My Son's Girlfriend by Kerry Wilkinson
Genre: Psychological thriller
Read: 19th February 2025
Published: 24th February 2025
★★★ 3 stars
DESCRIPTION:
‘Is that you, darling?’ A second of silence before her son replies. ‘It wasn’t me’. Her heart breaks at the pain in his voice – he sounds like a little boy again. Thirty minutes later, the police knock at the door. ‘Your son’s girlfriend is dead.’ And Dan has disappeared.
It’s almost midnight when Jennifer sees her son’s name flash up on her phone. Away at university, she’s normally so happy when he calls. But something is terribly wrong…
Jennifer is devastated for poor Ella’s family – losing their precious girl, so young. She knows her sweet son, just twenty years old, would never, ever harm anyone. But the police are looking for him. And if Dan is innocent, why has he run?
When Jennifer hears how Ella died, her blood runs cold. Because Jennifer’s best friend was murdered twenty years ago the same way. In the same place. Jennifer hasn’t been back since… but now, she has no choice.
She would do anything for her son. Any mother would. But how far will she have to go – what secrets in her own past will she have to confront – to prove Dan is innocent?
And what if the truth is worse than she ever imagined?
An absolutely gripping thriller you won’t be able to put down! Fans of John Marrs, The Perfect Marriage and T.M. Logan will be totally addicted.
MY THOUGHTS:
"It wasn't me..."
It's nearly midnight when Jennifer receives a phone call from her son Daniel, who normally only sends text messages so she knew something was up. Then he whispers those three words before the line goes dead. It wasn't him, what? What wasn't him?
Half an hour later there's a knock on the door as she's climbing the stairs to bed. Who is knocking at this late hour? Jennifer opens the door with the chain on to see two uniformed police officers there. This can't be good. And then they tell her what Daniel didn't. His girlfriend Ella was found dead and now they are searching for Daniel who is wanted for the crime.
Almost as soon as the police have gone, Jennifer wakes her sleeping husband and tells him what's just happened. And then makes a snap decision. She's driving up to see if she can locate their son. But Jennifer hasn't set foot in the place for over two decades, her own past buried deep up there. But little did Jennifer know that Ella was murdered in the exact same manner as her best friend all those years ago. But the killer was caught and sent to prison. So how can this be?
What ensues is basically Jennifer trying to locate Daniel in a town that has changed somewhat but largely stayed the same in the years since she left. She has no idea where he would go or where to start looking. And some of her decisions were questionable to say the least. Jennifer has no idea of the can of worms she is opening or what she is dealing with - largely drug dealing, stolen cars and all kinds of nefarious things. What on earth had Daniel gotten himself mixed up in?
The reveal wasn't too much of a surprise to me though it may well be to the rest of the characters in the book but for me it made perfect sense. No one else just seemed to join the dots.
The story unfolds in the past and present through Jennifer's third person narrative. None of the characters are very likeable. The pace is somewhat slow and I felt bogged down in a lot of wordiness. I have read and enjoyed many of the author's thrillers but this one was lacking his usual dry humour and wit that has become something of a trademark.
I would like to thank #KerryWilkinson, #Netgalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #MySonsGirlfriend in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Kerry Wilkinson has had No.1 crime bestsellers in the UK, Australia, Canada, South Africa and Singapore. He has also written two top-20 thrillers in the United States. His book, Ten Birthdays, won the RNA award for Young Adult Novel of the Year in 2018 and Close To You won the International Thriller Award for best ebook in 2020.
As well as his million-selling Jessica Daniel series, Kerry has written the Silver Blackthorn trilogy - a fantasy-adventure serial for young adults - a second crime series featuring private investigator Andrew Hunter, plus numerous standalone novels. He has been published around the world in more than a dozen languages.
Originally from the county of Somerset, Kerry spent way too long living in the north of England, picking up words like 'barm' and 'ginnel'.
When he's short of ideas, he rides his bike, hikes up something, or bakes cakes. When he's not, he writes it all down.
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