Book Review: I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh

By Mary Beth Newbill | Southern History Department, Central Library

Part domestic thriller and part police procedural, I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh does a fantastic job of making you question everything you read in the first half of the book. The reveal at the halfway mark was so well done that I had to go back to the beginning to see if I could find how I had been taken in. Unfortunately, the book’s second half does not live up to its first. This is largely due to the introduction of a character so stereotypically villainous that he would be more at home in the pages of a comic book.

Part 1 of I Let You Go focuses on the police investigation following the hit and run death of five-year- old Jacob on a rainy afternoon. His mother is devastated and blames herself for letting go of his hand and allowing him to run across the street to their home. Alternating with chapters about the investigation, are chapters told from Jenna’s point of view. We see her struggling to make a new life for herself after the accident and the lengths she goes to to remain anonymous and unconnected in her adopted Welsh village. Unfortunately, just as she begins to trust again and even comes to believe she deserves happiness everything crumbles around her. I loved Part 1.

In Part 2, a new voice joins the chorus and we learn more about Jenna’s story and why she’s made certain choices. The investigation continues and eventually draws to a close, but not without some exciting moments atop the cliffs along the coast of Wales.

Mackintosh’s writing is good and, while her characters may not be stunningly brilliant, they are sympathetic. I really enjoyed the police detectives and their easy camaraderie. I liked that the police are depicted as a team that works together and supports each other.

I recommend I Let You Go on the strength of its first half. The chapters in the second half that are told from the point of view of the new character can be skimmed over pretty quickly once you have the gist of his personality. Stay with it for the police and the resolution of Jenna’s story. If Mackintosh keeps writing about this same team of detectives, I’ll keep reading and expecting and hoping for another big surprise.