The Bride by John Nicholl
Genre: Psychological thriller
Read: 25th June 2023
Published: 28th June 2023
★★★★ 3.5 stars (rounded up)
DESCRIPTION:
She’s on trial for murder… Now it’s her turn to tell her story…
The truth is that I loved James with my whole heart. We were soulmates: meant to be together forever. On the morning of our wedding, I had just found out I was carrying his child.
But it’s time to tell my side of the story. It’s time everyone knew what happened on that wedding day, on our honeymoon, and on that fateful last drive together. It’s time everyone found out about the secrets and about the threat that loomed over our marriage. It’s time everyone found out who really killed James.
And I need everyone to believe me. To believe I’m not a killer. Because if they don’t, then my baby won’t just have no father… she’ll have no mother.
MY THOUGHTS:
Here comes the bride
all dressed in white
now she's back from honeymoon
the groom nowhere in sight...
I only discovered John Nicholl last year with the Doctor series (it still gives me the chills just thinking about them) and he fast became a favourite author. He brings a unique style to his storytelling that is gritty and sometimes confronting but always filled with tension. I have yet to read his crime fiction series having only delved into his standalone psychological thrillers...each of them bringing a level of intensity that is unique to his signature style.
THE BRIDE is a tale in which tells the story of Daisy and her husband James, their love story from the beginning right up to the end. It unfolds through Daisy's eyes retold chapter and verse as if she is writing the book, which I guess in a sense she is. Each chapter is dripping with tension and shrouded in the mystery of what happened to James.
Daisy and James' love story began when she was just fifteen and he sixteen, moving from London to Carmarthen in Wales. It went without saying that the longer they stayed together they would remain together and as the natural course follows, as does a wedding. After completing their respective university degrees, they married on 2nd January in an old village church and then the following morning set off to the Canary Islands for a weeks honeymoon. On the morning of their wedding she discovers she is pregnant. She is beyond excited and can't wait to tell James but she wants to wait for the right moment. She tells him on their honeymoon and while she doesn't get the reaction she expected, she is sure he is happy about it once the news settles in.
But all too soon their week in the sun and honeymoon comes to an end and so they arrive back in Cardiff later that evening. On the drive back home, Daisy has to stop at a service centre for the call of a nature (goes with being pregnant) and James asks her to get him a coffee. She orders a pot of tea for herself and a coffee for him, grabs a table and waits. And waits. And waits some more. After a quarter of an hour or so, she calls his mobile which just rings out. Abandoning their hot drinks, she heads back to the car which she finds locked up (as expected) and no sign of James. She calls him again...and this time she hears the unmistakable ringtone coming from below the car. Crouching down she finds his phone under the car, its screen smashed. And still no sign of James.
So what does she do? Any normal person would call the police. But Daisy calls her father. I'm not sure what she expected him to do but he makes the drive to where she is and they search together. After two hours, they finally decide to call the police. The investigation seems to go nowhere for several weeks until one day a knock on the door brings the news she had been dreading. James' body has been found.
Now Daisy is sitting in a police cell awaiting trial for murder. But what happened to lead up to this moment? Has she been accused of her husband's murder? Or is there something else going on? And if she didn't kill James, then who did?
From her prison cell, Daisy writes this step by step account of hers and James', their wedding, their honeymoon, his disappearance and his subsequent death and everything that followed. She feels that her story must be told in her words while she still has the chance to tell it. For everyone to believe that she isn't a killer. For the sake of her unborn child.
THE BRIDE begins with a slow pace that picks up more as it goes, particular in the second half. I read this book in one sitting despite its slow start. And you may think you know the direction it is taking but true to Nicholls' form, in his unique style he is still able to throw in that twist at the very end that will leave you scratching your head and going "what just happened?"
The truth will out...
I would like to thank #JohnNicholl, #Netgalley, #BoldwoodBooks and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #TheBride in exchange for an honest review.
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