Author: Hilary Davidson

ISBN: 978-0-7653-2697-3

Publisher: Forge

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The Damage Done is a winner - a gripping page turner, brimming with intriguing characters, gleefully executed end-of-chapter plot twists, red herrings and a finale you don’t quite see coming.

Neil Young’s haunting melody about the consequences of drug addiction inspires the title of Hilary Davidson’s debut as a novelist with reason – substance abuse casts its dark shadow across its protagonist Lily’s life, as she tries to investigate the mysterious disappearance of her sister. In life, Lily and Claudia Moore have never gotten along – a troubled past and the violent deaths of their parents haunt them both, causing Claudia to become a drug addict. Lily, unable to deal with her sister, flees to Spain where she works as a travel writer, while still supporting Claudia in New York. When Claudia is reported murdered in the apartment they once shared, Lily returns to New York , only to find a stranger in her sister’s place. But this is more than mere identity theft, and Lily soon finds herself drawn deep into Claudia’s dark world as she unravels an increasingly complex plot that just might involve people close to her.

The hunt for Claudia is as much about solving the case as it is about Lily’s redemption. For as the truth about Claudia - and the mysterious body in their flat - emerges, Lily realizes she has never attempted to understand the sister she so easily abandoned. Davidson paves the path of this narrative with all the right stones – dark secrets aplenty, an ever increasing cast of suspects, motives galore, great end-of-chapter plot twists,. Also ardent ex-lovers, resourceful and entertaining best friends, dubious therapists, suspiciously attentive neighbours and a crackling chemistry between Lily and the gruff policeman assigned to her case. ‘The Damage Done’ makes for compulsive reading, never faltering as it hurtles towards its very satisfying end.

However, one annoying detail marred my enjoyment of this book – author Davidson gives a conservative Muslim girl from a brutal, repressive society where honour killings and acid attacks are common, a decidedly Hindu name (Padma, Sanskrit for lotus, and also the name of a popular goddess). As a South Asian myself, I found this slip rather glaring, given Davidson’s proven expertise in travel writing and the otherwise well plotted, pitch perfect narrative.