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Bad Memory (Audiobook) – Lisa Gray

Quiet towns keep big secrets.

Private investigator Jessica Shaw is leading a quiet life in a Californian desert community, where she spends her days working low-level cases. But when a former resident asks Jessica to help her sister, Rue Hunter—a convicted murderer whose execution is days away—Jessica can’t resist the offer.

Rue doesn’t remember what happened the night two high school students were killed thirty years ago, but everybody in town is certain she’s guilty. As Jessica looks for answers, she finds that local rumors point one way and evidence points another. And nobody wants to face the truth. Meanwhile, Jessica can’t shake the feeling that someone is stalking her—now more than ever, she knows she can’t trust anyone.

As Jessica digs deeper, she encounters local secrets in unlikely places—including the police department itself. But the clock is ticking, and Jessica must find the truth fast—or Rue’s bad memory may be the death of them both.

I bought this audiobook through my Audible subscription. Sometimes I can take an age deciding how to use my monthly credit, however, having recently read the first Jessica Shaw thriller by Lisa Gray (Thin Air) I was keen to hear more of Jessica’s adventures. It was a good purchase decision!

Bad Memory is a story which spans a generation. Thirty years ago Rue Hunter killed two of her friends at a deserted make-out spot on the edge of town. She was found guilty in court after confessing to the crime and sent to death row to await execution.

That was then – the reader (listener in my case) gets to be with Rue at the time the crime takes place. We see how she finds the couple, she is a little drunk, she is a little stoned and she has a knife. The reader lives the murder with Rue as she plunges the knife into the back of her victim. There is blood – lots of blood – and Rue’s fate is sealed.

Into the now. Jessica Shaw is approached by Rue’s sister. She wants Jessica to help prove Rue is innocent of the crime that everyone thinks she committed and that she herself confessed to committing. Thirty years down the line and with just a few days until Rue is due to face lethal injection Jessica will have her work cut out to discover if there were any missed clues. One thing which may help is that Rue no longer believes she committed the murders but if she is telling the truth now then why did she lie thirty years ago?

Despite the lack of pages in an audiobook – this was a definite page turner. Bad Memory has that terrific “one more chapter” feeling which just keeps the reader glued to the story. Lisa Gray achieves this by keeping the story punchy, switching narrative and timeline between the present and the past and a secondary story, which does partly overlap with Jessica’s investigation, was also very engaging. Pacing is perfect as the story zips along and the deadline to Rue’s execution looms ever closer.

Despite this being the second Jessica Shaw story you can easily pick up Bad Memory without reading Thin Air. Jessica’s private life gives the reader a nice distraction from the ongoing investigations. Things are distracting too for Jessica as she has a few issues she needs to address as she contemplates leaving town and settling down elsewhere.

I do need to give a special shout-out to the narrator of Bad Memory: Amy Landon. She has the perfect voice for this story, very listenable while giving distinctive voice to different . She adopted a pleasant drawl which suited the small-town and seemingly sleepy locations where Bad Memory is set. An audiobook is made or ruined by the talent of the narrator and Amy Landon is a name I shall look out for in future audiobook purchases.

In short – I am calling this an inspired audiobook purchase. The story had me gripped and kept me entertained throughout. Exactly what I need from a good crime thriller and Bad Memory is a very good crime thriller.

Bad Memory is published by Thomas & Mercer and is available in paperback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07Q8FD47T/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1

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March 9

White Midnight – Daniel Culver

Elizabeth Nowicki, a British woman and self-confessed stoic, settles down in the seemingly idyllic American town of Midnight, with her new husband and his two children. Six months on, life as a step mom is harder than she thought, and the shine of the American Dream has already worn off.

Bored and lonely, Elizabeth is drawn into a nightmare when someone in a duck mask murders two local cops…and the investigation reaches her new neighbourhood. When this is followed by strange happenings across the street, leading to another death, Elizabeth starts to conduct her own investigation….but can she find the killer before the killer finds her?

My thanks to Liz at Manatee Books for my review copy

Small towns hold dark secrets and I love books which throw readers into the midst of those close communities and let you stumble around with the lead character uncovering some of those secrets. Midnight is a small town. Not St. Mary Mead small, but with under 30,00o inhabitants there is plenty of scope for intrigue and mystery.

Elizabeth Nowicki has recently moved to Midnight. Originally from the UK she has married Luca and settled down in this small US settlement and is adapting to her new life. When an unexpected shooting in the town rocks Elizabeth’s tranquility she begins to look a bit more closely at the activities around her. Then when her closest friend is killed she decides to take a more proactive approach to finding out what secrets Midnight may hold.

And there are secrets a-plenty. As we get drawn deeper into the tale the secrets will give way to mystery, to doubt and to the urge to keep reading to find out exactly what is going on. This is a book which will reward its readers as they get pulled along with the story – you want the answers to Daniel Culver will tease them out.

The writing is distinctly quirky at times. I expect the opening chapter to draw numerous comments in many reviews (look it just happened here too). But I cannot give you too much information about White Midnight as this is one of those books which you really need to discover for yourself.

So click the link below, order your copy and discover the secrets of Midnight for yourself.

