REVIEW: Keeper by Jessica Moor (ARC)

Keeper by Jessica Moor

Genre: Domestic thriller, Literary fiction

Read: 27th June 2020

Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon

(publication date: 19th March 2020)

★★ 2 stars

The premise for KEEPER drew my attention and I was thoroughly engrossed for about the first 30%. After that...my interest waned. The concept was promising, as the light on domestic violence really needs to shine a little brighter sometimes and the twist at the end was brilliant, but everything in between was just a little bleh.

Katie Straw worked at a domestic violence refuge for women. But when her body is pulled from the river, at first glance it appears to be suicide. Or is it? Detectives Whitworth and Brookes must piece together Katie's life to work out if she did in fact kill herself or if she was murdered. But the question is, who would want to kill Katie?

As they delve into her background, detectives discover that there is no trace of anyone named Katie Straw. No birth certificate, no tax records, no nothing. The only real reason to change one's name is to hide in plain sight. So who exactly was Katie? And what, or who, was she running from?

Detectives question her boyfriend Noah and the women at the refuge, much to the chagrin of the woman who runs it, to try and get a lead on exactly who Katie was and what secrets she kept. The women, all of whom are a mixed bunch, aren't convinced Katie killed herself. Yes, she seemed sad at times but that wasn't who she was. The reader is slowly let into the confines of both the refuge and the minds of the women who shelter there.

KEEPER is Katie's story told in the past and present - THEN and NOW. As her story unfolds in the past chapters, we soon learn that her boyfriend Jamie is incredibly controlling and abusive. He doesn't hit her but then abuse comes in all shapes and sizes. He uses coercive control, he manipulates her, slowly chipping away at her and breaking her down...ultimately leading to threats. It is obvious from early on that Katie isn't happy. She stops eating and begins to lose weight. Jamie's pointed remarks about her being skin and bone only add to her growing loss of self confidence. It isn't until she finds herself in hospital that she finds the strength to leave.

I found myself more drawn to Katie's past story than the current one which was just so boring. Detective Whitworth was a wet blanket with a somewhat complacent view on abused women. He had no backbone and I kind of felt what was the point of him even being there. The women in the refuge, as sad as their stories were, all seemed to bleat on endlessly and Val, the woman who ran the place, wore a permanent cat's arse expression with tired lipstick. No one was very likable at all. As a domestic violence survivor myself, I found I couldn't relate to any of these women...except Katie, because she's the one we got to know the most.

It was unfortunate that this was such a disappointing read for me as it certainly had the potential to be a fantastic thriller. But it is not a thriller at all. It's not even a crime thriller. But it is a mystery. However, having said that, the best part of KEEPER is the ending. It was a shocking twist that I didn't see coming and it was a clever one at that...which is probably why I am so disappointed in the rest of the book.

So even if you don't like this book, I do recommend you read till the end...that twist may change the entire book for you. It didn't for me, but I still thought it was such a clever ending.

I would like to thank #JessicaMoor, #NetGalley and #PenguinUK for an ARC of #Keeper in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: When Shadows Fall by Alex Gray (ARC)

When Shadows Fall (Lorimer & Brightman #17) by Alex Gray

Genre: Crime fiction, police procedural

Read: 24th June 2020

Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon

(publication date: 19th March 2020)

★★★★★ 5 stars

While only having read the first book in the Glasgow-based Lorimer series by Alex Gray, I was happy to dive into this seventeenth installment anyway. Despite this, WHEN SHADOWS FALL works well as a standalone crime thriller that is no nonsense and makes a pleasant change from all the angst in everyone's lives found in other series.

When gardener, Joseph Flynn, uncovers human remains in the grounds of the estate in which he is working, he immediately calls up his old pal Detective Superintendent Lorimer. Scenes of crime are called as are uniform to cordon off the area and when the remains appear to be decades old with a bullet hole through the skull, Lorimer pays a vist to the scene. The skeletal remains predate the new owners moving in but the question remains why are they buried here and more importantly, whose remains are they?

