REVIEW: The Woman on the Beach by Julia Roberts

The Woman on the Beach by Julia Roberts

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

Read: 15th August 2021

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Published: 19th August 2021

★★★★ 4 stars

DESCRIPTION:

I was so sure I saw Sophie on the beach that day. But it couldn’t be her. Sophie’s dead…

Ever since we swore to be best friends at school, Sophie was there for me. When she married my brother, she became family. We shared everything.

At least I thought we did.

After she died, I was devastated. Everyone else has moved on, but I can’t. She was so quiet, those last few months. I’m sure there is something I don’t know…

Now I’m standing on the beach we visited when we were younger, and there’s a woman with long blond hair a few metres away, playing with a dog in the sunshine. She turns, and I see Sophie.

Heart racing, I run after her, but before I can reach her she’s vanished, leaving only footprints in the sand.

It can’t be Sophie… Can it? And do I want to know, if the answer will destroy everything?

A gripping emotional page-turner about the ways we lie to ourselves and how love and hope can heal us. Fans of Amanda Prowse, Liane Moriarty and Susan Lewis will absolutely love The Woman on the Beach.

MY REVIEW:

I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Julia Robert's beautiful family drama THE WOMAN ON THE BEACH.

This is a story about family and friendship. Love and loss. Happiness and heartbreak. And above all, memories. It's a story that begins in one vein and ends up totally different in another. Having read the author's previous book "My Mother's Secret" I knew it would be a hard one to top as that one was just totally brilliant...but THE WOMAN ON THE BEACH is an enjoyable read in another way.

Three women - Liv, Sophie and Grace - have been best friends since their first day in senior school all those years ago. Upon graduating, the friends decide to take a gap year and travel before settling down at university. While Liv and Sophie both aced their exams, Grace hadn't and so she stayed behind to resit them and then join her friends on their travels in Mexico in January time to celebrate Sophie's birthday. But something happens on that trip that changes their course of their lives, and their friendship, forever.

Spain 2014: A woman sits in the airport lounge awaiting her flight to Guatamela, her hands shaking, when the TV screens surrounding them come to life, reporting the tragic news of a deadly train crash that the lives of all by two people. The woman tries to block it out. But the fragmented snippets invade her memory...falling...the silence...the explosion. The woman smiles beside her and asks her if she's alright to which she replies that she's a bit nervous of flying. But as she closes her eyes all she can hear is the sound of screaming metal and the silence before the explosion. Her hand shakes as she hovers over the button of the email she's about to send that will change everything. Now there is no going back.

Mexico 2018: Still reeling from her husband Jamie's unexpected revelation, Liv lays on the sun drenched beach in Tulum just outside her beachfront cabin ruminating over how their marriage has come to this. She knows she has not been the easiest to get along with in the past three years but it hasn't been plain sailing for her either these past three years. First there was her miscarriage then the tragic death of Sophie in Spain to Grace disappearing off the face of the earth and, more recently, the sudden death of her father to cancer...all of which Liv hasn't had a chance to grieve for any of it. So when Jamie suggested this trial separation Liv was devastated. Jamie's her soul mate and she can't imagine life without him. So to give herself some breathing space and time to think things over, Liv decides to go back to the place where she and her two best friends visited in their gap year but vowed they would never return for a week's reprieve.

Now as she enjoys the quiet almost secluded beach she drifts off to sleep and is suddenly awoken by a dog barking. She follows the sound to a bouncy gold retriever running along the pier and welcoming his owners as they return to the beach from their swim. Something about the woman strikes a cord with Liv as she watches them return to their pile of clothing on the sand and tossing them on over their wet bathers. 

And then she sees it...the woman's arm...and it stirs a memory. Sophie. She calls her name...the name of her best friend who died three and a half years ago. And with those words she is sure she sees the woman freeze momentarily...or did she? Eager to catch up to the couple, Liv reaches around to hastily tie her bikini top but when she turns back...they have gone.

Was the woman on the beach Sophie or did she just imagine it? But how can that be since Sophie is dead? It would have been Sophie's birthday just a couple of days ago. What with that, her unresolved grief and her recent troubles with Jamie, it could well just be a case of her conjuring up the memory of Sophie as she has been at the forefront of her mind for the past three years. Without further regard, Liv pushes all thoughts of the woman on the beach from her mind and returns to England and hopefully back into the loving arms of her husband.

