The Substitute by Nicole Lundrigan Review

WARNING: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS BELOW

“He reminded himself that his childhood days were far behind him. He was a grown up now, a man, a developmental biologist, a PhD. In the future, a tenured professor, if that was what he decided to do. Right now he was taking a slight sidestep, a year-long break from his lab to become a substitute teacher in middle school.”- The Substitute, Nicole Lundrigan

Warren Botts is a disillusioned Ph.D., taking a break from his lab to teach middle-school science. Gentle, soft-spoken, and lonely, he innocently befriends Amanda, one of his students. But one morning, Amanda is found dead in his backyard, and Warren, shocked, flees the scene.

As the small community slowly turns against him, an anonymous narrator, a person of extreme intelligence and emotional detachment, offers insight into events past and present. As the tension builds, we gain an intimate understanding of the power of secrets, illusions, and memories.

Nicole Lundrigan uses her prodigious talent to deliciously creepy effect, producing a finely crafted page-turner and a chilling look into the mind of a psychopath. 

The Substitute is a creepy, Tana Frenchish thriller but without the police procedural parts. And when I say Tana Frenchish, I mean really. Right down to the cover, which would fit nicely on the shelf that holds my Dublin Murder Squad collection. 

The cover isn't the only way that it fits. Lundrigan's writing style is ornate the same way French's is, and her book is equally as slow-moving. This doesn't work as well for me because the mystery doesn't feel as intense or the stakes aren't high enough for me to care about it in any particular way, and the characters didn't feel real enough for me to want to root for them. Again, contrast this to Tana French, who, while it is true her murder mysteries don't really have high stakes attached, writes characters in such a way you just want to keep reading even if it's because you want to spend a little more time with them.

The characters could be better, too. I liked Warren Botts plenty, because I like those stuttering, shy, and effeminate male characters, but the sociopath... You could not find a more cliched, un-nuanced portrayal of a sociopath if you tried. She's scary smart, sounds like no child I've ever encountered, and, well, you know those Tumblr girls who claim to have DID or BPD or what have you? And when you actually read their posts it sounds like they looked up that mental illness on Wikipedia or WMD and copied all the symptoms? Yeah, that's what the sociopath's chapters read like. 

I mean, I enjoyed reading The Substitute, and applauded Lundrigan's twists and turns, but it was hard to get into that mystery, and when only one of the two POV characters is any good or feels original, then that's a problem. I might check out whatever Lundrigan puts out next, but I'd recommend passing on this one. Read In the Woods instead!

7 out of 10

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In the Woods by Tana French