REVIEW: Her Best Friend by Sarah Wray

Her Best Friend by Sarah Wray

Genre: Psychological Thriller, Domestic Thriller

Read: 22nd October 2018

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Purchase: Amazon

★★ 2.5 stars

HER BEST FRIEND is my second read by this author and I can't decide whether it is better than her debut "Reported Missing" or not. Both seem a bit mediocre and very slow to build. However thinking of it and comparing what I remember of the first one to this, I think HER BEST FRIEND is probably marginally better and not as slow. But still slow. Hahaha...if that makes any sense.

The synopsis...blurb...description...whatever you want to call it sounded promising and rather an exciting premise. But I don't think it delivered quite what it was meant to. I found the ending to be rather disappointing and, without devulging any spoilers, a bit of an anti-climatic end to the whole thing. Really? That's what happened? Hardly seemed worth writing or reading about. And as psychological thrillers and/or mysteries are my favoured genre I have read many that are along similar lines but delivered with a whole lot more excitment. I love that edge of your seat thrill. That WOW! factor. That punch at the end that leaves you breathless. This? It was more like a leisurely stroll in the park on a rainy afternoon rather than that rollercoaster ride. But, still, having said that - it was a semi-decent read. There were parts I enjoyed discovering and others I could well do without.

We meet Sylvie Armstrong who, when she was 15 years old, her best friend Victoria Preston was murdered and found at a nearby lake the teens used to frequent. The killer was never found. Soon after Victoria's death, Sylvie's father died of a brain tumour and she found herself at loggerheads with her mother who was struggling with her own grief. So Sylvie packed herself up and went to live with her aunt in Manchester. She had intended returning someday...but never did. Until now.

Now 35 years old, married and with a baby daughter of her own, Sylvie returns with her baby to Conley after the death of her mother to pack up the house and prepare it for sale. For twenty years she has been running from all she left behind but now she must face the secrets of her past if she is to move on. 

Soon after her return she visits Victoria's parents who still live in the same house and are thrilled to see her again. Even more so to find Sylvie honouring her best friend's memory by naming her daughter after Victoria. They are eager to keep in contact whilst she is in town and when she returns home. Sylvie often finds herself walking the town at night to coax baby Victoria to sleep. She visits old haunts, including the lake where Victoria's body was found, and even popping into an all night supermarket for a few useless items. It is there she runs into another face from the past - Michelle. Michelle was an outsider, a wannabe friend who tried hard to win Sylvie and Victoria's friendship but often found herself the butt of everyone's jokes. While Sylvie feels guilty about her treatment of her as a teenager Michelle seems to have moved on...or has she?

But there is another storm brewing. Sam, a reporter-turned-filmaker is in town looking into Victoria's death and interviewing those that knew her, trying to rake up interest for a documentary on her death. But someone doesn't want the truth to come out or are are they just trying to hide what really happened? As Sam interviews old friends and witnesses he discovers that not everyone is telling the truth. So who is lying?

Sylvie is shocked to discover the state of the house and the squallor her mother was living in. She finds her work cut out for her with mice living in the cupboards and years and years of memories hoarded in no real order. Michelle pops around on a regular basis to give her a helping hand but Sylvie wonders if she is more of a hindrance? Or does she have an ulterior motive? Then Sylvie starts receiving anonymous brown envelopes through the letterbox. In one there was a polaroid of the lake. In another, Victoria's missing locket that she never took off but was never found with her body. Sylvie begins to find herself having nightmares of memories from twenty years ago, haunted by images of a doll in the lake and Michelle left struggling in the waters after falling in. And then finding herself spooked, after talking to her husband on the phone in Scotland, she decides to up and leave. But a few last minute decisions to pack some lasting memories from her old room upstairs, she returns downstairs to find baby Victoria gone. Who has taken her? And why?

So...it all sounds rather exciting. But sadly, it didn't live up to that promise. I did enjoy it and was glad I read it but it really could have been better. It is difficult when there isn't a lot to like about most of the characters. I think one of the only ones I did like, apart from Sylvie and her mother's quirky neighbour, was Sam. I didn't like Victoria's parents, I didn't trust Michelle, and though she was dead I didn't like Sylvie's mother and I couldn't stand Victoria. I'm not surprised she ended up dead - she was a complete bitch typical of that age but more than reminiscent of my own memories of that age too. So it is hard to connect with anyone I dislike in a book and I find it makes it difficult to enjoy the story.

I was very disappointed with the outcome - very anti-climatic and non eventful, to say the least. There was no real "result" as such, in my opinion. However, a nice touch was Sylvie getting the last word in at the very end. Though I would have liked to see that play out a little more before it ended.

On the whole, HER BEST FRIEND is not a bad read but it's not a great read. Marginally better than her debut, but not edge of your seat thrillride stuff. However, I'm sure there are lots of readers out there who will really enjoy this book.