But Liv has only been home a week when an unexpected letter arrives throwing caution to the wind and everything she thought she knew is is now under question. The only way to uncover the truth is to return to where it all began...when the three friends were at their happiest before life took a tragic turn and changed them all forever. Before Liv married Jamie and Sophie married Tom, Liv's brother, and Grace moved to Spain. Before the train crash that claimed Sophie's life and caused Grace to disappear in a cloud of grief and guilt at surviving. Before university, when life was good and they were young and carefree. Before everything changed.

But is Liv prepared for what she is about to uncover? And will any of their lives ever be the same again when she does?

The premise for THE WOMAN ON THE BEACH is definitely intriguing and upon starting the book it wasn't long before I figured out the line along which it was heading. But that was only the beginning. What ensues is a far deeper tale of the joys and heartbreaks of these three friends and how things went tragically wrong. 

The story moves along at a steady pace throughout with easily spaced chapters that weren't long and drawn out. The narratives alternate between Liv, Grace and Sophie mostly between 2014 and 2018 with some leading up the former and latter days. We go to see the respective husbands in Jamie and Tom respectively through Liv and Sophie's eyes whilst life with Luis through Grace's. I didn't like Tom and his behaviour I don't think was adequately explained in the end and didn't sit right with me. I do, however, love Jamie and Luis who were the kindest, most forgiving and compassionate. But my favourite character by far was Vince...and I'm so glad that he got his happy ever after above all!

Julia Roberts has an engaging writing style that easily pulls the reader in unlike others in the same genre. Contemporary women's fiction is not really my thing but there are but a handful of authors who easily capture my attention and hold it throughout and Ms Roberts is one of them. THE WOMAN ON THE BEACH is definitely an addictive page-turner with several twists to be savoured along the way and everything being tied up at the end...though not in the way I had expected or would have actually preferred. The original angle was my preferred choice as for me that was far more believable.

Overall, THE WOMAN ON THE BEACH is an emotional and heartbreaking read perfect for lovers of contemporary fiction or chick lit. And though it's not a patch on "My Mother's Secret", it is still worth a read.

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

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Born in Nottingham, Julia Roberts travelled the world working as a professional dancer, singer and TV presenter. She has also produced and presented features for Sky Sports - she has a passion for football, particularly her team, Crystal Palace - as well as corporate videos and live presentations.

Julia has been writing and self-publishing her fiction since 2015 but has now signed a three book deal with Bookouture, under the name J G Roberts, for a detective/crime/thriller series centred around DCI Rachel Hart. The first book in the series, Little Girl Missing, will publish on June 14th 2019, with book 2 in the series in October 2019 and book 3 in April 2020, keeping her very busy as she also prepares for a beach wedding to her partner of forty-one years, Chris, in August.

Having survived paralytic polio as a baby, Julia is an ambassador for British Polio and the Rotary International 'End Polio Now' campaign, and has donated from book sales to both charities, as well as the blood cancer charity, Bloodwise.

 

Social Media links:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

PUBLISHER:

Stay up to date with upcoming releases from Bookouture by following them on these social media accounts.

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

REVIEW: My Mother's Secret by Julia Roberts

 

My Mother's Secret by Julia Roberts

Genre: Contemporary fiction, Women's fiction, General fiction

Read: 25th January 2021

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Published: 27th January 2021

★★★★★ 5 stars

DESCRIPTION:

‘They told me he died, but I never believed them. I’d have known,’ she says, her voice little more than a whisper and her eyes searching mine. ‘A mother would know if her child died, wouldn’t she?’

The phone call comes in the middle of the night, rousing Danni from her safe, warm bed. The police have found her mother Diana wandering miles from her house, confused and lost. Danni races to her mother’s side – and as usual, Diana doesn’t seem to want her there. But when Danni finds out that her mother is seriously ill, she decides to put the past behind her, and care for her mother in the time they have left.

But as some of Diana’s memories are slipping away, others are forcing their way to the surface. One night she breaks down and reveals that before Danni was born, she had another baby who never got to see the world. Faced with her mother’s heartbreak, Danni vows to do everything she can to bring Diana some peace, hoping that it will mend their fractured relationship too.

Yet as Danni investigates the past, tracking down the aunt she’s never met and searching for her lost brother’s resting place, her good intentions have unexpected consequences as more truths emerge. And there’s one shocking revelation which could change Danni’s life forever. Are some secrets best left buried?

