A cold case mystery rounded out with sympathetic and multifaceted characters ... As the tale progresses, they also emerge as fully realized, ordinary people whose decisions, disappointments and triumphs are so believable they could carry a story even with no crime to solve ... There are a lot of characters in We Had a Hunch, and it’s a credit to Ryan’s story-building skills that it’s easy to keep track of everyone. The main characters are kept nicely foregrounded, aided by chapters individually voiced by the three ... This also makes for some nicely sketched contrasts between how today’s tech shapes the perception of a criminal investigation and the pre-social media world of 2000 ... With its psychological curves and emotional twists, We Had a Hunch will keep you turning pages right to the truly surprising conclusion ... Knocks it out of the park.
Evokes memories of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys ... Mr. Ryan’s mix of traditional plotting and modern obfuscation is undeniably entertaining, although it does eventually strain credulity.
We Had a Hunch is structured like a TV series in which some episodes are solid, almost thrilling, and some are kind of beside the point, but overall, they make you want to keep watching ... The problem here is that there’s a potentially intriguing story that is distressingly overstuffed with subplots...and ancillary characters ... There’s just so much packed in here, and not all of it justifies the way in which it interferes with the pacing and focus, especially when the final chapter concludes with a plot twist that reads like the kind of cliffhanger that writers and showrunners employ, in the hopes of scoring a Season 2, or a sequel.
A fabulously twisting maze of murder, intrigue, and suspense ... Ryan crafts a character-driven, deeply psychological narrative about loss, heartbreak, and redemption ... Clever, tightly plotted, and complex, Ryan’s novel is as immersive as it is satisfying ... A fabulously twisting maze of murder, intrigue, and suspense.
The setup is convoluted, but it doesn’t take long for Ryan’s tale to hit its stride. Whiplash-inducing plot twists and convincing red herrings abound, but Ryan leaves plenty of room for character development, using the present-day mystery as a means for his three protagonists to confront their pasts and reassess their futures. This is criminally good fun.
