Beautiful Ugly | Alice Feeney

What will you do if your spouse has vanished mysteriously?
without leaving any clues? What if you don’t have any idea whether your spouse has
disappeared or no longer in this world?

These are the questions that haunt Grady Green till the end of this book. He and his wife, Abby, are supposed to be a happy, content couple. While She is busy with her career, working as an investigative journalist. On the other hand, he is trying to be a successful writer.

But she is nowhere to be found on his big day when they are supposed to celebrate his success. What happened exactly? And how Grady is going to survive this tragic incident?

The answer to the second question is apparently not. He has hit rock bottom—both emotionally and financially. He has developed a writer’s block and is busy spending his days in utter despair.

Thankfully, his agent, Kitty Goldman, comes to his rescue. When we learn about her connection with Abby, we understand that Kitty is trying to pull him out from the throes of depression more for personal reasons than anything else.

So, she hands him over the keys of a secluded cottage on a remote Scottish isle called Amberly. That cottage initially belonged to another famous writer, which Kitty has inherited mysteriously. However, the mysteries are not limited to the ownership of this cottage.

Rather, a chain of mysterious events kicks off as soon as Grady steps inside it. Between his traumatic mental anguish and the presser of producing another literary masterpiece, his mind starts losing its grip on reality. It is further aided by the extensive alcohol collection available in the cottage and all the suspiciously dramatic events happening around him on that strange island.

It’s quite fascinating to read how Grady struggles to keep a tab on reality in his surroundings while rushing to complete his novel. His slipping into his mind’s abyss almost pushes this novel towards its ultimate climax.

As always, Alice Feeney manages to create the hauntingly beautiful atmosphere of a remote Scottish isle with her excellent narrative. It helps build the atmosphere to fill in the background of this fictional tale. Although the final reveal might be predictable if you can piece together the clues beforehand, it’s still worth your time.

Without giving any further spoilers, I suggest you pick up this book if you like to immerse yourself in a psychological mystery with a feminist twist.

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