Meanwhile, Lorimer receives the devastating news that his former boss and and close friend , ex-DSI George Phillips, has been shot dead in his own garden. A clean silent kill, it appears to be a professional hit but Phillips was a well respected officer now enjoying retirement - who would want him dead? With no forensics and no clear motive, Lorimer leaves the local police to investigate.

But when other retired police officers are killed in apparent professional hits, as the head of Police Scotland's MIT Lorimer is forced to take over the investigations. Then when ballistics return a match for all murders, including the decades old remains found buried in an affluent garden, Lorimer faces his toughest case yet in trying to track down the gun and the killer or killers responsible.

Then current serving DC Sharon Carson, a member of Lorimer's team, is shot on her doorstep on Halloween, changing the patterns of the murders. Is this the same gunman or an entirely different crime by someone else?

Throughout the story we also meet John Ramsay, who is currently coming to the end of his 15 year stretch in Glasgow's Barlinnie prison. He has lead a long life of crime, his last resulting in the death of someone during an armed robbery. Whilst in prison he has been questioning whether there is redemption for someone like him, having been diagnosed with lung cancer with just a few more months left. He has struck up an unlikely friendship with the prison chaplain Douglas Petrie, whom he calls the Padre. Their conversations show the Padre that Ramsay is facing an inner struggle he doesn't know what to do with. And knowing that he is soon to be released, the padre gives him the name of a church and priest where he can seek comfort on the outside. But Ramsay faces an even bigger challenge...he has been singled out to make one last hit upon his release.

The plotting throughout is clever and intricate with readers aware of "the Big Man" orchestrating events with no idea who he is or how he is doing it. There is honestly never a dull moment as the narrative switches perspectives throwing in multiple twists to throw us off the scent.

I love Lorimer and I really don't know why I haven't read more of the series...probably the fact I have so many on my TBR list as it is...but I love how there is no angst between the ranks or drunken detectives seeing life through the bottom of a pint glass. I love how Lorimer is happily married to Maggie who has been by his side throughout the series, playing her own important role as not just a housewife but a teacher and children's author. I also like Professor Solomon Brightman's (Solly) input into the case throughout, while small in part, is paramount to the story. I also notice that Solly has married pathologist Rosie and they now have two children. While I haven't read the other fifteen books in between and have missed Lorimer's transition from DCI to DSI, the thing about this series is that each book can be read as a standalone.

A brilliant tale from start to finish, WHEN SHADOWS FALL is fiendishly plotted with plenty of twists to keep the reader guessing while at the same time whetting our appetites for more.

Cleverly constructed, WHEN SHADOWS FALL is an atmospheric read that will make readers seek out the rest of the series, if they haven't already done so. It is one that all Scottish crime thriller fans will love and I thoroughly recommend not just this book...but the entire series!

I thoroughly enjoyed WHEN SHADOWS FALL, just as much as the first, and look forward to reading more of Lorimer in the future.

I would like to thank #AlexGray, #NetGalley and #Sphere for an ARC of #WhenShadowsFall in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: You Never Told Me by Sarah Jasmon (ARC)

You Never Told Me by Sarah Jasmon

Genre: Women's fiction, chick lit

Read: 25th June 2020

Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon

(publication date: 19th March 2020)

★★ 2 stars

I'm not sure how to review this book because I didn't really enjoy it. The premise promised so much more but by the end there were so many questions and loose ends.

A year ago, Charlie had it all - a beautiful house, a lovable dog and an upcoming wedding. But feeling trapped and ignoring all warnings from her family, she left it all and fled to the other side of the world. A year later in Thailand, Charlie has nothing to show for it but a restlessness for home and an empty bank account. Logging into her email at an internet cafe, she sees an email from her sister and calls her. Their mother has taken ill and is in hospital. Charlie needs to get home now. But with no money for her ticket, she panics...until a friend talks her housemates into repaying her for their share of the rent.

Now she is back in dreary England. Stepping off the train and no money left for a taxi, she walks the remaining distance to the hospital...in the rain. She arrives to find she is too late. Her mother has gone. Why couldn't she get here earlier to have just one more moment with her?

