The Dime Box by Karen Grose is a thrilling crime novel about a young woman who tries to move on from her past, but it comes back to haunt her. Greta Giffen grew up in an abusive home, but she fled from her father’s house in northern Ontario when she was almost sixteen and moved to Toronto. Now three years later, she finds herself a suspect in a murder investigation. Greta’s memories of the night of her father’s death are not clear, plus she has a strong motive to want him dead, which makes her seem guilty to Detective Sergeant Astra Perez. What is the truth about what really happened that night? And will Greta find herself a victim once more, charged with Ian Giffen’s murder?

Karen Grose has written a compelling mystery novel. It drew me in from the very beginning and kept my attention throughout. The further I got into the story, the more questions I had (Who were Greta’s real parents? Was it a legal adoption?). These intriguing questions is what kept me flipping pages and what kept calling me back to this book. I liked the mystery aspect of the book because it didn’t follow the standard formula of simply settings up a mystery and then solving it. Detective Perez spends much of the book interviewing Greta, but even though the story is told from Greta’s point of view, the reader does not know what happened because Greta can’t remember all the details of the night in question due to a head injury she suffered as a child.

The book starts out in the present and Greta reveals more and more details about her past as the story progresses. I typically prefer books that follow a character’s life in chronological order, but in this case the style worked, adding additional intrigue to the story for the reader. This book is much more about Greta’s story and her life leading up to her father’s death, rather than solely focused on solving the case of how Ian died. However, at times I grew impatient to learn the truth of whether or not Greta was responsible for his death. Since everything remained uncertain as I read the story, it kept me constantly guessing how the book would end. Some things that I suspected were correct, but the ending still surprised me, but some of the questions remained unanswered.

The Dime Box is a thriller with a refreshing take on the murder mystery genre. With an engaging character to follow and an elusive mystery to solve, readers will have plenty to enjoy in Karen Grose’s novel.

Pages: 267 | ASIN: B081XH5CFP