Customer Reviews

The Greenway

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The Greenway by Jane Adams jumped out at me due to author Minette Walters comments on the book. While The Greenway is far from the fabulous writings of Ms. Walters, it does have it's own blend of suspense and some interesting twists and turns.

The plot kept me reading past my stop on the bus but I never really fully felt the characters, they were not fully formed nor very sympathetic. They seemed very wooden to me but I really wanted to know what happened to Suzie! The novel opens with Cassie Malthams perpetual nightmare of the day her cousin Suzie disappeared. They were young children playing on the greenway - one moment Suzie was there and the next she had vanished.

Cassie and her husband decide to return to the sleepy village many years later so that Cassie can face her fears and move on with her life - only as Cassie returns another young girl vanishes from the greenway. The police see the connection as does the press and Cassie must face her worst nightmares to help save a child's life as well as save her sanity.

While I felt the ending lacked a bit - I did enjoy the read. The writing was light and moved quickly and the plot stayed very intriguing from start to finish. I only wish Jane Adams had drawn stronger characters.

When Cassie Maltham was age ten, she and her twelve-year-old cousin, Suzie Ashmore, decided to take a shortcut home. They went through an old, covered path called The Greenway.

Carrie later told officials that everything went strange, she states that she must have lost consciousness and when she awoke, Suzie was missing. Suzie was never seen again.

Cassie has been haunted by this for twenty years. Now she returns with her husband, Fergus, and friends Somon and Anna. She wants to face her fears and discover what happened.

Not long after her arrival, the area is shocked when another girl goes missing. This girl is the same age that Suzie was when she vanished and it's in the same area.

Detective Inspector Mike Croft leads the investigation and John Tynan, who investigated Suzie's disappearance, comes out of retirement to help. They wonder what the connection is between the two missing girls and if they can trust Cassie. She's the only link between two missing children.

With an interesting demonstration of character development, the author shows that Cassie does something heroic that changes the investigation but her actions were as if she was in a trance or a dream, she can't explain it.

The author does well in setting the scene and describing the characters. I enjoyed the story but found the plot a bit difficult to accept. The story was written in a realistic manner but then a spiritual, ghostly element was added. Perhaps this would have been better if it was stated to be a paranormal mystery.

I picked this book up randomly and I am glad I did! The tight plot, believable characters, and suspenseful pacing are reminiscent of Ruth Rendell and Minette Walters. The only drawback is that after you whip through this book, you'll want to read more by her and her other works are very hard to find in the U.S. If you can find it, check out Adams' Cast the First Stone.

The Greenway was garlanded with lavish critical praise on its publication .I am at a loss to understand why and see no basis for this if literary merit is the soledetermining criterion.I suspect the crime writers mafia-you praise me and I'll praise you syndrome.
The book is curiously tepid and I will own up to part of my irritation arising from my lack of engagement with and interest in its themes--superstition,psychotherapy and middle class angst.
Its author in an online interview has stated she does not feel the book is a crime novel,despite its marketing, and I see why .There is a crime,a detective has a prominent role and the routine of police work is etched in but Adams interests seem to lie elsewhere.
The plot is triggered when a young girl vanishes from the Greenway,an ancient pathway in Norfolk ,England .Some years apreviously another girl had vanished and her companion that time ,Cassie,is vacationing in the area when the second child vanishes.She begins to experience visions and ultimately leads the police to the child
The key goes back to an even earlier dissappearance and the working out of the plot just about sustains interest The policeman Mike Croft is colourless and flavourless like much of the writing.
I have read another Adams novel featuring Croft namely Cast the First Stone and that is a quantuum leap ahead of this tired book I suggest you start your exploration of Ms Adams with that one -it will repay your time in a way this does not.