The reception from her father and sister is somewhat distant as they return to the family home. The house needs to be sold and their father is moving in with her sister Eleanor and her family. But what is Charlie to do? This was her home once upon a time. She had less than a month to find a job and somewhere to live...because she didn't suppose her boyfriend Max would take her back. She's not sure she would want to go back. But she did want Bella. She missed Bella, her scruffy lovable dog.

But then Eleanor hands her an envelope. Inside are some documents relating to a bank account in Eleanor's name and a key. What's the key for, Charlie asked. Oh, it's for her boat, says Eleanor. Their mother had a boat? A narrowboat or canal boat. So Charlie took herself down to the canal and so began her journey of discovery, I guess you could call it. She met a few people along the way - Bob and Lydia, Dave, Margereta - and even reconnected with Max in a way. But as Charlie steered through the locks, canals and junctions...she discovers her mother had secrets. And she travelled the canal looking for the answers to her questions about the mother she never really knew.

From the premise I had expected YOU NEVER TOLD ME to so much more exciting with the layers of secrets their mother kept hidden but instead it was more a journey of Charlie's own self discovery. Sure she uncovered some of her mother's secrets but we still don't get all the answers at the end. It left everything up in the air with an unsatisfactory end. I even questioned some characters' roles in the story because they didn't appear to go anywhere either.

The only part that had me in tears was the picture painted of poor Bella looking all forlorn on the back step, with just a plastic bed and thin blanket for comfort...chained up in the rain, cold and alone. No dog deserves to be treated like that. I cried buckets for the poor thing and whooped for joy when Charlie rescued her.

I loved the canal boat setting. These narrowboats have delighted me and I would love to travel one should I ever find myself in the UK. There is something peaceful and so tranquil about being on the water. But that is where my interest ended.

I really can't say much else about this book because I honestly felt it was a waste of my time reading it, sadly. I didn't enjoy it and found the ending unsatisfactory.

I would like to thank #SarahJasmon, #NetGalley and #RandomHouseUK and #TransworldPublishers for an ARC of #YouNeverToldMe in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: The Traitor by V.S. Alexander (ARC)

The Traitor by V.S. Alexander

Genre: Historical fiction, WW2

Read: 21st June 2020

Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon

(publication date: 12th March 2020)

(paperback: 2nd September 2020)

★★★★ 4 stars

"Not all Germans were Nazis."

No truer words than these. However, even long after the war, Germany was synonymous with Hitler and the Nazi regime but interestingly enough, most Germans did not agree with his politics but because of his power they dare not defy him. So therefore it was easier to "Heil Hitler!" than it was to go against him. To do so was treason, and for treason the sentence was death.

But to live under that kind of rule, that kind of dictatorship, to be told what you can and can't do, what books you can or can't read, who to talk to and not to...would be a sentence in itself. Despite a world war going on, there was another kind of war being fought within Germany. To be living in Germany during that time would have been insufferable. Anyone who did would be incredibly brave to have withstood it (I don't know if I could have)...and those of the neighbouring countries that were affected by Hitler's rule.

But then there were those whose bravery lives long after they did. Founded by university students Hans and Sophie Scholl and their professor, The White Rose was a peaceful resistance movement that began in 1942 and, though shortlived, operated under great risk to bring truth to German citizens about the fascist Nazi regime and the Third Reich. They spoke out against the Nazi propaganda and what it stood for for the good of Germany.

So incorporating true life with fictional, we meet Natalya Petrovich who joins the movement and helps spread words of resistance and hope to the German people.

So no, not all German's were Nazis.

Munich, Kristallnacht 1938: Sixteen year old Natalya Petrovich watches from her bedroom window the orange skies on the horizon, as the synagogues and homes of Jews are set alight rendering them homeless. Her best friend Lisa Kobl bangs her floor on the ceiling below to let her know she sees it too.

1942: As a Russian born German, Natalya's family moved to Munich when she was four years old for a better life. But life under Hitler's rising regime has been harsh and now with the cruelties of war, Natalya feels a powerlessness that can only be quashed by helping those afflicted by those horrors. Now she is 20 and, instead of finding herself a husband and producing a child every year for the Reich as the Fuhrer demands, she is on her way to the Russian front as a volunteer nurse for the German Red Cross.

