The Skeleton Key

Another Book Club read. This is the story of an extended family and their authorship and subsequent challenges of a book very much likeKit Williams’ “Masquerade” that set a series of puzzles leading to widely scattered buried treasure. The main character we follow is Nell, who has been endangered by her identification with one of the characters from the book and is partly estranged from the family as a result. She is also caring for a teenage girl that she inherited from a previous relationship. There was a useful family tree at the beginning of the book if you want to keep everyone straight!

My overwhelming reaction to this story is to just throw my hands in despair at all the self created problems this family has. Yes, there are obsessive clue hunters that provides some external pressures but almost everything else arises because of secrets and lies within the family itself. Even Nell has made some fairly poor life choices and isn’t always working in the best interests of Billie, her adoptive daughter, although she always means well. It is hard to have any sort of sympathy for any other members of the family!

I think there is also a crucial moment where Billy has been let down by Nell and shouts at her “you’re only playing at being poor“, which is harsh but true - she hasn’t completely separated from her family, and even though she does set up our own business, she sees it with the inheritance left by her father.

So yes, cleverly plotted and executed, especially the way we get to see the same scene from different points of view, even if they are widely separated in the pages of the book. I’m glad it worked out for Mel and Billy in the end, just don’t expect me to like any of the characters!