Blood Sugar
by Sascha Rothchild, Allyson Ryan (Narrator)
DETAILS:
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Publication Date: April 18, 2022
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 8 hrs., 38 min.
Read Date: August 31-September 1, 2022
This is one of those books that grabbed my interest and then I immediately forgot about it for months. Thankfully, the library system here had it in their audiobook catalog where I stumbled on it. Knowing what I know about it now, I’m pretty annoyed that I took this long to get to it.
The Hook
The book opens with the protagonist/narrator in a police interrogation room. Ruby Simon is being questioned about her husband’s death. She’s innocent–100% guiltless–it’s clear from the get-go, that she did not murder her husband.
But…there are three other people that Ruby has killed over the last couple of decades. She’s never even been looked at as a suspect in these deaths–they’d previously been judged to be accidental, in fact.
But after death #4, it’s hard to believe that with all this smoke, there might not be a fire.
What Comes After the Hook
The first part of the book focuses on the events in the interrogation room–the detective presses for details on these four deaths, and as Ruby dances around her answers, we get to see her life story in flashbacks. Her childhood (punctuated by a murder), her party days as a teen (punctuated by a murder), her college years and training as a psychologist (punctuated by a murder), and then her falling in love with her husband and beginning their life together (punctuated by his death by natural causes).
The rest of the book focuses on the legal battle that ensues–the investigation that follows, her eventual arrest, the decimation of her career and reputation that results, and the eventual resolution of it all.
Conflicting Impulses
Ruby is a completely horrible person, she’s a murderer–and in two of the three cases, it’s entirely unjustified. The motives behind those two are so…pointless is the best I can come up with. The third murder probably wasn’t necessary, Ruby could’ve found a non-lethal solution to the situation–but you can understand and appreciate why she did it. She deserves to be behind bars (at least), she needs to be tried, convicted, and punished. It’s the right thing.
And yet she’s innocent here. She loved her husband, would never have killed him, and shouldn’t be dragged through the mud over this. The reader/listener constantly finds themselves rooting for this character that in normal circumstances you want to be pursued by a dogged investigator.
It’s similar to Dexter or Hannibal–with them, we embrace their homicidal acts and desires while rooting for them. There’s part of you that wants Dexter to get away with it so he can take down another serial killer. A similar part of you wants Hannibal to slip away from custody because he’s disturbingly charming. But it’s different in Blood Sugar–we have an actual injustice, and we instinctually recoil from that and want her exonerated.
But…you can’t get away from the injustice of her getting away with the other murders.
At the same time, you resent Detective Jackson for doing his job. He’s absolutely wrong about Jason’s death and shouldn’t be in Ruby’s life. But in any other book/series, we’d be rooting for him. He might as well be Harry Bosch or a similar character–he’s got all these pieces before him and is assembling a case that’s 75% correct. He’s doing everything right, and has an actual killer in his sights–and you want him to fail. Not only that, you probably are angry with him and have some active distaste for him.
But if this book was told from his perspective? You’d love him and admire his ingenuity and intuitive leaps.
For a long-time reader of detective fiction, this is a great twist on the conventions.
Ruby’s Antagonist
Someone has to be behind all her problems right? Det. Jackson isn’t going to look into Jason’s death without someone or something prompting him. Once you figure that out–which will probably happen before the actual reveal–it’s delicious. This might be my favorite thing that Rothchild does in this book.
For a book that’s full of confusing impulses for the reader, it’s nice to have an adverse reaction to someone that’s straightforward and uncomplicated.
A Brief Thought about the Narration
Ryan did a great job of this–she made Ruby Simon a human being. Her portrayal helps you identify and embrace Ruby as the innocent–with a shady past. You want to believe her when she says that she’s not a sociopath.
There were a couple of scenes (with one of Ruby’s patients in particular, and some involving Ruby’s dog) where I was moved because of the narration. I don’t know if they’d have been as effective (or affective) if I’d read the book, but with Ryan’s work, I was absolutely gripped.
So, what did I think about Blood Sugar?
I thought this was a great listen–a great experience.
I relished this approach to the story and characters, and the way you were forced time and time again to re-evaluate the characters, their actions, and your reactions to them.
Do I want a steady diet of this? No. Do I hope that a future Rothchild novel is either more conventional–or tweaks conventions in a different way? Absolutely. I can see Rothchild being a Lisa Lutz-type of writer. With stand-alones where you never know what you’re going to get–other than some wry humor, deep characters, and an approach to Crime Fiction that you hadn’t considered before.
I strongly recommend you pick this up in audio or print.
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