There she meets and makes friends with Alex Schmorell, Hans Scholl and Willi Graf who, upon their return to Munich, introduce her to the White Rose movement. After witnessing such horrors at the Russian front, Natalya joins the movement with her friend Lisa. Together they are involved in writing literature leaflets, expressing the oppressive government, the fascist regime and the death of the soul of the German people - "the spirit of Germany has been crushed under a foul dictator's iron boot!" Natalya does not hesitate in helping to spread these words to as many German citizens as possible, travelling in subterfuge as far as Vienna to post the leaflets to random addresses from the phone book.

Despite all attempts to remain unnoticed, she does draw the attention of one such man - Garrick Adler. Garrick frequents the gatherings of Hans, Sophie and their friends, trying to ingratiate himself into the movement and becoming increasingly frustrated by their rejection of him. He claims to share their views and wants to stand up against Nazi fascism...but the Scholls don't trust him. And Natalya isn't sure if she should either. But Garrick is charming. He continues to call on her, bringing her gifts and even a kitten in an attempt to woo her. But in a world where you trust no one for it could get you killed, Natalya remains staunch and playing ignorant to his claims. But there is something about Garrick. Can she trust him?

As history goes, the White Rose movement lasted just a year, when in 1943 Hans and Sophie Scholl were arrested in the university distributing what would be their final leaflets. What did this mean for the others involved in the underground resistance? Were they now in danger? It would take a betrayal to put them in the firing line...and no one in the White Rose would betray another.

But then Natalya is arrested and soon finds herself on trial, alongside Lisa, in one of the most pompous rooms decorated in Nazi regalia she has ever seen. The charge - treason. The penalty - death. But when Natalya's life is saved at the eleventh hour, she finds she must sell her soul to the devil to remain alive. As a traitor she must now become a traitor to her own people...but can she betray those whose beliefs she also shares?

A well-researched novel, THE TRAITOR is compelling tale set during a dark period of Germany's history. It vividly portrays the oppressive atmosphere of the time and the constant fear of the brutal punishment given to those who dared to defy the Reich that even I felt I couldn't breathe.

Having read many historical fiction novels set during WW2 and being familiar with the White Rose resistance movement, I was immediately drawn to THE TRAITOR. It is always interesting to read "the other side of the story" rather than just those on British soil. Because not all Germans were Nazis.

The first part of the book was a little slow moving though it soon picked up. However, it's not until Natalya's journey after the White Rose that the story became interesting. The book is divided into two parts which tell the two aspects of Natalya's journey - Part 1: The White Rose and Part 2: Traitors. It is the second part that I couldn't put down. Even to the final pages where I read through tear-filled eyes right up to the very end.

A beautiful tale that is both captivating and heartbreaking, THE TRAITOR is a compelling and thought-provoking read recommended to all fans of WW2 historical fiction

I would like to thank #VSAlexander, #NetGalley and #HarperCollinsUK and #OneMoreChapter for an ARC of #TheTraitor in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: The Man I Loved Before by Anna Mansell (ARC)

The Man I Loved Before by Anna Mansell

Genre: Chick lit, Women's fiction, Contemporary fiction

Read: 20th June 2020

Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon

(publication date: 10th March 2020)

★ 1 star

I honestly have no idea why I requested this book because I am not a fan of women's fiction. I can only assume it was the premise that attracted me because it did sound appealing however, the actual delivery did not. I'm not saying the book failed...just that it did for me.

I honestly did not like Jem. The woman is a walking nightmare. The probable new man in her life got it right when he christened her "Calamity Jem"...because that is indeed what she is. She spends the entire time second guessing herself in all shapes and sizes, over-analysing just about every choice she has made, will make or didn't make.

To make matters worse, she writes a letter to her ex, Ben, detailing every bad thing she has ever done knowing that he will never read it. That is, until her ever helpful and wonderful mother posts it. So what does Jem do? Stakes out the wrong post box to try and grab the letter when the post van comes to empty the box. But mum was going uptown and posted it elsewhere so that by the time Jem arrives, it's too late. Then what does she do? Goes to the post office to try and get it back. Of course they aren't going to just give her a letter addressed to someone else!

