The Poison Tree

How it reads

The Poison Tree is thriller (psychological thriller, specifically), and its dominant mood is tense. The suspense is the kind you feel in your shoulders. It moves fast: plot-driven and hard to put down, the kind of book that carries you along even when you're tired.

It's set in a big city setting, in the recent past, told in the first person by several narrators. Its central concerns are secrets, family and love. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.

It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending is dark — no rescue, no neat bow. At 336 pages it's an ordinary novel's length. It's moderately known: read by plenty of people, but not a household name.