A completely heartbreaking and compelling story of families, secrets, and the fierce love between mothers and children. Fans of Amanda Prowse, Ali Mercer and Jodi Picoult will smile through their tears.

MY REVIEW:

I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Julia Robert's emotional tear-jerker MY MOTHER'S SECRET.

Wow! This has got to be one of the most saddest and most heartbreaking reads I've encountered in a long time. Be warned, you will need plenty of tissues for this one!

The relationship between a mother and daughter should be one of the simplest  a woman should ever have in her lifetime and yet there is nothing more complicated than those you will have with your family. The love should be unconditional and limitless and most of us are blessed with that. But for Danni that is not so. Her relationship with her mother Diana has always been turbulent and strained, who has never hidden the fact that she has favoured Danni's brother Adam over her from the moment he was born. What could be more hurtful than the words Diana spat at her daughter:

"I don't need you Danni. I've never needed you."

Danni has never understood why her mother has not as much hated her as been so indifferent to her. From the moment Danni's baby brother Adam was brought home from hospital when she was 12 years old, Diana has made no secret of the fact that it's Adam she loves and she only has enough love for him. Diana wouldn't let anyone, much less Danni, near her brother and would certainly never let Danni feed him or hold him. As a result, Danni has grown up with a resentment towards Adam for being the one in their mother's favour. But now they are adults and Adam was now living in New Zealand while Danni lived just ten minutes away from their mother. And yet, her visits were sporadic to monthly at best. Even her two daughters, Amber and Jade, had seen little of their nana in the years since they were born, and Diana had shown little interest in her granddaughters.

So when Danni receives a phone call in the middle of the night from the police to say that her mother has been found wandering down the middle of the dual carriageway in her nightdress, she doesn't think twice about rushing to her mother's aid. But Diana is anything but happy to see her daughter - "why did you call HER?" - and though she was used to her mother's rejection it still hurt. 

But what came next could not prepare Danni or her family for the journey they were about to embark on. After her mother's nocturnal venture, Danni made an immediate appointment with her mother's doctor for an assessment who, after several cognitive function tests, referred them to a specialist for further testing. But there was no escaping it - Diana had Alzheimer's. The consultant explained to them the seven stages of dementia and that, given by the results of Diana's assessments, that she was in stage four of the disease. If she had just entered stage 4 then she may have years in that stage, but if she were towards the end of it, then the decline would be rapid. Despite her strained relationship with her mother, Danni is devastated. And yet, she steps up to help her mother through this difficult time after receiving her diagnosis.

The next several months are spent ferrying her mother between appointments and her three day a week job at the library, as well as being there for her two girls, who know nothing of the history between their mother and grandmother. Her husband Ben has been a rock, always there offering love and support during her darkest days at the receiving end of Diana's vitriol. Soon after the diagnosis, Danni skypes her brother in New Zealand who is shocked by the news before revealing his relationship with their mother was not the bed of roses she thought it had been. All these years Danni had been jealous of the love Diana lavished on her brother, she never realised that Adam found their mother's love to be suffocating. And yet, despite their mother's devastating diagnosis, Adam never offered to come home. It riled Danni because she needed his help and it was clear that it was him Diana wanted...until he revealed just before Christmas that he had no job and couldn't afford the flight home.

Then during a routine appointment to assess any changes and how the disease was progressing, Diana revealed something to her consultant that resulted in even more devastating consequences. And Danni was in no way prepared for the revelation nor the resulting outcome. Either way, her mother did not have long and Danni knew that Adam needed to come home now.

In the months since her original diagnosis, Danni and her mother had been forced together whether the other liked it or not. Despite everything, Diana was still Danni's mother and she still loved her...and no one deserves the life sentence that dementia brings. As the months wore on, there were times when Diana was lucid and it would seem like there was nothing amiss. And then in a blink of an eye, she could suddenly find herself locked in a past memory, recalling it in clear detail as it if it were unfolding right at that minute. And it is during one of these moments, beginning with the rambling whispers Danni mistakes for a dream on Boxing Day, that she discovers a shocking secret that her mother had never spoken about...until the dementia did it for her. 

