Another day and another Lisa Jewell book in my hand. It’s no surprise that I’m gravitating towards another of her books, especially in the thriller/ mystery genre, as she has become one of my favorite authors in recent times thanks to her skillfully crafted fictional worlds.

This latest read of mine, I Found You, starts rather inconspicuously with a man sitting on a beach without realizing his surroundings, timelines, or even his name.

This is almost in sync with a newlywed woman- Lily Monrose frantically searching for her husband- Carl in an unknown country without much luck. Thankfully for that strange-man-on-the-beach, Alice helps, shelters, and then supports him in his quest of self-discovery. And thankfully for that just-married-newly-arrived-in-the-UK-bride, Mark’s friend helps, supports and then drives her to an unknown seaside town in quest of her mysterious husband. How both of these stories collied or combined is the crux of this complicated and compelling novel.

It’s interesting to read how the man mentioned above, ‘Frank,’ finds himself stranded in an inconspicuous seaside resort town called Riding House Bay, where Alice, especially her cozy cottage, fits into the jigsaw puzzle of his life. Almost on a parallel note, Lily finds out about her husband’s carefully forged passport and soon realizes that the man she married never ever existed as further confirmed by the police. Then what is the connection between her husband and that man suffering from temporary amnesia in the East Yorkshire town?

That question is more or less answered by the flashback account of Gray and Kristy’s family vacation in the same seaside town almost twenty years ago in 1993. Everyone knows that one man died and two teenagers drowned in the bay all those years ago but there is only one person who knows what had transpired on that fateful night twenty years earlier. Unfortunately, he is in a temporary stage of memory loss and other one to corroborate his story is missing for a week. But as his brain awakens and he starts piecing everything together we soon realize that there was much more than teenage animosity between Gray and Mark.

In 1993, Gray never came under the spell of enigmatic Mark Tate. Unlike his sister- Kristy who was swept away with Mark’s wooing and his parents, bowled over by Mark’s irresistible charm, Gray always kept a cautious distance from him. For much of their summer vacation, he did not succeed in getting influenced by the dark aura of Mark but when he did eventually, it led to catastrophic results for his family. But such an honest introspection of his toxic choices comes later, much later.

So, readers like me left balancing three storylines, one from 1993 and two from current times to  make sense of this intriguing novel’s central plot. It’s definitely exhilarating to read first hand when and how these narratives collied to forge a solid story encompassing two families, one village and many lives. Although, I got stumbled with few of the narrative details like Alice trusting her instincts by sheltering an unknown man in her home full of teenagers and young children. I was equally stumped with the last revelation of Mark’s latest disappearance as reported by his friend, unsure whether he did that on his own or someone (who??) helped him. And of course, like most readers, I’m shocked with the final revelations about complexities of human relationships, complicated family dynamics and a gripping tale capturing all of this in its whirlwind telling.

It’s no surprise then that I enjoyed this thrilling mystery executed brilliantly in the author’s signature style. It’s definitely worth your time and warrants a place in your reading list. Just go for it!