psychological – Grab This Book

Now You See Her – Heidi Perks

Charlotte is looking after her best friend’s daughter the day she disappears. She thought the little girl was playing with her own children. She swears she only took her eyes off them for a second.

Now, Charlotte must do the unthinkable: tell her best friend Harriet that her only child is missing. The child she was meant to be watching.

Devastated, Harriet can no longer bear to see Charlotte. No one could expect her to trust her friend again.
Only now she needs to. Because two weeks later Harriet and Charlotte are both being questioned separately by the police. And secrets are about to surface.

Someone is hiding the truth about what really happened to Alice.

My thanks to Rachel at Penguin RandomHouse for my review copy and the chance to join the tour.

As a parent of young children I do find that stories about missing kids will raise my anxiety levels. Therefore reading Now You See Her caused some discomfort as I shared the anguish of a family learning that their daughter has disappeared from the school fete.

The subsequent police investigation into events leading up to the incident and the story of the two families at the heart of the book is skillfully crafted by Heidi Perks to put the reader through emotional turmoil.

Using a then/now narrative the reader is taken into the homes of Harriet and Charlotte and the curtain is lifted on their lives so we can all see the unspoken truths which have been kept off radar.

The tricky part of reviewing this book is that to discuss or reveal too much of his the story unfolds just means a review becomes a spoiler. That’s not happening here. Suffice to say that Now You See Her is a slick domestic thriller, part police investigation, which will delight fans of unsettling family dramas.

Now You See Her is available in digital and paperback format – you can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Now-You-See-Her-compulsive-ebook/dp/B076VWD8SF/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1532456580&sr=8-1&keywords=heidi+perks

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February 6

Behind Closed Doors – B. A. Paris

The perfect marriage? Or the perfect lie?

Everyone knows a couple like Jack and Grace. He has looks and wealth, she has charm and elegance. You might not want to like them, but you do.
You’d like to get to know Grace better.
But it’s difficult, because you realise Jack and Grace are never apart.
Some might call this true love. Others might ask why Grace never answers the phone. Or how she can never meet for coffee, even though she doesn’t work. How she can cook such elaborate meals but remain so slim. And why there are bars on one of the bedroom windows.

My thanks to MIRA for my review copy

As I read books I often try to work out which of my friends or family would also enjoy the story I am reading. In the case of Behind Closed Doors it was an easy match – ALL OF THEM!

Jack is a successful lawyer, his wife Grace was a buyer for Harrods, travelling the world sourcing the best produce for her illustrious employer. However, after a short courtship, and the unexpected wedding that Jack’s many admirers never thought they would see, Grace leaves her job to assume the role of the perfect housewife.

Though they frequently attend social functions hosted by friends and neighbours, Grace is never seen without Jack by her side. She wriggles out of coffee dates with friends and does not carry a mobile so cannot be contacted to re-schedule missed appointments. Guests at their dinner parties enthuse over Jack and Grace’s beautiful home and admire the paintings Grace has created, however, could there more to the couple’s relationship than meets the eye?

Behind Closed Doors is such a clever thriller. Domestic Noir seems an apt description…family life can be very dark and this is a prime example of how little we know about how others live their lives and what may go on Behind Closed Doors.

At first you start to read and you think it couldn’t work, how could a charming and sophisticated woman be so stifled by her husband that she is never seen without him? However, as the story develops and you become drawn into Grace’s life, you realise what a dark picture BA Paris is painting and what a powerful presence Jack is. There are some genuinely creepy moments in Behind Closed Doors and often I was perturbed by what I was reading.

I will not bring spoilers into this review – suffice to say that Grace is facing a forthcoming event which is drawing ever closer. She needs to resolve her domestic situation as a matter of urgency or the consequences of her failure will have broader repercussions than she is prepared to accept.

No more – just go and read this one…and prepare to be unsettled.

Behind Closed Doors is published by MIRA on 11th February 2016 in paperback and digital format. You can secure a copy here.

Follow the Behind Closed Doors blog tour and keep your eyes out for the #staysingle hashtag

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December 1

The Bad Things – Mary-Jane Riley

Alex Devlin’s life changed forever fifteen years ago when her sister Sasha’s two small children were snatched in broad daylight. Little Harry’s body was found a few days later, but Millie’s remains were never discovered.

