Stolen in the Night

I selected Stolen in the Night as my May book for the Monthly Key Word Reading Challenge. While I have read earlier books by Patricia MacDonald, it has been awhile since I have read them. It is time I rediscovered her as I remember that I enjoyed those books.

The publisher's summary:

TWENTY YEARS AGO.

Tess’s heart pounds and she rubs her eyes, wondering if she is really awake or in a nightmare. Her sister Phoebe’s blue eyes are wide with fear, a dirty hand with ragged fingernails covering her mouth. Pressed against Phoebe’s neck is a knife that makes a dent in her skin.

“If you make one peep or tell anybody, I’ll kill your sister here. Do you understand me?” the man hisses at her.

Nine-year-old Tess DeGraff is the only witness to the knife-point kidnapping of her teenage sister, Phoebe, at the beautiful lakeside New Hampshire campsite where she’s staying with their parents and brother.

Phoebe’s body is found two days later and a local offender is arrested. The trial lasts only three days after Tess describes the abductor and points to him in court.

NOW.

Tess has finally got herself together. She has a beautiful home and her ten-year-old son is the light of her life.

But new DNA evidence exonerates her sister’s killer. Tess is left questioning everything she thinks she knows. If he didn’t do it, who did?

Tess must go back to where it all happened and find out what really went on that night.

The book is advertised as a gripping psychological thriller.  While the mystery of the whodunnit was compelling, I wouldn't say that the story was gripping in any sense of the word. I felt more affinity with the potential perps than I did with our main character Tess or any of her family members. Tess was a little dull and her accusations against this person and that person based on nothing realistic was annoying. She was an excitable character that I did not like. What kept me reading? I really wanted to know who killed Phoebe. 

Most of the twists and turns came near the end of the story and I felt that they were almost on top of each other. I had to concentrate hard on catching them as they came quickly. Also, some of the twists seemed far-fetched but maybe that is just a result of them coming all at the same time. It would have been better to have them equally placed throughout the plot. 

The whodunnit drives this story although the whydunnit was surprising. For this reason I am rating the book at 3 out of 5 stars.