After many an argument with her mother about the excerpts of this secret and in a moment of lucidity, Diana finally told Danni the secret she had kept for over 40 years. A brother she had never known about, born long before she was, when Diana was just 16. Stillborn, they said, but she never believed them...she'd have known. A mother would know know if her child died...wouldn't she? Besides...she heard him whimper; she was sure she did. Danni is saddened for her mother to have gone through such an experience alone and with no support. So she makes it her quest to discover the truth - did her mother have a stillborn child, or was it a figment of her dementia-addled brain? And if it is true, Danni resolves that the one last thing she can do for her mother is to find her brother's final resting place and bring her mother some peace and closure...before she dies.

But good intentions have unexpected consequences and Danni opens up a can of worms she knew nothing about which changes her life forever. And before the story's end, there will be even more heartbreak that will have you bawling that so much tragedy could befall one family. But in the end, comes a gift so beautiful, so precious that it will make you cry all over again.

My gosh! This book should really come with a box of tissues because believe me, you are going to need them! There is so much tension, emotion and heartbreak as Danni struggles first with the feeling of inadequacy with regards to her mother and then the truth behind the secret she uncovers. It was nothing she had done, nothing she could have done and nothing she could do now...and uncovering that truth doesn't make it any easier. It just makes it so much more heartbreaking.

Anyone who has care for or has lived with a loved one with dementia will recognise the challenges Danni faces in MY MOTHER'S SECRET. The author doesn't hesitate in showing this to readers as well as giving us the more happier and lucid moments as Diana and Danni repair their relationship before it's too late. And then there is the effect that losing a child can have on a parent, particularly in a time when ideas surrounding grief were so far removed from what we have since learnt is actually beneficial to the grieving process. And yet, Julia Roberts still puts her characters through the mill with so much tragedy and heartbreak that the reader cannot help but sympathise with them all. MY MOTHER'S SECRET is both an easy and a hard read.

Despite there being so much sadness, MY MOTHER'S SECRET is a compelling tale with it's wonderfully short chapters that I found myself turning the pages with such a speed of "just one more chapter" until the very end. I cannot tell you how much I loved this book and everyone in it...including the irascible Diana.

Recommended for anyone who loves a good tear-jerker with heartbreaks aplenty but with a happy ending.

I would like to thank #JuliaRoberts, #NetGalley, #Bookouture for an ARC of #MyMothersSecret in exchange for an honest review.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Born in Nottingham, Julia Roberts travelled the world working as a professional dancer, singer and TV presenter. She has also produced and presented features for Sky Sports - she has a passion for football, particularly her team, Crystal Palace - as well as corporate videos and live presentations.

Julia has been writing and self-publishing her fiction since 2015 but has now signed a three book deal with Bookouture, under the name J G Roberts, for a detective/crime/thriller series centred around DCI Rachel Hart. The first book in the series, Little Girl Missing, will publish on June 14th 2019, with book 2 in the series in October 2019 and book 3 in April 2020, keeping her very busy as she also prepares for a beach wedding to her partner of forty-one years, Chris, in August.

Having survived paralytic polio as a baby, Julia is an ambassador for British Polio and the Rotary International 'End Polio Now' campaign, and has donated from book sales to both charities, as well as the blood cancer charity, Bloodwise.

 

Social Media links:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

PUBLISHER:

Stay up to date with upcoming releases from Bookouture by following them on these social media accounts.

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

REVIEW: Why She Died by J.G. Roberts

 

Why She Died (DCI Rachel Hart #3) by J.G. Roberts

Genre: Crime fiction, Police procedural

Read: 17th December 2020

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Amazon

Published: 29th May 2020

★★★★ 4 stars

DESCRIPTION:

It was a person after all, but she was suspended in mid-air. Abi’s heart began to thump against her ribcage as the full horror of what she was seeing became apparent. Her shrill scream pierced the silence, startling birds into taking flight. ‘Help me!’ she cried. ‘Somebody please help!’

When beautiful and bright Hannah is late for their morning run, her best friend Abi thinks nothing of it. Hannah isn’t always that reliable – she’s probably just overslept.

But as Abi runs through the woods, following the same route she always does, she is greeted by a horrifying sight: Hannah’s body, swaying in the breeze.

Detective Rachel Hart is called to the scene. Something seems wrong from the start. Hannah’s friends and family insist that she had everything to live for, and no one has a bad word to say about her. But when murder is confirmed, and Rachel starts digging, she soon realises that there were plenty of people with reason to want Hannah dead.