So what else is there left for Calamity Jem to do? I know! Let's jump in a barely reliable twenty year old car and drive 6 hours from Derbyshire to Cornwall and intercept it before it reaches Ben! Great idea!!

So here's Jem, making her way down to Cornwall, when she realises this may not be a great idea after all. I mean, Ben did state when he left her a year ago that he never wanted to see her again...so why was she driving hundreds of miles to where he moved to - a place "they" had dreamed of settling together - to try and intercept a letter she still has no legal right to? Does she think the postie is just going to hand it over to her? Er...no.

Then Jem arrives in Cornwall. And what does she do? It's late, the mail won't be delivered till the morning, she goes to the pub. And gets herself three sheets to the wind and ends up sleeping in her car. Why? Because it's the height of the holiday season and there are no accommodation vacancies anywhere in St Ives...and probably all of Cornwall, for that matter.

So the next morning she stakes out Ben's place and is so shocked to see the front door open and a woman with the baby walk out calling "I love you, babe" and Ben appearing in the doorway for the said woman to give him a parting kiss, that she slinks into an alleyway...and misses the post being delivered. Well, that was a giant waste of time and a shedload of money spent on fuel for a 12 hour round trip that produced precisely nothing! So Jem jumps back in her car and drives back to Derbyshire, which seems to take a lot less longer than it did to get there.

Meanwhile, her best friend Leanne had set Jem up on Tinder, declaring it was time she moved on and got on with her life. Leanne was surprised to see someone they knew from school over twenty years ago on there and when Jem wasn't looking, she swiped right. Next thing she knew, Jem was getting a message from this Mitch Black from school. Coincidentally, after leaving Leanne's in an attempt to get back the letter that should never have been posted, she bumped into Mitch at the post office that afternoon. They exchanged numbers and a promise to catch up for coffee when she returned from her mysterious trip...ie. Cornwall.

Jem was so focused on her own problems that she failed to see anything else. And her obsession over self-analyising and over thinking irritated me. This is a grown woman of 38 whose life is an apparent train wreck. She should know better. She should be married with two point four kids. I did, however, enjoy her banter with Mitch. It was entertaining and at least took the focus off Jem herself.

I'm not sure what THE MAN I LOVED BEFORE was meant to be about or address, but as I'm not a fan of chick lit/women's fiction it completely missed its mark with me. And honestly I didn't have the patience to stick with the book to find out Jem's backstory of why Ben left her, why she lost her job and why she ended up bankrupt. In the end, I didn't care enough to stick around to find out.

Having said that, THE MAN I LOVED BEFORE will appeal to plenty of other readers. Just not me. I wish I could get into it but after over a quarter of the book and still I'd rather gouge my eyes out than put up with any more. The pace of the book was as slow as the traffic on the A30 on Bodmin. So slow that Jem had to turn her engine off. That slow. I didn't see it going anywhere after 30%, so I gave up and left it there.

I would like to thank #AnnaMansell, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheManILovedBefore in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: Follow Me, Like Me by Charlotte Seager (ARC)

Follow Me, Like Me by Charlotte Seager

Genre: Mystery, thriller, Young Adult

Read: 19th June 2020

Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon

(publication date: 10th March 2020)

★★★★ 4 stars

An interesting yet cautionary tale, FOLLOW ME LIKE ME by Charlotte Seager is a gripping and thought-provoking tale of the effect of social media in teenagers' lives. Having said that, I feel young people should truly read this book to help them recognise the dangers of living their lives so completely online. They need to understand - really understand - that you never truly know who you are talking to online. That, and the fact that the internet is forever. It is something we never dealt with when we were their age but we, as adults, can see its dangers even if young people today don't.

The story follows two girls who go to the same school and are in the same year but are from two totally different social circles. Chloe is vivacious and popular whereas Amber is invisible and a loner. These girls live on social media but in two completely different ways.

Chloe has just broken up with her boyfriend Tom and in her devastation thinking "two can play that game" attempts to make him jealous by chatting with one of her most ardent followers, a guy named Sven. The conversations then lead to WhatsApp where the two chat more privately. Sven seems sweet and fun to start with as the two chat on the phone till 2am one morning.

