When a blurb promises a huge twist, I’m wary. If I’m on the lookout for a twist, I might be disappointed when I find it. I might guess it before it arrives. I might not trust anything I read because, well, why should I? I’ve been told my assumptions will be wrong. But. When there […]
Schooldays. Whether you loved them or loathed them, their impact on your life can last well beyond the 13 years you actually have to attend. In her debut novel, Laura Marshall explores the after effects of one schoolgirl’s determination to get in with the in crowd – and whether we can ever really know another […]
He said / she said: many rape cases are fought over belief; who will the jury trust? When Laura witnesses a brutal attack on a traumatised young woman, she calls the police and so begins a process of events that will leave her panic stricken, in hiding and fearing for her life. Now-husband, then-boyfriend, Kit, […]
What if…the worst thing that ever happened to you wasn’t what happened, but not being believed? What if…that lack of belief in you left a killer free to kill again? This is Alex Taylor’s life. Will it also be her death? What’s it about? Usually, I like to give my own take on what a […]
A mother knows her daughter. Doesn’t she? Obviously, Hanna knows her youngest daughter, Dawn, isn’t perfect, but who is? Hanna is determined to give her the benefit of the doubt, even when no-one else will – even when everyone else believes Dawn was involved in a plot to murder Hanna and her husband, Joe. Let’s […]
I loved the premise of this book. Missing schoolgirl Bethan Avery suddenly seems to be writing letters to an agony aunt asking to be rescued, but Bethan went missing nearly twenty years ago and is presumed dead, so this must be a hoax, surely? The police dismiss the letters as a cruel joke, but when […]
Occasionally, a book can become a victim of its own publicity. Clare Mackintosh’s dramatic debut novel, ‘I Let You Go’, has been extensively marketed and reviewed as containing an ‘astonishing‘ and ‘shocking‘ twist. So, as a reader of many crime thrillers and psychological suspense stories containing big twists, I was obviously On Guard for hints […]
Sarah Beresford has forgotten everything: who she is, what happened to her and – crucially – why. Worse than that, Sarah is immersed in a coma, leaving her unable to communicate with those around her. She can hear, and what she hears is deeply disturbing. As her family bicker at her bedside, hinting at old […]
Endings can be incredibly powerful. An unexpected ending can completely change our perspective on what has gone before, and I have persevered with several very dull or irritating books in the hope that their endings would somehow redeem their middles. (This is doubtless because I remember finding Louis de Bernieres’ ‘Captain Corelli’s Mandolin’ a real […]
Sun, sea and sand. What more does a good holiday need? A psychological thriller, of course. And maybe some wine. Ok, definitely some wine. And a babysitting service, so you can actually read the slightly ridiculous perfectly reasonable stack of books you packed. Fortunately, my Cornish holiday included all of the above, so I was […]