Then a second woman is found strangled in the same wood, and everything Rachel thought is thrown into doubt. Is there a serial killer at work?

Rachel is determined to find answers before another life is lost – all the time unaware that the killer’s sights are focused firmly on her.

Can Rachel unravel the deadly game before she walks into a trap?

MY REVIEW:

I have yet to read the first book in this series but my TBR piles keeps growing! lol I simply LOVED "What He Did" and as it was so long since I'd read the book, I had to refresh my memory by re-reading the last chapter as my review vaguely insinuated a few unanswered questions that lead me to wonder if my instincts are correct. After doing so, my instincts were refreshed. 

And were they correct? That, I cannot say...except that you'll have to read the book to find out for yourself.

As the third outing for DCI Rachel Hart, WHY SHE DIED can easily be read as a standalone as there is enough background information included so as to not confuse the reader. But it would be remiss of me not to advise you to start from the beginning, even though I came in on the second book, which precedes this latest book nicely. You do get to know Rachel and her team a bit better by starting from the beginning.

After discovering her twin sister Ruth has absconded from the mental health facility in which she resides, DCI Rachel Hart took some personal leave until sitting at home drove her stir crazy. But upon returning to work, she took on some more menial tasks before jumping into the deep end. Then early one Saturday morning she got the call. A body has been found hanging in the woods.

Rachel's first thought being that it was Ruth...

University student Abi Wyett had to drag herself out of bed to accompany best friend Hannah on her daily morning runs, though she would much rather stay in bed. But she made a committment to support Hannah in her quest to become the youngest British woman to scale Mount Everest...but time was running out for her to grab that title as she was fast approaching her 21st birthday in twelve months' time. So Abi ran with her each morning, worked out with her and even worked at the Velvet nightclub as a shot girl alongside her...all in her support for her best friend.

So when Hannah didn't come knocking that morning or answered Abi's knock ten minutes later, Abi assumed she was annoyed with her for calling off work the night before and went without her. So Abi decided to catch her up as she couldn't be that much further in front. But when Abi ran into the dense woods as part as their normal route she was shocked to discover Hannah's body hanging lifelessly from a tree.

Enter DCI Rachel Hart and her team. 

At first it was believed to be a suicide but everyone who knew Hannah knew she wouldn't take her own life, for she thought it to be a selfish weakness. And the more Rachel and her team dug, the more she was inclined to agree. It doesn't take long for forensic pathologist to confirm that Hannah died from manual strangulation and not hanging...though that did indeed break her neck but by that time Hannah was already dead.

Then a second body is found strangled in the woods, badly decomposed, putting death roughly around four to six weeks ago. Around the same time that Ruth disappeared. Rachel cannot help but draw parallels and fear that this second body may well be that of her sister. Determined to find answers before another life is lost, Rachel questions all of Hannah's friends, colleagues and her boyfriend. And yet she feels there is something she's missing...all the time completely unaware that the killer's sights are focused firmly on her. Can Rachel unravel the deadly mystery before she walks into a trap?

I have to say I love Rachel although I am not generally a fan of overtly strong women leads. Rachel is strong and determined but not a bitch. She is completely likable as is her trusty team. Her camaraderie with her DI as well as the rest of her team makes her one of my favourite female leads.

Rachel hasn't always had it easy. As a child, both her and her twin sister Ruth were kidnapped and sexually abused by a neighbour which has had adverse repercussions on both women's lives. Ruth's manifested in a suicide attempt leading her to be housed in a mental health facility which was a calm and safe environment for her. Which is why Rachel can't understand why she absconded. For Rachel, her childhood experience left her emotionally scarred and unable to commit or trust men. She's slowly learning to trust her lawyer boyfriend Tim who clearly adores Rachel and is beginning to see a future together. His love and patience is a rarity for which Rachel is eternally grateful.

A fast-paced procedural, WHY SHE DIED is multi-layered with subplots and red herrings. The mystery itself is cleverly plotted with plenty of possibilities to keep the reader guessing. The twist, when it comes, throws a light on everything Rachel thought she knew, changing the course of the book towards the final reveal.

WHY SHE DIED is an entertaining read from start to finish, making Rachel Hart one of my favourite series. Recommended for fans of crime fiction, police procedurals and female leads with heart.

