The Secret Life Of Cee Cee Wilkes by Diane Chamberlain Review

Genre: Adult Fiction, Mystery

Plot according to Goodreads: An unsolved murder. A missing child. A lifetime of deception. In 1977, pregnant Genevieve Russell disappeared. Twenty years later, her remains are discovered and Timothy Gleason is charged with murder. But there is no sign of the unborn child. CeeCee Wilkes knows how Genevieve Russell died, because she was there.

My Thoughts: I own several books by Diane Chamberlain but haven’t read them yet. I had heard many good things about this book so I was eager to read it. I am glad that I finally picked it up and I am looking forward to reading more by this author.

The Good: This story is very thought provoking and caused me to empathize with someone who made some very poor choices. It made me think about the “other side of the story”…the one that you don’t always hear from the press and media. The writing style was very easy and I flew through the book very quickly. The plot was engaging and the character development was done very well.  The author does a great job at painting the picture and allowing the reader to get inside the mind of the main character.

The Not So Good: My main complaint of this book is that the first chapter spoils the majority of the book. I was not surprised by anything that happened throughout the story because I knew it was coming thanks to the first chapter. I am the type of person who lives for the shocking moments of a book so this was a huge disappointment. Had that chapter been omitted, the story would have been much more enjoyable and mysterious. The other issue I had with the book were some unrealistic things that occurred in the story. When a very prominent woman disappears, I would think authorities would spend a great deal of time looking for her, especially if they know that there was foul play involved. The investigation (if there was one) was brushed over and basically ignored. I also felt like some things that were mentioned weren’t explained fully and left me with unanswered questions.

My Rating: This was a solid 4/5 star book for me. I would definitely recommend it to fans of adult fiction.