Into the Water by Paula Hawkins (Book Summary)

Purchase Into the Water by Paula Hawkins via Amazon: https://amzn.to/3IWQxEc

Julia (Jules) Abbott was dragged back to the old Mill House when Danielle (Nel Abbott) died. She had to take care of the 15 years old daughter she left behind. Also, she had to look into the details behind her death. At the moment, the cause of her death was suicide, but it was more complicated.

The story was narrated by the following characters: Jules, Josh, Nickie, Lena, Mark, Louise, Erin, Patrick, Helen, Sean.

Jules: She is Nel’s younger sister. They didn’t get along with Nel that much when they were younger because Nel was ashamed of Jules back then. After all, Jules was fat, and Nel was one of the hottest girls in town. After their mother’s death, she moved away because she thought Nel knew that Robbie raped her and just disregarded it. Nel kept calling her, asking her to come home, but she wouldn’t answer because she still held a grudge. She even received a call from Nel, sounding really afraid, asking for help. It was too late for her to realize that she had hated Nel for the past years because she misunderstood Nel’s words. Nel told her: “Tell me honestly, wasn’t there some part of you that liked it?” Jules thought she was referring to what happened between her and Robbie (Nel’s boyfriend.) The truth was, Nel was referring to the water since she nearly drowned after Robbie raped her. Nel was asking about the feeling she got when the water almost had her whole. She’s filled with regrets. Also, she doesn’t know what really happened with Nel, but a part of her believes it is not suicide.

Josh: He is Katie’s younger brother. Katie is Lena’s best friend, the girl who died before Nel. Josh was the one who told the truth because he could not keep it to himself any longer: Her sister, Katie, is in a relationship with her 29 years old teacher, Mark. Katie killed herself because she was afraid the relationship would be exposed and Mark may lose everything. Also, it was revealed that Nel was threatening to uncover the truth, which makes Mark a suspect for killing Nel.

Nickie: Nickie is a psychic and claims that she was able to communicate with the dead. She provided clues to reveal the killer, but no one listened to her. She suggested that it was not suicide.

Lena: She is Nel’s 15 years old daughter. She is convinced that Nel committed suicide because she blamed her for Katie’s death. Since Nel threatened to expose the relationship between Katie and Mark, Lena thinks that her mother drove Katie to the edge. According to her, Nel’s guilt led her to commit suicide.

Mark: He is Katie’s 29 years old lover. When Katie told her that there was a chance of Nel exposing their relationship, he broke up with her, insisted that she leave. After he broke up with her, Katie committed suicide. Since Lena could still not forgive him, she went to his house, which ended terribly. Mark drove far and took Lena there to clarify things, although it still ended up as a bloody fight. Mark then revealed before releasing Lena that contrary to what the detectives believe that he murdered Nel, it was really Helen (because he saw Nel’s bracelet in her office) that murdered Nel.

Louise: She is Katie’s mom. She was involved in an argument with Nel because she blamed her for Katie’s death. She didn’t know about Katie’s relationship with Mark yet, no idea behind the real reason, so she blamed Nel. Nel was writing about the drowning pool, and Louise thought that Nel provided the vision to Katie, the reason why she considered suicide. Since Louise is still angry at Nel and is somehow happy about her death, she was regarded as one of the suspects.

Erin: She was a detective outside of town, aside from the local detective, Sean. She also discovered (mentioned by Louise) that Sean and Nel were in a relationship. She found this inappropriate since Sean was handling the investigation for her death. Initially, she thought that Helen was the suspect, so she confronted her. She asked why the bracelet was found in her office, but it was Patrick that answered. He said he killed Nel, got a hold of the bracelet, forgot about it, and Helen kept it. Erin arrested Patrick for murdering Nel, and as it turns out, his late wife, Lauren.

Helen: She is Sean’s wife, and she knew about Sean’s relationship with Nel. Before Patrick took the blame, she was considered a suspect because she obviously had a motive, and she kept Nel’s bracelet.

Patrick: He is Sean’s father. He admitted that he killed his wife, Lauren, 30 years ago. They got involved in a fight, hurt her, and drove her to the river to throw her body. His son, Sean, was with them that time, but since he was still young, Sean simply thought that the memory was just a nightmare. Patrick then made up a story: Lauren committed suicide by throwing herself into the water because she was in love with another man. Nel claims that he killed her because he is worried that she is a threat to Helen and Sean’s marriage, and he wants to protect them. He was sent to prison.

Sean: He moved away from town and resigned from his position. He was devastated to discover that it was his father, Patrick, that killed his mother. Also, he made a revelation at the end. Since Nel wants to really know what happened with Lauren and keeps insisting that she was murdered, she pushed her to the water while she was asking him for details while standing on the top of the cliff. “With my hands in the small of Nel’s back, I pushed her away.” It turns out that Sean killed Nel, but Patrick took the blame.

Purchase Into the Water by Paula Hawkins via Amazon: https://amzn.to/3IWQxEc