The Sinner is about a woman in her mid-twenties, Cora, who intends to commit suicide on a beautiful day at the beach with her husband and young son nearby. Instead she stabs a stranger to death and confesses to the crime. The detective investigating the crime doesn't believe it was nearly as straightforward as that and continues to dig.

That's the plot. The Sinner is also about religion, family, and sex, in the most shattering of ways. In the past, Cora's mother is revealed to be almost psychopathic in her Catholic fervour, blaming Cora for her younger sister's failing health. As a relief from Cora's tortured childhood and disastrous present, there are perspective chapters for the chief, allowing the reader to understand that his motivations go beyond a desire to lock up a criminal. The crime itself is straight forward, but the connection the victim has to Cora's past is murky and confused.

The narrative switches between Cora's past and present, at times even merging, her mental state deteriorating the closer inspector Grovian gets to the truth. The prose is simple, almost stark at times, but occasionally veers towards confusing, giving the reader a glimpse into Cora's state of mind and her inability to properly process her past.

And Cora's past is truly horrific: her mother's religious mania, her sister's illness, and her father's frustrations all converged on Cora, forcing her to shoulder their burdens, twisting her mind unnaturally. The tragedy is not the violent death of the victim but Cora's entire life. As the reader you're drawn into it, frustrated by her family's endless selfishness.

The Sinner is a solid sort of mystery, a compulsive read to be sure, though I'm not sure that I would quite classify it as great. ( )

The main premise of the book is very good- a mom randomly murders a guy on the beach. It then begins the unroll which is extremely tough to read as it involves mental abuse, murder, and rape. It keeps getting told too making the book a chore to read as I didn’t want to be in the world created anymore. This is why 3 stars. It is a too heavy read. ( )

I don't get all the "I was confused/I had no idea what was going on" comments.

This is an intricately-plotted novel that rewards by making a deep incision almost immediately, then slowly, delicately peeling back the layers to get to the heart of the crime.

I won't say more about the story than that, and to have some patience, because it will reward you in the end.

Really good read. ( )

This was a weird book. It sucked me in immediately and kept me even when it dragged on and on in the middle. I could not abandon it until I found out what happened. They made a TV series based on the book that I have recorded but not yet watched. I do not see how they could do a movie with that content so now I will have to watch. ( )

I watched the show first so I knew how it ended. There were quite a few things that were different but still good. It was a little tough to read since it was originally in German. Some of the names I wasn’t sure how to really pronounce. ( )