Now Jackie Wood, jailed as an accessory to the twins’ murder, has been released, her conviction quashed by the Appeal Court. Convinced Jackie can reveal where Millie is buried, Alex goes to meet her.

But the unexpected information Wood reveals shocks Alex to the core and threatens to uncover the dark secret she has managed to keep under wraps for the past fifteen years. Because in the end, can we ever really know what is in the hearts of those closest to us?

My thanks to the Killer Reads team, I received a review copy through Netgalley

Alex Devlin is a journalist – as we join her at the start of the story it seems she is struggling to bring up her teenage son on her own with a very limited budget. Her son is unhappy as he wants to join his friends on a school trip, for Alex it just seems a cost too far. An argument seems likely but Alex’s world is suddenly turned upside down when she hears a news bulletin announcing Jackie Wood has been released from prison after 15 years…the woman who was an accessory to the murder of Alex’s niece and nephew – twins who were not even of school age.

A harrowing event in the life of Alex and her family and one that will now have to be confronted again. Alex wants to meet Jackie Wood – interview her – and (hopefully) find what happened that fateful day when her nephew Harry died and his sister Millie disappeared. But before any meeting can take place Alex has to face her own sister, the grief that Alex is feeling is 100 times worse for the twins mother.

As The Bad Things unfold we are given a greater insight into the terrible feeling of loss that the family suffered. But the story does not just focus on the family – another key player in the events in The Bad Things is Detective Inspector Kate Todd. She was a young police officer when Jackie Wood was arrested and has made her way up the ranks, however, the memory of finding young Harry’s body has left a lasting impression on Kate and which still impacting upon her personal life.

A domestic thriller which is handled with splendid sensitivity by Mary-Jane Riley. The events at the core of The Bad Things, a murdered child and his missing sibling, make for hard reading for any parent but at no stage do you feel there is an attempt to reach for a shock factor. It is the emotion amongst the survivors which carries the story so well.

I found The Bad Things to be a gripping story, there are layers of deception to be peeled back and one or two mysterious characters floating about where you are not quite sure how they may feature in the plot. The author teases out clues and reveals which made it harder for me to be confident I knew where the story was heading. Too hard it seems as my best attempts at solving the 15 year old mystery were miles away from accurate.

Well written, nicely paced and downright disturbing at times – The Bad Things is one to watch out for.

The Bad Things is available in paperback and digital format: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00Y7ME6F2?keywords=the%20bad%20things&qid=1448840246&ref_=sr_1_1_twi_kin_1&sr=8-1

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March 23

Disclaimer – Renee Knight

What if you realized the book you were reading was all about you?

It is unmistakably you.

Worse, it is about something that you have never told anyone – anyone living that is.

Many thanks to Alison Barrow of Transworld for my review copy.

Catherine Ravenscroft is reading a book. As the story unfolds she realises that she is reading her own story, the character names have been changed but there is no doubt that this is a book about her. Unfortunately for Catherine this is not a flattering tale and her darkest secrets are being revealed and even worse the ending is genuinely terrifying as it portrays Catherine’s death.

How has this book made its way into her home? Who is the author that has been able to recount events that only Catherine can know about? And who else is reading the book?

Disclaimer is one of the books that I cannot discuss too openly in a review. A psychological thriller which you need to read for yourself to appreciate the impact of the twists and revelations. Renee Knight has delivered a tight thriller depicting a woman who is trying to retain a degree of control while all around her the life she has built for her-self is crumbling apart.

My (non-spoiler) thoughts in brief:

Initially it is easy to empathise with Catherine: someone is targeting her and she is scared. Then we meet author of the book and learn that there are two sides to every story and we start to question what we know about Catherine. A nice touch as I had been too trusting that Catherine was all she appeared to be – who is telling the truth?

Renee Knight does a masterful job of depicting Catherine’s descent into a fearful paranoia. Secrets will out but there will be pain and heartbreak before all the facts are known.

An unsettling story but one that will keep you reading late into the night.

Disclaimer is published by Doubleday on 9^th April 2015.

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