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Spoilers ahead!
By Amy Lamare — Written on Jul 11, 2018
What happens in Sharp Objects finale? Sharp Objects is the new HBO miniseries starring Amy Adams as a journalist who goes back to her small rural home town in Missouri to investigate the murder of a young girl and report on a second girl who is missing. The miniseries has eight episodes. But did you know that Sharp Objects was originally a book from Gone Girl author Gillian Flynn? As is Flynn's style, the story takes some twists and turns before it resolves. If you haven't read the book and don't want any spoilers about the murder mystery plot, stop reading now!
Sharp Objects is the first book from author Gillian Flynn. It was published in 2006. The book was originally published on September 26, 2006 through Shaye Areheart Books. After the success of Gone Girl it was re-printed by Broadway Books.
The story follows journalist Camille Preaker, who works for a newspaper in St. Louis. Her editor sends her back to her hometown of Wind Gap, Missouri to investigate a series of brutal murders. Camille has spent most of her life dealing with the death of her younger sister Marian. She is a cutter who has carved words into her skin all over her body and spent time in a psychiatric hospital as a result.
When she arrives in Wind Gap, Camille goes to stay with her mother Adora and her half-sister Amma while working on the assignment. Her mother is overly-concerned about Camille embarrassing her. Adora is a strict woman with a drinking problem. She treats Camille with derision. Her family is the wealthiest in Wind Gap. Amma is Camille's 13-year-old half sister. Her mother treats her like a baby doll. She lives a double life as the perfect daughter and Southern young lady who is obsessed with her ornate doll house. Out of the house, she is the most popular girl in town and also a mean girl who smokes, does drugs, has sex, and generally terrorizes her peers.
Camille begins to look into the murder of Ann Nash, the first young girl who went missing and turned up murdered. A second young girl, Natalie Keene recently went missing and search parties were organized to look for her. Camille believes that there may be something in Ann's murder that will lead them to Natalie. Soon after Camille arrives in Wind Gap, Natalie's body turns up in an alley in town. Both of the girls were strangled and their teeth had been removed.
Camille makes an effort to get to know her half-sister better while she is in Wind Gap. She's still coping with the death of her younger sister Marian, who died when the two girls were teens, long before Amma was born. Amma and Camille go to a party together where they get drunk and take drugs. When Camille wakes up the next day, her mother is comforting her and gives her pills that she said will make her feel better. It doesn't take long for Camille to figure out that those pills are making her sick. She finds out Adora is giving the same pills to Amma and she also gave them to Marian.
It turns out that Adora has Münchausen syndrome by proxy disorder, which today is called Fictitious disorder. A person with this psychological disorder acts as if an individual he or she is caring for has a physical or mental illness when the person is not really sick. The adult perpetrator directly produces or lies about illness in another person under his or her care, according to the Cleveland Clinic. When Camille realizes what's going on, she becomes obsessed with proving that her mom was responsible for Marian's death. She finds files written by one of the nurses who cared for Marian that provide evidence to her suspicions.
Eventually, Adora is arrested in connection to the murders of Ann Nash and Natalie Keene. Camille takes Amma and the two go back to St. Louis. Everything is fine at first but then one of Amma's new classmates goes missing. The girl's body is soon found. Her teeth are missing. It turns out Amma murdered Ann and Natalie. In fact, Amma's elaborate dollhouse is partially made of hair and teeth taken from her victims.
Amma is arrested for the murders of Ann and Natalie. Adora is found guilty of murdering Marian. All this trauma gets to Camille and she begins cutting herself again. Her editor and his wife step in and help Camille recover from all that has happened and get back on her feet.
There's no word on how closely the HBO miniseries will follow the plot of the book, but it is a heck of a twisted journey through the Preaker family's dysfunction!
Amy Lamare is a Los Angeles based freelance writer covering entertainment, pop culture, beauty, fashion, fitness, technology, and the intersection of technology, business, and philanthropy. She is deeply devoted to her chocolate Labrador and an avid long distance runner. You can find her on Instagram and Facebook.