Sharp Objects is the 2006 debut novel by American author Gillian Flynn. The book was first published through Shaye Areheart Books on September 26, 2006, and has subsequently been re-printed through Broadway Books. The novel follows Camille Preaker, a newspaper journalist who must return to her hometown to report on a series of brutal murders.
Characters
Main
Camille Preaker: A young journalist trying to make a better life for herself in Chicago. She has suffered for years after the death of her sister Marian at a very young age. Camille spent time in a psychiatric hospital near Chicago after years of self-harm. Amma Crellin: Camille's 13-year-old half-sister, who is the "it girl" in the town of Wind Gap, Missouri. She lives a double life as a perfect Southern daughter to Adora and also the mean girl to the rest of the town. She terrorizes those living in the town as she attempts to rule everyone around her. Adora Crellin: Camille and Amma's mother, a strict woman who rarely shows any type of positive emotion towards Camille, and treats Amma like a baby doll. Her family is the wealthiest in the area and owns many of the businesses in the surrounding areas, and she has a firm hold on the social atmosphere of Wind Gap.
Supporting
Richard Willis: A detective from Kansas City homicide division tasked to investigate the crimes happening in Wind Gap. Alan Crellin: Adora's husband, Amma and Marian's biological father, and Camille's stepfather. He is well reserved, quiet and believes whatever Adora tells him, even if it is a lie. He lets Amma do everything she pleases and provides whatever she asks for. Ann Nash and Natalie Keene: Two innocent victims of a gruesome crime in Wind Gap being investigated by Camille Preaker and Detective Willis. Ann, 9, is the first victim, and Natalie, 10, is the second. Bill Vickery: Chief of police in Wind Gap who asked for Detective Willis' help in investigating the crimes. John Keene: Natalie's 18-year-old brother. He is one of the main suspects in the murders, and his alibi during the disappearance of his sister sounds suspicious to the police and townspeople. Frank Curry: Camille's editor-in-chief, boss and friend. He encourages Camille to return to Wind Gap to cover a story of unresolved murders in her hometown. Eileen Curry: Frank's wife and a surrogate mother to Camille. Eileen often corresponds with Camille over the phone while she's in Wind Gap.
Synopsis
Camille Preaker works as a journalist at The Daily Post, a small newspaper in Chicago. She is not particularly satisfied with the job, which includes writing stories about human neglect, murders, and crime. Camille gets along somewhat well with her boss Frank Curry, who supported her during a recent hospitalization due to self-harm. Camille has carved many words onto her body—having previously hallucinated them on her skin. Curry gives her a reporting assignment to her hometown of Wind Gap, Missouri, where one girl has been murdered and a second is missing.
Once in Wind Gap, Camille manages to gain some information about the crimes from the townspeople, including the family of Ann Nash, the murdered girl. The local police are not particularly forthcoming about the murder, but the town sheriff, Chief Vickery, divulges to Camille off the record that he believes that the murderer is a Wind Gap native, not a stranger. Soon the body of the missing girl, Natalie Keene, is discovered in an alley in town. Both she and Ann were strangled and had all of their teeth removed. The police are baffled by the crimes. Camille publishes a story, only for Curry to ask her to remain in Wind Gap for further coverage of the murders.
While there, Camille reconnects with her estranged mother Adora and 13-year-old half-sister Amma. Camille never had a good relationship with her mother, as Adora always preferred Camille's younger sister Marian, who died due to an unspecified illness when Camille was young. Amma, who was born after Marian's death, has grown into a spoiled teen who behaves like a young child in front of her mother to hide her drinking, drug use, and promiscuity. Camille connects with a handsome Kansas City detective, Richard Willis, sent to investigate the potential of a serial killer.