Her Name Was Rose is a story about a woman — Emily — who seems to always be dealt a bad hand by the universe while trying to find some happiness. Instead of finding it, she is swept up into a whirlwind of grief and the murders of two people, Rose and Kevin, with characters both loving and cruel alike making up the ensemble of characters. With her own past haunting her, she seems to keep making the same mistakes as before. As the tale unfolds, we understand Emily more and we learn about what happened to Rose, to Kevin, and the people around them. It was a gripping read from start to finish and while it had the suspense of a good thriller, it was softer than that, and told a meaningful story.

When Emily witnesses the death of Rose Grahame, she finds herself becoming obsessed with the dead woman's social media and the relationship she had with the now-widowed Cian Grahame. Finding herself wanting a bit of that happiness, she applies for the receptionist position that Rose held at the local dentist when she loses her job. From here, she meets the people Rose considered co-workers, friends, and Cian, and finds herself slotting into all of their lives. But will this bid for happiness end well for her?

Overall, this book was genuinely good. It kept me interested, made me care about Emily, and left me wondering and trying to figure out the answers as I went along. I happily let the book lead me through its twists and turns, enjoying the chapters interspersed from Rose’s perspective thoroughly too. I enjoyed learning about Emily’s past and the effect it had on her present, although watching the ways she tried to find happiness and watching her ignore warning signs was heartbreaking and did, at points, make me want to give her a little shake and set her on the right track to happiness and self-love, which her lack of could be argued was the driving force behind her decisions and attempts to find happiness in this book.

So as not to spoil anything, I will not name names, but there were characters I liked despite myself and characters I did not, but all of them were interesting to read about and I loved learning about each person who had been involved in Rose’s life as Emily found that not all parts of this happiness she had tried to build were toxic or harmful to her, and her reliance on alcohol and her anxiety pills was heartbreaking but totally understandable.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. Claire Allan did a great job, and now that she’s on my radar, hopefully I will be able to get my hands on another book by her soon!