ARC Review--Suspicion by Alexandra Monir

Mysterious. Magnificent. Creepy. Welcome to Rockford Manor.

"There's something hidden in the Maze." Seventeen-year-old Imogen has never forgotten the last words her father said to her seven years ago, before the blazing fire that consumed him, her mother, and the gardens of her family's English country manor.

Haunted by her parents' deaths, Imogen moves to New York City with her new guardians. But when a letter arrives with the news of her cousin's untimely death, revealing that Imogen is now the only heir left to run the estate, she returns to England and warily accepts her role as duchess.

All is not as it seems at Rockford, and Imogen quickly learns that dark secrets lurk behind the mansion's aristocratic exterior, hinting that the spate of deaths in her family were no accident. And at the center of the mystery is Imogen herself--and Sebastian, the childhood friend she has secretly loved for years. Just what has Imogen walked into?

Combining a fresh twist on the classic REBECCA with a spine-tingling mystery and powerful romance, SUSPICION is an action-packed thrill ride.

I received this ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, I was in no way compensated for this review.


Alexandra Monir's Suspicion was an interesting read. I wasn't sure really what to expect since I have never read the classic, Rebecca, it is supposed to be based on. So I went into this story pretty much blind but was gearing up for a good mystery with some added intrigue!

And we do get that in some way. The story is divided into three parts which kind of helped smooth things along in the pacing. The very first chapter is sort of a flashback quality one where we learn what happened to Imogen's parents and how they died in the Maze years ago. Seven years later she is nearly done with high school and is about to start her journey into adulthood, having no clue as to what she wants to do. That's when she learns her adoptive parents--friends of her parents from years ago, ones she knew as a child--had been keeping secrets from her and that she's now the Duchess of Rockford Manor, her family estate in London.

Part one definitely dragged a bit, I mean the secretive-ness of the situation was intriguing, but not really enough to keep the story going. Thankfully, it wasn't a very long section and part two finds Imogen in London trying to get into the swing of things of running an estate. Imogen is most happy about returning to see the crush of her childhood life, Sebastian. Sebastian used to date her cousin Lucia, before she too died, which plays a major part in this story.

Strange things start to happen to Imogen and when she reflects on it, she realizes that they happened when she was last at the manor in those early childhood years as well. It was quite interesting to watch all this develop, because you wonder what's happening to Imogen and how it plays a part of the story. I don't want to get into the shocking details of it all because it was quite astonishing. There are more little hints to the larger mystery at hand scattered throughout this part of the novel which moves to entice the reader to read further, and it does work.

Part three is when all the reveals start to come along, at an alarming pace. The death of her cousin Lucia pops up again and fingers start pointing in directions of who the murder is, since it was initially thought of as an accident. Imogen does some more digging into the family history and makes headway onto the problems she's been having and it's after that, that the mystery of her cousin's death unravels itself. Imogen made a few "silent" conclusions and soon all is revealed. I felt like that part shouldn't have been so rushed, while it was still shocking and whatnot, it seems to be it should've been hinted at more. Perhaps it was and I just missed the clues, I gather something was wonky but I never put the pieces together and get the same results that were revealed to us.

While Suspicion was a good and decent read, it is not without its flaws. The execution of the shocking reveals could've been developed more so that they don't just turn into an info dump at the end. The other secretive problems Imogen was dealing with could've been expanded upon as well. All of a sudden it's like she solved that problem and was a master at what it all entailed.

There were positive sides to it all though. The mystery that was surrounding the death of her cousin was not one I really saw coming. Whether that's good or not, is hard to say. I didn't note any hints or clues as to the exact answer, but I did feel like there was something iffy going about. There is one little unsolved problem that gets left hanging and I was a mite peeved at that. I don't know if that had something to do with Rebecca and the author was trying to remain true to the story as much as possible or if it was just left like that for another reason.

Overall it was a good read, not great, but I have no regrets on reading it. The cover is absolutely gorgeous with the stunning purple color of the hedges that make up the Maze that plays a very important part in the story. If you're looking for a somewhat mystery and magical kind of read, I would definitely recommend Suspicion, but be prepared for a few flaws.


Overall Rating 3.5/5 stars


Suspicion releases December 9, 2014