Lying in the Deep. Diana Urban. 2023. 384 pages. [Source: Library]
First sentence: I didn't realize there'd be this much blood.
Premise/plot: Lying in the Deep is greatly influenced/inspired by Agatha Christie's classic mystery, Death on the Nile. Jade, our protagonist/narrator, has been looking forward to her semester at sea for years. She always thought she'd do this with her best friend, Lainey, but, the pair have fallen out. That's an understatement. Her best friend, Lainey, and her boyfriend, Silas, have gotten together. She was dumped via text message. Both have blocked her. Zero communication. She's angry and hurt and confused. She daydreams about bad things happening to both of them. She was NOT expecting to see both of them on board. She assumed that Lainey had changed her mind...and this was never Silas' dream.
All the college students on board seem to have something against Lainey--either something in the recent past, the more distant past, or the present. Lainey isn't always the most likeable in her scenes. It seems plenty of the students on board are clashing with one another--petty things really.
But after Jade accidentally stabs Silas with a letter opening--she lost her balance not having grown quite accustomed to life at sea--Lainey comes up missing. Lainey's room is covered in blood. There's no body, but, a splash was heard in the middle of the night.
Silas and Jade look a little guilty--in the eyes of the others on board. (Everyone has secrets. Jade and Silas' possible motive is just a little more obvious. As Jade tries to play detective and interrogate her classmates/shipmates, it seems the murderer may come back and strike again...
Will Jade know who to trust in the end?
My thoughts: So many things are similar to Death on the Nile. One big difference, however, is the point of view. We don't have an outsider-detective processing the scene. Jade plays the role inspired by Jacqueline de Bellefort. Silas plays the role inspired by the Simon Doyle character. Lainey plays the role inspired by the Linnet Ridgeway Doyle character. While Death on the Nile gives us Hercule Poirot's perspective, Jade is our narrator. She's either a super unreliable narrator (a possibility to a certain point in the novel) or Diana Urban's story has gone a whole other direction (definitely a possibility).
For those unfamiliar with the original, Jade might come across as jaded, unhinged, toxic. But for those familiar with the original, Jade seems much more relaxed and put together. All a matter of perspective, I suppose.
The changes made to the original murder mystery mostly work for me. It can still be a tribute to the original AND have a different story to tell.
© 2023 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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