Then one night she attends a party at her ex's place and makes a bit of a show of herself, in another attempt to make Tom jealous, and ends up being drunkenly escorted home by some boy whose name begins with J...she can't remember. The boy makes advances on her and Chloe fights him off, but not before groping her breasts and pressing her up against the wall to prevent escape. But escape, she does. She is so shaken by the incident, she doesn't know who to confide in. Her best friend Louise was busy with Jerome. Tom didn't want to know her. And then she remembered Sven.

But when she tells him all about the party and the incident afterwards, she is shocked by his reaction - "Well, what did you expect?" He then begins slut shaming her, commenting on every single one of her Instagram posts and sending about fifty messages to her in one morning. The constant buzzing of her phone is driving her mad and in the end she blocks him.

Then her best friend Louise starts ghosting her and after being called to the head teacher's office, she is suspended from school for sending indecent photos of Louise in her underwear to everyone. But she didn't; she wouldn't. Louise is her best friend and she would NEVER betray her like that. So who would do this to her? And why?

Meanwhile, invisible Amber has a crush on trainee personal trainer Ren. She becomes obsessed when she learns that he has been fired and she tries to find out why and what he is supposed to have done? Of course it doesn't occur to her that it is none of her business, but after she learns that he has been accused of sexually assaulting multiple women she is so sure that Ren is innocent that she endeavours to clear his name by stalking his social media accounts to find out the truth. Refreshing his Facebook and Instagram near constantly, she also adds him to Snapchat so she can SnapMap him and follow him in real life. Although her obsession comes from an innocent place, it still feels a little too creepy.

The two girls couldn't be more different and while Amber's behaviour borders on creepy, I can relate to her more than I can to Chloe. When I was their age (many moons ago), I was Amber - a loner, invisible who didn't make friends easily. I could relate to her crush on Ren as I often had crushes on unattainable boys (or even those a little older) and, although there was no social media in my day, would often find a way just to be near where ever they were just so I could watch them. Looking back now, it is pretty creepy. lol But as a lonely and invisible teen, such a thing seems to unattainable, it's what they do. It's certainly what Amber did...and had she not, things could have turned out a whole lot different for both her and Chloe.

When I requested FOLLOW ME LIKE ME I didn't know it was a YA read, as I was just drawn in by the premise. I was impressed by the subject matter and thought that it was a topic that really needed highlighting, in a world where just about everyone, particularly teenagers, live their lives through social media. I was eager to discover how it would be tackled as it is so important to have something like this that reminds young people of the dangers. This book highlights the fact that you cannot trust an online persona 100% and how easily online activity can creep into real life.

The twist may have been predictable which I saw coming almost from the start, but in the real world, it is not something we would be able to identify as quickly. Its purpose is to highlight the dangers and just how easy it is to fall into its trap.

I do agree with some other reviewers with the ending - well, Amber's ending. Without giving anything away, I felt it should have been handled a little differently, particularly in a book that could prove to be helpful to young people in the lesson of online safety. Amber's ending was just a little too neat and left the reader somewhat unsatisfied.

A fast paced easy read, FOLLOW ME LIKE ME has short snappy chapters (my favourite kind) in the alternating narratives of Chloe and Amber respectively. It is written in a way that young adults can understand yet without all the confusing text speak they so often use (thankfully). Despite it's subject matter, it was a relatively quick read that took me about 4 hours in total to complete.

An addictive read for young adults, FOLLOW ME LIKE ME is an appropriate read for teens that highlights a social awareness for their personal safety online. The internet is forever and it is full of predatory types that young people may think they are immune to...and are not. The dangers that lurk on the internet are indeed very real.

Well done Charlotte Seager for highlighting awareness on the dangers of the world wide web...and that the image people portray on social media might not be who they really are.

I would like to thank #CharlotteSeager, #NetGalley and #MacmillanKidsUK for an ARC of #FollowMeLikeMe in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: Sole Survivor by Gaynor Torrance (ARC)

Sole Survivor (DI Jemima Huxley #2) by Gaynor Torrance

Genre: Crime fiction, Police procedural, Thriller

Read: 18th June 2020

Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon

(publication date: 6th March 2020)

★★★★ 4 stars

SOLE SURVIVOR is the second in the DI Jemima Huxley series set in the north Cardiff area of South Wales. If you missed the previous book, don't worry as this can be read as a standalone. After a particularly gruesome case in the first book "Revenge", which was one of the most shocking cases of her career, Jemima returns several months later after having to face some of her personal demons that often clouded her judgement.

