Sarah O'Connor

I received this book from The Next Best Book Club in exchange for an honest review.

“Some nights you consign to memory. If you examined those nights or tried to repeat them you’d blow right through what you want to believe was enchanting. It would be worse than disappointing. The original memory would curl and shrink. You’d be left embarrassed by yourself. Or not. She had absorbed enough embarrassment in her life—enough that she felt there might not be room for much more,” (Upton 55).

When Mira Wallacz goes missing at a literary festival devoted to her work, her colleagues and attendees assume the worse, some even hope for it. Ten years later Wallacz’s superfan Geneva Finch is determined to discover what really happened at the festival, and she’ll have to team up with a self-deprecating former priest to solve the case.

I think Upton had a lot of fun writing Wrongful. Her love of Agatha Christie cozy mysteries can clearly be felt in the setting and characters, even the mystery itself acts as an homage to Christie throughout her novel. I could recognize this while reading, but unfortunately I didn’t love this book.

I couldn’t take any of the characters seriously. Geneva was a difficult protagonist to follow, a play detective who sought out to solve the mystery by using tropes from Wallacz’s novels instead of using logic. Thomas was equally as annoying in his meekness and was described quite bizarrely: “His politeness sounded like a parody. Like words spoken by someone who for a long time had to mind his manners, weigh and shrink his natural responses. In cultural terms he was very much like a woman. Which probably meant many women desired him” (Upton 78).

The book has quite a large cast of characters/suspects as well as a few side characters that really do nothing to enhance the story except exist to make Geneva seem less of a loner. It was hard to remember who was who and what their relationship was to Mira Wallacz and why it mattered. And then after following Geneva for most of the novel the last chapter is written in first person from most of our suspects point of views to reveal information and act as a final revelation, but it just didn’t fit.

There were also some weird dialogue choices and descriptions that could have used more editing:

“A child-like quality in the eyes, not quite innocent but stubborn, the way children can be,” (Upton 21).

If someone has a child-like quality I assume it’s the way children can be.

“Geneva was thinking that in many relationships one person gets to be Lucy and the other gets to be Ethel. Geneva didn’t think she’d ever be Lucy and she didn’t want to be Ethel either. Nevertheless, on occasions like this it was hard not to fall into position,” (Upton 51).

For context, Geneva is in her late-twenties/early-thirties, and while I Love Lucy and it’s characters are a show many people know it’s weird for a character that age to be making a reference like this, especially concerning herself and a friend.

“A crowd was coming through the entrance. Tama sank lower, scooted her chair closer to a pillar. When the lobby quieted, Tama asked, ‘Why is it so important to you?’

‘You’re right. It is important to me.’ Geneva had to stop her-self from grasping Tama’s hand.” (Upton 146).

I don’t know why Geneva is directly answering the question instead of just explaining why it’s important to her.

Agatha Christie fans looking for a cozy mystery honouring Christie’s novels will enjoy this one, but I got too bogged down by the lack of editing and confusion of it all. Still though, Wrongful is a simple, cozy mystery that some readers will have a lot of fun with.

Publication: May 1 2025
Publisher: Sagging Meniscus Press
Pages: 242 pages (PDF)
Source: TNBBC
Genre: Fiction, Mystery
My Rating: ⛤⛤.5
Summary:

When the famous novelist Mira Wallacz goes missing at the festival devoted to celebrating her work, the attendees assume the worst—and some hope for the worst. Ten years after the festival, Geneva Finch, an ideal reader, sets out to discover the truth about what happened to Mira Wallacz. A twisty literary mystery dealing with duplicity, envy, betrayal, and love between an entertainment agent and a self-deprecating former priest, Wrongful explores the many ways we can get everything wrong, time and again, even after we’re certain we discovered the truth.