First Born by Will Dean – Blog Tour Review

About The Book

Molly lives a quiet, contained life in London. Naturally risk averse, she gains comfort from security and structure. Every day the same.

Her identical twin Katie is her exact opposite: gregarious and spontaneous. They used to be inseparable, until Katie moved to New York a year ago. Molly still speaks to her daily without fail.

But when Molly learns that Katie has died suddenly in New York, she is thrown into unfamiliar territory. Katie is part of her DNA. As terrifying as it is, she must go there and find out what happened. As she tracks her twin’s last movements, cracks begin to emerge. Nothing is what it seems. And a web of deceit is closing around her.

My Review

With thanks to the publisher for the copy received. Despite reading books from Will Dean’s Tuva series this is the first standalone that I have read. It concerns twin sisters, once close but now living in different countries, a distance made greater by a disagreement they struggled to overcome. When the older, more outgoing twin Katie is found dead in her New York apartment Molly has face her fears and travel over to support their parents and accept the loss of her sister.

I have to admit that I found Molly and her obsessions infuriating at times but as she started to adapt to a different way of life in New York she seemed more at ease. But for some reason I still didn’t take to her,or most of the other characters. The only one I really cared for was the smoothie seller Jimmy who seemed more approachable and caring than many of the others. 

I read many crime novels but this was the first that I’ve read where a victim was a twin, I liked the way the author showed how the grieving process seemed different, how the loss affected Molly and also the way it made Katie’s friends feel. Knowing that she was dead but still being able to ‘see’ her. It felt a little strange and unnerving.

I loved the description of New York, somewhere I had the pleasure of visiting once and  I could clearly see the areas around Central Park and Times Square. I remembered seeing it as Molly and her parents did, overawed by its size and grandeur. 

I did see the twists in this novel but knowing didn’t impact on my feelings, I know that this book will just be as successful as the author’s previous novels.