This story definitely wasn't what I was expecting and in a good way. For those who are fans of the Walsh sisters stories by Marian Keyes, we've all gotten snippets of Helen Walsh's personality and have been entertained by her strong, don't-give-a-crap personality. It's been a long wait for a whole novel about the youngest Walsh. However, it was a surprise to discover that she's not quite as strong as we all previously thought, and this creates a closeness, an empathy for this character. While in the midst of investigating a missing person's case, she is constantly fighting her own demons and hell, most of us can relate to the stress of having to get the job done when you'd rather just crawl back into bed in a nice dark room. Keyes' signature talent for blending humor with difficult human situations and emotions made this book yet another enjoyable read. What's next for the Walsh family?

I love everything Marian Keyes writes. Each novel is a blended balance of scathing wit (honestly laugh out loud stuff) and emotionally taut realism (depression, grief, spousal abuse).

The very quirky Walsh family are a fun escape from anyone's real family and this novel was a great beach read...yes, a bit overly long but I was in no rush to see the book end.

This is my favorite of the Walsh sister novels. I think it's the tightest of Keyes books that I have read so far, just a really well oiled little mystery that genuinely surprised me. I also thought the portrait of Helen was woven in really seamlessly into the mystery, exploring the depths of her depression and how she constructed her life. It's a little rough in the beginning because it's very dark, these books seem to explore the sisters at a moment of personal crisis and this one I found particularly bleak. It took me a minute to get into it but then I enjoyed it most of all and found the ending especially joyful.

To the unapologetically complicated protagonist and her acerbic wit. Hear, hear!

I normally love Marian Keyes' books, but I never really got into The Mystery of Mercy Close. I quite enjoyed the ending, but it wasn't really worth 500 long pages.

(Jag läste den här boken på svenska: Hemligheten på Mercy Close).

Av alla systrarna Walsh så måste Helen vara den jag kan relatera till mest. Kanske inte utifrån bilden av henne ur de andra systrarnas perspektiv, utan från hennes eget. Hon umgås inte gärna med folk. Hon gör gärna tvärtemot, och försöker tänka utanför lådan. Hon är envis och deprimerad och tvivlar på sig själv samtidigt som hon vägrar låta det skina igenom, vilket gör att hon bär sina demoner i tysthet.

Keyes är väldigt duktig på att beskriva människor med depression, alkoholism och missbruk. Det har hon visat tidigare och det stärks av den här boken. Jag själv känner hur det knyter sig i bröstet när Helen återigen vägrar att inse symptomen, när hon bara tutar och kör vidare in mot det stora kaklet.

Tyvärr känns det dock som att Keyes känner att hon måste slänga in lite chick-lit-klyschor i boken, för att den liksom ska passa genren och läsarnas förväntningar. Helt plötsligt börjar Helen tänka på märkessjalar, eller så nämns hennes olika klackskor och snygga kläder, eller något annat helt ointressant. Jag hade gärna sett att det utelämnades, det känns bara krystat.

Sedan funderar jag lite på hur Artie är funtad också. Att han inte märker, eller gör något åt, Helens uppenbara depression. Att han, när hon kryper ner i sängen, bara använder henne för egen njutning och sedan somnar om känns så jäkla vidrigt. Hur kan man INTE märka att ens partner mår dåligt?

Nåväl. En bra bok som inte riktigt passar in i mallen för vad som räknas som chick-lit och vad mig anbelangar inte behöver göra det heller. Lite seg stundtals men annars läsvärd.

I love how Marian Keyes tackles a serious issue with the perfect balance of humour and seriousness. I've been waiting what feels like forever for Helen's story and I'd never have picked her as the depression type - which is why she was perfect for it. The mystery was a good mystery but it is Helen that you love in this book. Also, my shovel list is fucking huge. Awesome read.

What a book. I really enjoy Marian Keyes' writing, and despite the sad subject matter at times, and the terrible depression MK herself was suffering from during the writing, the book remained fairly light and hilarious at times. (I learned about MK's depression from her blog...just to be clear.)

Anyway, the mystery of Wayne and Helen's detective process were both fascinating, and I was mostly kept guessing until the end. And more than that, this was a very insightful, even raw treatment of depression that I haven't seen often before. MK gave some pretty amazing descriptions of the illness. I can't find any quotes now (of course), but it was a lot of interesting, detailed analogies that gave a bit more insight into Helen's state of mind. And it made her whole issue pretty sad, as well.

Luckily, there's a lot of comic relief from some outstanding peripheral characters, like Artie's daughter Bella, Helen's mother (god love her), the flashback tales of Helen's friend Bronagh, and some colorful witnesses that Helen interviews.

But speaking of Bronagh, I'm not sure I found that part so satisfying. I think I was expecting more from that storyline, probably based on the crazy twist-type thing in [b:Anybody Out There?|165030|Anybody Out There? (Walsh Family, #4)|Marian Keyes|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358594290s/165030.jpg|1568693], so when the big reveal came, it was not that exciting and felt pretty anticlimactic. Still, it was not any of the things I'd guessed might have happened, and the fallout of the Big Thing made perfect sense. So, I think it works; I had just built up my expectations too much.

In conclusion, I still love Marian Keyes and I hope she's feeling much better now and plans to write many more books.

I like the mystery. The end was a little confusing though. Glad she didn’t end up back with Jay, because I had a bad feeling that the book was going to go that route.

It’s impressive to me that Marian Keyes can write so many books from the first person perspective and yet keep each voice unique—that’s not easy to do. This character might not be for everyone, but I found the main character, Helen, hilarious from previous books and just as funny here. An example Helen’s thoughts: “I have a habit of taking instant dislikes to people, simply because it saves time.”

I wouldn’t recommend starting with this as your first book of Keyes, and while it’s not my favorite, it’s still outstanding. I know from real life how challenging it is dealing with someone who is battling depression, so you wouldn’t think reading an entire novel from the point of view of a depressed person would be an enjoyable way to spend your time, but Helen makes amusing observations about doctors and pharmaceutical companies and the way other people deal with someone who is depressed. I had fun with the mystery as well, and admired Helen for her tenacity. I chuckled frequently and I liked having a character that was flawed but capable, even if taking care of herself and others sometimes meant having to ask for help.