Review: IT TAKES A TOWN, Aoife Clifford

• 
  This edition made available as an e-book on Libby by my local library
  
• Published Ultimo Press 
• ISBN 9781761152733
• Pub Date: April 2024
• Extent: 352pp

Synopsis (publisher)

So many people had reason to hate her, but did anyone have reason to kill her?
 
Everyone dies famous in a country town, but glamorous Vanessa Walton was a shining star. A celebrity since a television commercial when she was a child, Vanessa is back on the front page for all the wrong reasons; after a terrible storm she has been found dead at the bottom of her stairs.
 
At first her death seems to be a simple accident, but anonymous letters are discovered that suggest otherwise – and when 16-year-old Jasmine Landridge claims it is murder, she suddenly disappears. As the police begin to investigate, secrets are exposed and friendships unravel.
 
What happens to a community when murders and abductions sit alongside petty workmates, teenage tribulations and longstanding friendships? It will take a town to solve this crime, but what will be broken in the effort to piece together the truth? 

My Take

The attendance at her funeral is huge for a small town and the word on everybody's lips is "murder". But the local police, in the first case for the new station head, and the local coroner, both pronounce that it was an accident. The woman who brought fame to the town was hated by many. But she was adored by many, and there are those who think the investigation into her death has not been thorough enough.

Secrets come to light, and relationships are tested. A wonderful array of believable characters. An excellent read.

My rating: 4.6

About the Author
Aoife Clifford is the author of All These Perfect Strangers, which was long-listed for both the Australian Industry General Fiction Book of the Year and the Voss Literary Prize, and Second Sight, a Publishers Weekly (starred review) and PW Pick for Book of the Week. Aoife’s short stories have been published in Australia, United Kingdom and the United States, winning premier prizes such as the Scarlet Stiletto and the S.D. Harvey Ned Kelly Award.