The Lucky Eight by Sheila Bugler (2021) Snapshot

Out of the 160 people who boarded the plane, only 8 survived the crash. Dubbed “The Lucky Eight” by the media, their lives were forever changed that day.  Each year, to honour the occasion and lives lost, the survivors meet on the anniversary of that fatidical day. On their 5th reunion, one of them is found dead. His death is suspicious enough, but when a second survivor is found days later clearly stabbed, detective Rachel Lewis wonders if the survivors are being targeted. 

I think that The Lucky Eight is a solid, entertaining book. Unfortunately, one of my literary pet peeves is when a character throws on the reader’s face that they are privy to important information but doesn’t share it. I feel this takes away my opportunity to solve the puzzle fairly. This happened quite a few times in this book and by more than one character. I found the repeated mention of a character’s secret off-putting. I get it’s hard to imply a character is hiding something without revealing it. But dangling it in front of the reader so explicitly affected my enjoyment. If this doesn’t bother you, you are going to love this book. The Lucky Eight is a page turning surprising thriller.

On a random note, what I enjoyed in The Lucky Eight was Bugler’s choice to make the investigation real. Rachel read as a real detective facing real hurdles. There was time pressure for her to solve the crime, as there would be in real life, but I appreciated that the author chose not to rush the narrative and kept each day’s events accurate. #ItsTheLittleThings

My total rating: 3.83

Until next book, be the hummingbird!