Concealment by Rose Edmunds

Amy is a part of the Blue Skies Brainstorming Group at Pearson Malone, whose focus is on tax law. This company is currently brokering a big sale for one of the firm's major clients. In the beginning of Concealment by Rose Edmunds, a lot of tax jargon was present. The explanations of tax law are relevant clues relating to the plot. I, unfortunately, realized early that this did not hold my attention. It was difficult for me to push my way through to get to the action. A member of Amy's advisory group is found murdered. Through an unlucky chain of events, Amy becomes entangled in the investigation. At one point, she even becomes a suspect.

The reveal of Amy's psychological condition seemed to take a while, so long that not knowing became an annoyance for me. Amy is clearly delusional. She sees, and often converses with, a manifestation of her teenage self. Learning, finally, that her mother is a hoarder, I had the thought that it could not be as traumatic as she leads it out to be. When the character soon references derision from others that mirrors my own thoughts, it gave me pause. Amy's mother blames her for the urges she fights. The suffering from that alone would likely leave Amy with severe self-esteem issues if nothing else. Amy inwardly berates herself about her weirdness. She considers herself masquerading as someone she is not, lending credibility to that theory.

The stress on Amy increases, due to the murder investigation and her responsibilities to her firm's client, and she experiences a mental break. Here, I found myself reevaluating the plot thus far, and I began to suspect Amy was an unreliable narrator. The people disagreeing with her explanation of events seemed reasonable. Amy's scenario, suddenly, appeared to be ludicrous. I don't know if this was intentional on the author's part, but Amy's instability gave an extra layer of suspense to the action. The indecision continued until I convinced myself Amy was completely irrational. When deciding if Amy was seeing and concluding things correctly, or if her delusions got the better of her, it was an intriguing inner battle to experience. One I enjoyed as much as I became frustrated by it. The bonus came when a plot twist vindicates Amy.

I have mixed feelings about Concealment. The mystery aspect held my attention. I did not see the resolution coming, which is a significant allure to me. Admittedly though, I did not like Amy. She was not a sympathetic character to me at all. Arguably, that doesn't matter. In the end, her detachment to those around her is explained through her illness. My focus on her journey was how her mental abuse hindered healthy adult relationships in her life. I encourage all readers to draw their own conclusions.

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