The many lies of Veronica Hawkins by Kristina Perez

Perez’s mystery thriller has an unusual structure. The first half is presented as the published memoir of journalist Martina Torres, the trailing dependent spouse of Spencer, an entitled young American newly transferred to Hong Kong in a bid to boost his career. Martina, aka Marty, becomes intoxicated with the city of Hong Kong and also her new friend Veronica, a queen of old world wealth and sophistication. Veronica encourages a new sense of self in Marty, sponsoring her entry into a world of luxury and corruption. But the blurb for Marty’s memoir reveals that Veronica suffers a mysterious and tragic death. Marty’s story describes the rapid growth of their friendship and seeks to understand what happened on the night when Veronica disappears over the side of a boat during a gala fundraising event held in Hong Kong harbour.

The mystery unravels and compounds in the second half of the book, as we gradually come to understand that Marty has been an unreliable narrator and her memoir may have glossed over relevant details. The intrigue for the reader is in understanding what the attraction was between the two women, and what they each hoped to gain from the relationship. Perez explores themes of bullying and manipulation, toxic friendships and class barriers. The hunger for acceptance can lead the victim of bullying and exclusion to only too easily be drawn into repeating those behaviours towards others.  

Marty writes that her story is a love story, a love letter to her best friend and also the city where they met. Certainly we are given all the details of a fascinating glittering world, the history of its colonisers, and the stratified society of the wealthy and the corrupt. Hong Kong, the city, becomes a central character, and Marty revels in her account of the glamorous lifestyle, the fashion, and the undercurrents of power and influence.

This is a detective mystery story with a difference. With an unreliable narrator, it becomes a question of whose version of events is real, and which of the many suspects is implicated in Veronica’s death. It’s interesting enough on that level, but the real strength of Perez’s novel is her depiction of an intense and manipulative relationship between two women each determined to get what they want. A complex and absorbing twisty thriller.

Themes: Hong Kong, Privilege, Friendship, Deception, Manipulation, Corruption.

Helen Eddy