I have to admit to a vested interest in this book. I have an acknowledgment in the back for some advice I gave to the author.
Carla is one of my favourite authors, and her DI Gina Harte is one of the best characters in modern crime fiction. So it was a privilege to be asked, but this is an honest review
What the gumph says:
Kerstin is wide awake. While her family sleeps around her, the devastating secret her husband just told her is spinning through her mind. Does she really know the man she married? And are her children still safe in this small town?
She jumps as she hears a sound from outside. Peering into the inky darkness, her eyes focus on movement at the bottom of the garden. Someone is out there.
She watches as the figure strikes a single match. Kerstin gasps at the sight of the face staring back at her, smiling, as if enjoying her fear.
A car door slams and the figure makes a dash for the trees, leaving something behind – a small memorial candle. As it flickers in the darkness, Kerstin knows exactly what it means. Someone is coming for her, and her family is in terrible danger…
As I was reading it I was making notes for my review, but unusually for me they were one word bullet points.
Manipulation, Murder, Deceit, Blackmail, Victims or Murderers.
The very last thing I wrote in my note was.
Certainly no Occam’s Razor in solving this one.
How Covach even conceived this story makes me wonder about the way an authors mind works. It’s brilliant.
Children are kidnapped, family homes are set on fire, people are murdered. And all this is connected to a small group of seemingly innocent people.
As a reader I am always trying to work out where a story is going to go, who is the next victim, who is the perpetrator, usually with great success.
Not with this book. I loved the crimes, the settings and the story. Did I work out who was responsible and why? Not a chance.
Even though I made a note half way through reading it, 50/50, because I thought the mystery had been solved. I was wrong. It was just another well designed, well written, turn in the plot.
This is a book that just keeps twisting and turning from the first house fire, to the final arrest this book had me hooked.
Print length: 367. Publisher: Bookouture. Available now.
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