Publishers Weekly
06/24/2024
This predictable offering from bestseller Hawkins (The Girl on the Train) centers on an enigmatic artist, her socially awkward companion, and a lifelong fan of her work. In the present, a Tate Modern retrospective of late painter Vanessa Chapman is cut short when a forensics expert notices that an apparent animal bone in one of her sculptures is actually a human rib bone. James Becker, an employee at the foundation that manages her estate, tries to settle the matter by heading to Eris Island, where Chapman lived for the last decade of her life, and interviewing her companion there, Grace Haswell. Hanging in the air is the 20-year-old disappearance of Vanessa’s husband, Julian, whose body was never found; rumors swirl in the press that the rib bone may have belonged to him. As James and Grace bond over their love for Vanessa, flashbacks illuminate Julian’s fate and the precise nature of Vanessa and Grace’s relationship. Hawkins manages few surprises and fewer insights into her characters, resulting in a narrative that’s curiously uninvolving even as her skills as a stylist are on full display. This fails to add up to more than the sum of its parts. Agent: Simon Lipskar, Writers House. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
A potent brew of head-spinning deceptions, manipulations, and misdirections, The Blue Hour is a taut, slow-burning thriller that offers real-life apprehensions quietly tucked in amid all of its cunning malevolence.” — Boston Globe
"You won’t want to miss Hawkins at her best: weaving intricate storylines, masterfully jumping back and forth in time, and constructing a haunting mood that hangs over the book like a thick ocean fog." — Oprah Daily
"Intricately constructed...constantly surprising...dark and compelling." — Wall Street Journal
"Paula Hawkins has done it again...this taut, chilling read is just right for a dark November day." — Real Simple
“A tight story…that culminates in a shocking ending… there are few authors writing today who drip out [secrets], page by excruciating page, like Hawkins.” — Associated Press
"The best Paula Hawkins yet - by a tense and haunting mile." — Lee Child
"The Blue Hour is an atmospheric, stylish puzzle box of a thriller with a deliciously inventive premise. I love a locked-room mystery—or, in this case, a locked-island mystery—and Paula Hawkins has delivered a truly exceptional one." — Liz Moore, New York Times bestselling author of The God of the Woods
"An atmospheric and marvelously twisty novel— Paula Hawkins returns with an examination of legacy, and the mountains we'll move to feel like we belong. THE BLUE HOUR builds a labyrinth of surprises, which deliver through to the very last page." — Danya Kukafka, author of Notes on an Execution
"Wow! Paula Hawkins has created another stunning, intensely moody tale of suspense and psychological insight. I read THE BLUE HOUR in one day, utterly mesmerized, but it’s much more than a twisty nail-biter. It’s a masterful exploration of the nature of obsession and a fascinating portrayal of an artist’s creative process and legacy. I loved it." — — Angie Kim, New York Times bestselling author of Happiness Falls and Miracle Creek
"A superb, powerful read." — Independent (London)
"I LOVED this art-world-set thriller with its stately-home Saltburn vibe....Hawkins weaves a skillful tale about class and privilege and keeps up the tension until the very end." — Daily Mail (London)
"A masterpiece! Gorgeous and chilling." — Shari Lapena
“Reminiscent of du Maurier: art, islands, missing spouses ... A compelling piece of work, hard to put down.” — Mick Herron
"Hawkins keeps her cast tight, her wild setting ominous, and her plot moving fast...propulsive." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"The author of The Girl on the Train combines a murder mystery with an exploration of an artist’s troubled inner life in this elegiac novel." — Sunday Times (London)
"This is a fine, insidious thriller, an elegantly calibrated story of sexual jealousy and artistic passion" — Mail on Sunday
“The stormy Atlantic Ocean inspires a troubled artist and swallows up a few sins in a fine new novel by Paula Hawkins, who’s best known for her debut, The Girl on the Train. Three books later, she’s elevated her game with The Blue Hour, a disturbing, elegant, and psychologically probing inquiry into the final years of a troubled artist and the mess she left behind.” — Lisa Henricksson, Airmail
Library Journal
