The Inmate is my first Freida McFadden book and probably won’t be my last. It was well-written, with intriguing characters and many plot twists. But it read more like a horror story than a mystery. The protagonist, Brooke Sullivan, is a survivor, a woman who was nearly strangled to death by her star quarterback boyfriend, Shane Nelson, while still in high school 10 years before. She recovered, testified at her boyfriend’s trial and put him away for life. But when she returned to her hometown (after being sent away, in shame, to give birth to Shane’s baby) the only nursing job she could find was in the infirmary at the very prison where Shane was incarcerated. She hoped she would not have to treat him but, of course, she did. That went better than expected and she found that she didn’t hate him as much as she thought she did.
Meanwhile she began dating Tim Reese, a longtime friend and neighbor who also survived that evening of murder and terror (Shane was convicted of killing 3 other teens at the party). He had become vice principal at the high school they had all attended and where Brooke’s son, Josh, was now a student. That relationship blossomed but when Tim gifted her with a necklace that was very similar to (or was it the same necklace?) the one she had been wearing the night of the murders, doubt began creeping into Brooke’s mind. Because, while she was certain that it was Shane who had tried to kill her, she had never seen her attacker’s face – she had only smelled his cologne.
Doubts grew after Tim admitted that he had briefly dated another woman who had been murdered in the same small town. Soon she was convinced that it was Tim rather than Shane who had tried to kill her. And evidence was uncovered to support that conclusion. The result was the Tim was arrested and Shane was released.
But then doubts about Shane resurfaced. It seems that one of her boyfriends was a murderer. But which?
It is an interesting plot, unlike any other that I have encountered. I give her high marks for creativity.
7 out of 10.