Flitting between two timeframes of the present and 1993, Come Back For Me is a novel brimming with mystery and tension.
It opens in the past, during a storm which echoed the frantic departure of Stella and her family from the isolated island home on Evergreen. Throughout the novel there's the sense that the islanders augment this isolation with their actions towards visitors who choose to spend time on the island they call home. Mind you this is explained somewhat by the discovery of a body buried in the woods which bordered Stella's childhood home, drawing Stella back towards the island and right into the middle of a rather splendid murder mystery. The plot is woven so intricately that I had no idea at all how it was going to end, and the journey up to the ending was really engaging, enhanced I feel by the different timeframes in the novel.
Stella herself, along with the rest of the Harvey family are likable characters, and I particularly liked the dynamic between Stella and her older sister Bonnie. With her absent brother Danny, I got a real sense of how life on the island and their subsequent departure had shaped their futures; there was obviously a black cloud over what had happened, but we were as in the dark as Stella was. The different narratives worked well I thought, giving alternative versions of events on Evergreen, heightening the mystery surrounding the body.
I enjoy Heidi Perk's writing, she has such an easy writing style that it isn't hard to stay hooked into her novels. Come Back For Me is a tale about lies and secrecy, and how the truth can never stay buried forever.