Jemima is on a rare day off when she receives a call to another particularly gruesome murder scene. Details are sketchy but upon arriving at the scene in the exclusive Briarmarsh Close, she is shocked to learn that the entire Rathbone family has been butchered, leaving four dead. Only the teenage daughter Millie survived but her injuries are so brutal it is uncertain if she will recover and she remains in a critical condition in hospital.

Jemima and her team begin questioning friends and neighbours of the family, revealing some interesting family dynamics. Bradley Rathbone was a psychiatrist at the University Hospital of Wales while his wife Sally was a doctor in private practice. The two teenage children were Jonathan and Lauren and were Bradley's brother's children, their parents having been killed in a boating accident the year before. Millie, the sole survivor, is Bradley's daughter from his first marriage whose mother is currently serving a prison sentence for the murder of her 10 month old baby when Millie was 7 years old.

Robbery was quickly ruled out as the crime scene was particularly vicious. No burglar would expend so much energy into stabbing one victim thirty five times and seventeen for another. Particularly given that the two teenage victims were suffocated prior to being stabbed. Why even bother to stab them so viciously if they are already dead? This in itself displayed a huge amount of rage towards the victims. And if that was the case, why kill the parents? Is it some kind of personal vendetta? Was someone out for revenge against the family? Was there a prime target? Or was this just a random attack? So many questions left unanswered has Jemima searching for clues that will lead them to the killer.

Then when Jemima learns that Brad's first wife Isobel has been released from prison, she becomes their prime suspect as the team begin to search for her whereabouts and Jemima wonders if Millie, as the sole survivor, is suddenly at risk.

There are a wealth of suspects to consider as the team dig further to uncover the truth.  From a teacher to the next door neighbour to a psychotic patient to an ex-wife who was in prison for murder...everyone seems to have a different version of the family. So who is lying and who is telling the truth?

Meanwhile Jemima has problems on the home front. Ever since her husband Nick outed her self harming to her boss things have been strained between the couple. Not to mention the time she took an innocent walk with her godson Harry at his christening party, leaving everyone frantic with worry that she had kidnapped him, Jemima was shocked to discover that Nick believed she had done just that. Now the couple have Nick's son James living with them after the tragic death of his mother in a car accident, but Jemima appears to be more of a parent to James than Nick, who sits in the kitchen drinking from dawn till dusk...accusing Jemima of caring about her job more than them. But then the couple receive some devastating news that will turn their worlds upside down, as Jemima tries to stay strong for young James.

I have to say I much preferred Jemima in this book than I did in the first one, where she bored on self-absorption to the point of obsession. In SOLE SURVIVOR, she has been to counselling - albeit forced, but incredibly helpful - and while she was unable to have a child of her own, she now finds herself a parent to James who she loves just as much as if he were her own. She has a good camaraderie with her team who are all incredibly likable, making reading the book a pleasant experience. I must also add that I love the pathologist, John Prethero, and his wicked sense of humour.

I really enjoyed SOLE SURVIVOR even though I had worked out who was responsible from very early on. But that never spoils my enjoyment or detracts from the story as it is always a guessing game anyway...I could have been wrong.

Although incredibly well written, I did find SOLE SURVIVOR to be a little slower paced that the previous book which had me on tenterhooks from start to finish. However, Gaynor Torrance has a tendency to shock as both books so far in this promising series lead the reader through tension-filled moments culminating to shocking conclusions. While I did suspect the killer, there were definitely some shocking moments throughout the book.

An excellent addition to what is becoming a promising new series, SOLE SURVIVOR is a a unique mix of thriller and police procedural, though not for the fainthearted. Recommended for fans who like their crime thrillers dark.

I would like to thank #GaynorTorrance, #NetGalley and #SapereBooks for an ARC of #SoleSurvivor in exchange for an honest review.