Ponder Post: The Trophy Child

Parenting is most certainly an individual matter of style and opinion, running the gamut from lazy, laissez faire under-involvement to zealous, uber-organized, rigid domination. Helicopter parenting and stage moms are often viewed with disdain. Karen Bloom  has the reputation of being a tiger mom, a seemingly derogatory title but one she is proud to wield. I expected the topic of this book to be about the precocious or overachieving child and parental interactions. It was on one of the round display carousels for new arrivals and caught my eye as I was exiting the library. I was curious so I checked it out.

The Trophy Child ©2017 by Paula Daly is so much more than merely a diatribe on parenting. It is an engaging, page turning, crime mystery, with psychological undertones and character intrigue. The basic family unit under the literary microscope is Noel the father, his second wife Karen, Noel's daughter and Karen's stepdaughter high school aged Verity, Karen's children young-adult son Ewan, and Karen and Noel's ten-year old daughter Brontë. Also playing a key role are Verity's mother Jennifer and Detective Sergeant Joanne Aspinall. The characters are well developed and although they are not one-dimensional I very quickly formed my unambiguous allegiance with those I liked, those I rooted for, those I felt sorry for, those who impressed me, and my downright despisal of those who irritated me.

This novel is a crime mystery and the first book that I have read by this author. Crime mystery is Paula Daly's genre and some reviews say this was not her best work. If that is indeed true, then I definitely plan to seek out and read some of her other books. The Trophy Child surprised me with at least three plot twists I did not see coming. Perhaps a more astute reader or one more familiar with the author would have sensed them, but I most certainly did not. Each turn of affairs was plausible, too, not like in some frustrating, inferior murder mystery where the crime is committed by some random character who had not even been introduced in the first three-quarters of the book. I thoroughly relished the prickly poke each surprise revelation gave to my somewhat complacent line of thought up to that point.

So what is the crime you ask? In the extreme could the treatment of an over scheduled child be viewed as a crime, a sort of child abuse? Or is it one (or more) other crimes? You will need to read this to find out. I will not spoil it for you.