White Midnight releases on 15 March and you can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/White-Midnight-Daniel-Culver-ebook/dp/B079XRBGKT/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1520549502&sr=1-1&keywords=white+midnight

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February 8

All The Missing Girls – Megan Miranda

It’s been ten years since Nicolette Farrell left her rural hometown after her best friend, Corinne, disappeared without trace. Then a letter from her father arrives – ‘I need to talk to you. That girl. I saw that girl.’ Has her father’s dementia worsened, or has he really seen Corinne? Returning home, Nicolette must finally face what happened on that terrible night all those years ago.

Then, another young woman goes missing, almost to the day of the anniversary of when Corinne vanished. And like ten years ago, the whole town is a suspect.

Told backwards – Day 15 to Day 1 – Nicolette works to unravel the truth, revealing shocking secrets about her friends, her family, and what really happened to Corinne.

Like nothing you’ve ever read before, All the Missing Girls is a brilliantly plotted debut thriller that will leave you breathless.

My thanks to Katherine at Atlantic Books for my review copy and the chance to join the tour.

I do love a small town thriller. In a city nobody cares what may be going on right under their noses, however, in small towns the mindset of the residents is totally different – EVERYONE cares what you do. If you have a secret in a small town you can guarantee everyone else has a theory as to what that may be!

Ten years ago Nicolette’s best friend, Corinne, vanished. Nic left town shortly afterwards but now she has had to return and face the demons of her past. Nic’s father is suffering badly with advanced dementia but could he be remembering something important about Corinne’s disappearance or is a cryptic statement simply a false memory brought on by his disease.

Almost 10 years to the day that Corinne vanished another girl has gone missing and tensions are running high. All the Missing Girls tracks a 15 day period and covers the events surrounding the investigations. However, everything is told backwards (day 15 back to day 1) so you had better be ready to pay attention as this time it is effect then cause rather than cause and effect.

A devilishly clever idea and it had me really focussed on the story as I realised that the conversation in one chapter was the direct result of a conversation which we see take place 30 pages later. Keeping up? Good – it will keep you on your toes.

I like when an author puts a twist on a story and All the Missing Girls has twists aplenty! The style may not be for everyone but if you fancy something new in your crime fiction this is one for you.

All the Missing Girls is published by Altantic Books/Corvus and you can get your copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/All-Missing-Girls-Megan-Miranda/1786490811/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486495241&sr=8-1&keywords=all+the+missing+girls

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November 27

Holding – Graham Norton

The remote Irish village of Duneen has known little drama; and yet its inhabitants are troubled. Sergeant PJ Collins hasn’t always been this overweight; mother-of-two Brid Riordan hasn’t always been an alcoholic; and elegant Evelyn Ross hasn’t always felt that her life was a total waste.

So when human remains are discovered on an old farm, suspected to be that of Tommy Burke – a former love of both Brid and Evelyn – the village’s dark past begins to unravel. As the frustrated PJ struggles to solve a genuine case for the first time in his life, he unearths a community’s worth of anger and resentments, secrets and regret.

My thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for my review copy which I received through Netgalley.

If you have never lived in a small village it is unlikely you will have experienced the sensation of your life being constantly observed, scrutinised and discussed. It sounds quite sinister (and more than a little creepy) but in remote communities your friends and neighbours will see everything you do when you leave your home and they will pass comment on it to their friends and neighbours. Villages are not packed with an army of super-snoopers, there is just little variation in day-to-day life so EVERYTHING is noted and when neighbours chat they will comment on what (and who) they have seen. Your life becomes someone else’s distraction.

This is why stories set in in villages are always laced with secrets and when someone comes along and starts to unpick those secrets it can cause massive ripples through a small community. This is why Graham Norton’s Holding was such a fun read – he has placed his tale in a small Irish village and one chance discovery is about to change half a dozen lives forever!

The key player in Holding is probably the local Guard – Sergeant PJ Collins. He has had a quiet time of it thus far in the village of Duneen, however, a local work crew have uncovered some human bones as they excavated a field. PJ is called for and quickly realises that he is totally out of his depth, he must call in the more experienced detectives from Cork and that is going to make him look inept in they eyes of his neighbours. I say the key player is “probably” PJ, however, there are a number of other strong characters in Holding who will have valid claim to be the main focus of the story…Brid Riordan is one such character. Her marriage is on the rocks as she is a bit too keen on a glass of wine before breakfast – the discovery of the body in Duneen will have a dramatic impact on Brid but not in any way that she could have expected.

The discovery of a body is not something that will be kept quiet in Duneen and soon everyone is speculating over who the unfortunate victim may be. We will learn of lost loves, jealousy, bitterness and friends and family will lie to the police to protect their loved ones. It makes for fascinating reading, I love when an author starts to unpick the secrets in a village as you are never sure what may be uncovered – Graham Norton does it rather well brings a great deal of empathy to his writing as he sets about destroying the hopes and dreams of his cast.

I picked up Holding with no concept of what to expect, I had not read the description and avoided any reviews I was keen to take the story as I found it. I was very pleasantly surprised over how much I enjoyed it. I tend not to read what is commonly referred to as “cosy” crime and Holding is much lighter in tone than many of the more graphic and action packed books I have read recently. But it is absolutely perfectly pitched for the setting and the characters are all totally believable.

Good fun – Good Read.

Holding is published by Hodder & Stoughton and is available now in Hardback and Digital format. You can order a copy through this link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Holding-Graham-Norton/dp/1444792008/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1479939562&sr=1-1&keywords=holding+graham+norton

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