Cloudland

A Crime Novel

By: Joseph Olshan

Narrated by: Eliza Foss

Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

Cloudland is a stunning literary thriller set in rural Vermont from the much-praised author of Nightswimmer and Clara's Heart.

Once a major reporter for a national newspaper, Catherine Winslow has retreated to the Upper Valley of Vermont to write a household hints column. While out walking during an early spring thaw, Catherine discovers the body of a woman leaning against an apple tree near her house. From the corpse’s pink parka, Winslow recognizes her as the latest victim of a serial killer, a woman reported missing weeks before during a blizzard.

When her neighbor, a forensic psychiatrist, is pulled into the investigation, Catherine begins to discover some unexpected connections to the serial murders. One is that the murders might be based on a rare unfinished Wilkie Collins novel that is missing from her personal library. The other is that her much younger lover from a failed affair has unexpectedly resurfaced and is trying to maneuver his way back into her affections.

Elegant, haunting, and profoundly gripping, Cloudland is an ingenious psychological trap baited with murder, deception, and the intricacies of desire.

©2012 Joseph Olshan (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

A suspenseful novel with memorable characters.

Catherine Winslow lives in rural Vermont and writes a household hints column. She takes her dogs out for a walk one morning and finds the body of a woman leaning against a tree with Seventh Day Adventist literature in her coat. It has been a cold snowy winter, and the woman, who went missing a few weeks earlier, is very well preserved. Catherine’s neighbor, a forensic psychiatrist, becomes involved. Also, a former lover, a student of hers who is 15 years younger than her, reappears in her life. Her friends argue that she should have nothing to do with him, as when she tried to break off the affair, he had tried to strangle her. And now, the murdered woman is being linked to some other murdered women as well. A federal agent is convinced that Catherine’s former lover, Matthew, is the murderer. She does not want to believe that. In the meantime, she hears that the agent is withholding detailed information from the police, which makes him seem suspicious. And the setup for the murder might have been copied from a rare unfinished Wilkie Collins mystery of which she owned one of the only copies. Lots of suspense and interesting characters, including Catherine’s two dogs and her pot-bellied pig.

Eat-It-Up Mystery, Ham-It-Up Narrator

I’d Recommend to: The fella’s sister (a current Vermont resident), my freshman year American lit professors

My Review:
In 2012, I discovered I love mysteries/thrillers – anything that’s designed to build suspense. As part of that love, sometimes I find a few bad apples in the mix. Cloudland was, unfortunately, one of those bad apples.

I guess that’s not completely fair – it’s not bad in the sense that it’s terrible. In fact, it was an okay book. I doubt I will reread it or go for another Olshan anytime soon, but it wasn’t a total dud. The suspense factor was decent, and “twist” was not one I initially predicted. I enjoy when novels (even ones written to do so) surprise me, especially when that surprise absolutely makes sense in the context of the chapters leading to it.

I enjoyed most of the characters. Catherine’s daughter had a tendency to annoy, but she was still relatable and made rare (but necessary) appearances. Catherine seemed a little out of her element at times, despite being a former “major reporter.” In fact, Catherine came across as loopy and childlike; her phrasing and tone were not helped by the narrator, who really played it up. I found this distracting and irritating, and I almost added this to my DNF list .

The Bottom Line:
There’s a nice twist, but you might not want to go down the road leading to it.

Page-turner Upgraded!

I enjoyed the combination of the classic "whodunit" with slices of contemporary rural Vermont life. Though the setting is "rural", the characters are really city transplants who bring all their complexities and affectations with them to the small town, which has all the typical gentrified conveniences. Not commenting on said gentrification, because without all the detailed urbanities and allusions to academia serving as an underlayer to a police thriller, the text might be a lot less interesting. The book is a true "page-turner", that's enhanced by a nice rendering of detail, both about the outer and inner landscape.

For me, the only bothersome characteristic seemed to be the lack of backstories for the secondary characters. We know a lot about Catherine, but it seems some of the other people have missing parts to their stories, and a bit more in the way of information as to when and how these people came into Catherine's story would have filled out the narrative a bit. Or, perhaps, as I tend to listen while exercising, I may have missed a sentence or two.

The narration was flawless, even and consistent, and without unnecessary drama. I will check out other work by this author and by this narrator.

A great summer read

Just an excellent story that had me visualizing the Vermont landscape. I'll definitely read more by this author.