Book Review: The Suspect by Fiona Barton

Description:

When two eighteen-year-old girls go missing in Thailand, their families are thrust into the international spotlight: desperate, bereft, and frantic with worry. What were the girls up to before they disappeared? Journalist Kate Waters always does everything she can to be first to the story, first with the exclusive, first to discover the truth— this time is no exception. But she can’t help but think of her own son, whom she hasn’t seen in two years, since he left home to go travelling.  As the case of the missing girls unfolds, they will all find that even this far away, danger can lie closer to home than you might think…

Review: 3 Stars

I picked this book up thinking it was a stand alone but it was actually the 3rd book in a series. Now I haven’t read the previous 2 so I was less invested in Kate as the reporter. The premise was interesting enough but the writing style wasn’t for me. The book is definitely longer than it should be and it especially feel this way right around the middle since nothing is really happening. It’s tempting to stop reading at this point. The story is a little sad no doubt but is a good one all the same. The beginning is interesting enough and the climax is good too. The story is fairly predictable but there are some very good surprises in there. 

The writing style is good and I’d definitely read more by this author. The characters are well defined and you can feel for them. I do not know how correct her account of Thailand is, but I’ll treat it as fictional and that makes it ok for me. 

My quibble with this book is how Alex and Rosie do not get along at all. I mean why would you go on a trip that too overseas with someone you don’t really get along with? They keep arguing all through the book and that was annoying. I also do not think that the detective’s side story added much to the plot overall. 

For those that are fond of procedural Detective stories, this will probably deserve a higher rating. 

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

#NetGalley, #TheSuspect

Book Review: The Couple on Cedar Close by Anna-Lou Weatherley

Description:

One sunny August afternoon, the residents of Cedar Close throw their annual summer barbecue. Children play in the cherry-tree lined street, tables are laden with food, and the wine is flowing. For Laurie Mills, it’s her first time meeting the neighbours. And it’s the first time she discovers her husband Robert is having an affair. Cedar Close has always been a nice place to live – a quiet suburban street where everyone looks out for one another and bad things don’t happen. Until late one evening, when Robert Mills is found dead in his bedroom. Downstairs, in their beautiful kitchen, his wife Laurie sits alone in the dark with her head in her hands. She can’t remember the last few hours, but she knows she didn’t kill Robert. The trouble is, no-one believes her…

Review: 3 Stars

She did it, she didn’t do it...the reader is left oscillating between these two in the beginning. But as you read through it seems evident that she’s being set up. Early on in the plot as Laurie is preparing for the dinner with Robert, the narration makes it sound like she wants to kill him, phrases such as these “tonight she’s going to make sure that this will never happen”, “looks beautiful, one last meal”, “till death do us part, she says quietly...” when read in context make the reader believe she wants to kill him and not reconcile with him. But then as you read more you realize that while she said wanted him back, she actually wanted to be free of him but she never wanted him dead!

Monica seems to be standing by her friend Laurie, helping her even, but she gives off a strong frenemy vibe that makes you wonder where she actually stands. If you are an avid thriller reader, you have suspected this pretty early on and then about halfway through the book the author reveals the connections between Monica, Robert and Laurie. At this point you wonder what more can this story offer, you know the links and all that’s left is figuring out the logistics. And that’s exactly what happens. The book that starts off as a psychological thriller in the beginning turns in to a police procedural after that. There are no twists that surprise the reader and the rest of the book just focuses on the how.  The blurb touts this as the next Gone Girl and that it is definitely not! 

The side plot about Lucy, Dan, Fi and Delaney is interesting and while it does not add to the main plot it certainly does not distract either. Makes it more interesting to see other characters growing and developing.

The book is a tad longer than I would’ve liked, a little crisper editing would have made it more entertaining. 

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

#NetGalley, #TheCoupleOnCedarClose

Book Review: Watching You by Lisa Jewell

Description:

Melville Heights is one of the nicest neighborhoods in Bristol, England; home to doctors and lawyers and old-money academics. It’s not the sort of place where people are brutally murdered in their own kitchens. But it is the sort of place where everyone has a secret. And everyone is watching you. As the headmaster credited with turning around the local school, Tom Fitzwilliam is beloved by one and all—including Joey Mullen, his new neighbor, who quickly develops an intense infatuation with this thoroughly charming yet unavailable man. Joey thinks her crush is a secret, but Tom’s teenaged son Freddie—a prodigy with aspirations of becoming a spy for MI5—excels in observing people and has witnessed Joey behaving strangely around his father. One of Tom’s students, Jenna Tripp, also lives on the same street, and she’s not convinced her teacher is as squeaky clean as he seems. For one thing, he has taken a particular liking to her best friend and fellow classmate, and Jenna’s mother—whose mental health has admittedly been deteriorating in recent years—is convinced that Mr. Fitzwilliam is stalking her. Meanwhile, twenty years earlier, a schoolgirl writes in her diary, charting her doomed obsession with a handsome young English teacher named Mr. Fitzwilliam…

Review: 5 Stars

Brilliant does not begin to cover it! Overall this an amazing read that you must have on your reading list.Lisa Jewell knows how to spin a web and knows exactly how to trap you in that web. 

The writing style is very detailed and helps you “see” the places being described. It’s almost like you are a spectator in the plot and not a reader of a book. Ms. Jewell defines her characters so well that you can form an image of them in your head, they come alive in your mind. It’s like Tom, Joey, Jenna etc. are all your neighbors and you know exactly how they look and act!

What I loved about her writing is that it makes you forget where you are, you get so lost that when you stop reading and lift your head, it takes you a few blinks to realize that you aren’t in Bristol, you are a real person and not an imaginary character in this book- it is that engrossing. The multiple points of view make it interesting and engaging.

The plot, while slow to start, is interesting from the very beginning. They mystery develops well and leaves you wanting more. As you read along you will wonder about how many people are actually ‘watching’ the people of Melville? Is Jenna’s mom crazy or is there a cause for her paranoid behavior? Who is Tom Fitzwilliam really? Why is someone interested in hacking a child’s computer? The goings on in this little town are strange and the people are stranger, and yet they pull you in, like quicksand. By the end of part one you are just left with so much information yet with so many questions that all you want to do is read on. This is a book that is truly hard to put down. 

As you read further along you begin to question your own assessment of each character and you can see the slow shift in your opinion of them as you’ve been reading, much like how your perception of an individual could gradually change with time.  Soon you are unsure who the real victim is and who is the predator. You begin to question if you’ve been too hasty to judge or have you just been a victim of misinformation. It makes you think long and hard about where this plot is actually headed and what roles do each character truly play. To write a book this mysteriously and intriguing is not an easy job but Ms. Jewell does it with a flair. The climax is a little sad and leaves you on a low but it is the only way this story could have ended. All loose ends are tied up well and there is no more mystery left.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

#NetGalley, #WatchingYou