61 pages • 2 hours read
A Slow Fire Burning
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Summary and Study Guide
Overview
A Slow Fire Burning (2021) is a contemporary murder mystery novel written by British novelist Paula Hawkins. The novel is Hawkins’s third major work and builds on themes that she established in her first psychological thriller novel, the extremely successful The Girl on the Train (2015). Like that earlier novel, A Slow Fire Burning incorporates multiple points of view, potentially unreliable narrators, and the perspectives of marginalized characters. It is also set in contemporary London, England. The novel includes themes of family secrets, betrayal by parental figures, and the power created by money and social status. This guide references the 2021 Penguin Random House edition.
Content Warning: The novel includes references to domestic abuse, violent deaths, suicide, and alcohol addiction.
Plot Summary
The plot revolves around the murder of a young man named Daniel Sutherland. Early on a Sunday morning, Daniel is found dead on a boat he has been renting on a canal in London; he has been stabbed several times in the neck. Miriam Lewis, a reclusive woman who lives on the boat next to Daniel’s, finds the body, and police confirm that Daniel likely died either late Friday night or early Saturday morning.
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