09/13/2024
Hawkins's (A Slow Fire Burning; The Girl on the Train) latest is a captivating mystery, chockfull of secrets, twists, and complicated love triangles. Five years have passed since reclusive artist Vanessa Chapman died. Her caretaker and confidante Grace Haswell is the sole heir and executor of Chapman's personal estate, while her artistic estate is bequeathed to the Fairburn Foundation. Grace resides in Chapman's isolated Eris Island home and has been reluctant to relinquish Chapman's items to the foundation. A Chapman sculpture displayed at a London Museum is flagged as possibly containing a human bone. James Becker, Fairburn's curator and Chapman expert is contacted, and inquiries begin. There is speculation whether the bone originated from Chapman's estranged husband, who disappeared 20 years ago. Becker travels to the Scottish island to meet with Grace and collect Chapman's papers, journals, and remaining artwork. He hopes the paperwork might shed light on the controversial sculpture. As Becker studies Chapman's personal papers and talks with the elusive executor, he ultimately unfurls more than one mystery and finds his life in jeopardy. VERDICT Mystery and psychological thriller readers will enjoy peeling back the countless layers of this novel.—Mary Todd Chesnut
DECEMBER 2024 - AudioFile
Narrator Gemma Whelan masterfully brings to life this dark, atmospheric mystery. Her performance captures Hawkins's beautifully written descriptions of settings, artworks, and characters. The isolated Scottish island of Eris, accessible only when the tide recedes, emerges as a compelling character alongside its recently deceased inhabitant, the reclusive artist Vanessa Chapman. When a human bone is discovered in one of Chapman's sculptures on exhibit at the Tate, attention is drawn back to the island and the mysterious disappearance, decades earlier, of Chapman's husband. Whelan excels at differentiating characters from across the British Isles, creating distinct vocal personas. Yet the audiobook requires careful listener engagement, with its frequent shifts between timeframes and perspectives. A richly layered audio experience for the patient listener. E.Q. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2024-09-14
The discovery that a revered artist’s sculpture contains a human bone sets off scandal and violence.
Art historian James Becker has what seems like a sweet deal. He’s the curator of the collection of the Fairburn Foundation, housed at a stately home owned by the Lennox family: Sebastian, Becker’s best friend, and his bitter mother, Lady Emmeline. Becker’s wife, Helena, was Sebastian’s fiancee first, but they’re all very civilized about it and happily awaiting the birth of her baby. The centerpiece of the Fairburn collection is works by the late Vanessa Chapman, an artist about whom Becker wrote his thesis, and with whom he is somewhat obsessed. Partly, it’s because of her great talent, but she was also a glamorous figure, a beauty who, as she became successful, sequestered herself on an isolated Scottish tidal island called Eris. She had a dark side—lots of stormy relationships, plus a philandering mooch of a husband who vanished without a trace a few decades ago. Her reputation, though, has risen after her death—so much so that the Fairburn has loaned some of her works to the Tate Modern. That’s where a forensic anthropologist sees one of her sculptures, made of found objects that include what’s described as an animal bone. The scientist is sure the bone is human, and soon Becker finds himself scrambling to prevent scandal. Vanessa willed her works and papers to the foundation, but some of them are still on Eris, guarded by her longtime friend Grace Haswell. A retired doctor, Grace lived with Vanessa off and on over the years and nursed her through her fatal cancer. It was a surprise when Vanessa left her estate not to Grace but to Douglas Lennox, Emmeline’s husband and Sebastian’s father. Douglas was Vanessa’s gallerist and lover, but the two had a nasty falling-out. Sebastian is so frustrated by Grace’s refusal to turn over all of the bequest that he’s ready to sue her, but Becker believes he can negotiate, so off to the the island he goes. He finds far more treachery and shocking secrets than he expected, past and present alike. Hawkins keeps her cast tight, her wild setting ominous, and her plot moving fast.
This propulsive thriller twists into the dark and bloody underbelly of the world of fine art.
