I would like to thank #AdeleONeill, #NetGalley and #Aria for an ARC of #WhenTheTimeComes in exchange for an honest review.
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