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

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Born in Nottingham, Julia Roberts travelled the world working as a professional dancer, singer and TV presenter. She has also produced and presented features for Sky Sports - she has a passion for football, particularly her team, Crystal Palace - as well as corporate videos and live presentations.

Julia has been writing and self-publishing her fiction since 2015 but has now signed a three book deal with Bookouture, under the name J G Roberts, for a detective/crime/thriller series centred around DCI Rachel Hart. The first book in the series, Little Girl Missing, will publish on June 14th 2019, with book 2 in the series in October 2019 and book 3 in April 2020, keeping her very busy as she also prepares for a beach wedding to her partner of forty-one years, Chris, in August.

Having survived paralytic polio as a baby, Julia is an ambassador for British Polio and the Rotary International 'End Polio Now' campaign, and has donated from book sales to both charities, as well as the blood cancer charity, Bloodwise.

 

Social Media links:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

PUBLISHER:

Stay up to date with upcoming releases from Bookouture by following them on these social media accounts.

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

REVIEW: What He Did by J.G. Roberts (ARC)

What He Did (DCI Rachel Hart #2) by J.G. (Julia) Roberts

Genre: Psychological thriller, Crime Fiction, Police procedural

Read: 2nd November 2019

Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon

(Publication: 22nd October 2019)

★★★★★ 5 stars

The second book to feature DCI Rachel Hart but my first, WHAT HE DID is a fast-paced thriller and police procedural with a difference. I like that you can pick up this book without having read the first one "Little Girl Missing" (though admittedly, it has been on my TBR list even longer) as there is enough backstory to bring you up to speed so therefore it can be read as a standalone. But having read this one, I now want to read "Little Girl Missing" even more!

The story opens with a Prologue with a seemingly quiet man who keeps largely to himself tending to the plants in the Botanical Gardens. He is approached by an attractive foreign woman he notices sketching, asking for his opinions of her drawings. The man, Neil Edison, has little confidence when it comes to social situations but he soon finds himself conversing comfortably with this beautiful woman. As she turns the pages of her sketchbook to show her him her other drawings, the nib of one of her pens catches on Neil's hand. His body is found later that week in his flat and his death is reported as a suicide having long suffered from depression.

We are then introduced to the Shaw family - father Simon, ex-football player now manager who it seems has been hiding secrets, daughter Siena who is in a depressive slump after being dumped by the love of her life and then attempted suicide...and then there is mother Maddy, who is trying to keep it all together and look after her family whilst juggling a career as a news presenter with network News 24/7. The family are affluent enough to comfortable but even that is not enough to keep tragedy from their door.

Simon and Maddy go to work as usual one Monday morning, with Simon leaving earlier to beat the rush hour into London. By the time Maddy makes it onto the motorway, she's wishing she'd left at the same time as traffic is at a standstill with an apparent car accident further ahead, making her late for make-up before going on air at midday. Maddy and her co-presenter Tim  go live as the begin with the road traffic accident that held commuters up that morning. Reading from the auto-cue, Maddy stops mid-sentence as photos from the accident go live, recognising the inverted Jaguar her husband Simon left for work in that morning. Speechless with her producer screeching in her earpiece, Maddy is immobilised as Tim takes over the report and Maddy is lead from the set. All she can manage is to say that the car was Simon's. The network immediately arrange for a taxi to take her to Charing Cross Hospital where Simon rushed to.

Upon arrival, Maddy soon learns that Simon is critically injured and has been placed in an induced coma to allow any brain swelling from the head injury he sustained to decrease which will then aid his recovery. With no one she could really call on for support, she remembers the kindness of one woman she met in another hospital, and decides to call on her to help break the news to Siena.

Rachel Hart met Maddy in the psychiatric care home her twin sister Ruth is a permanent resident of after Siena's suicide attempt. She had given her her card and said to call her anytime should she need her. So when Rachel receives Maddy's call, she doesn't hesitate to be of assistance. She drops everything to go to Siena to break the news, prepare her and then drive her the 35 miles to the hospital to sit with her mother by her father's bedside.

While the accident is technically not her case, Rachel offers to do a little digging tasking her DI to make some discreet enquiries. It soon comes to light that the accident was anything but when they discover a bullet lodged into driver's seat and as Simon was a resident of their jurisdiction, Rachel and her team began investigations into what really happened. A search of Maddy's house uncovers a threatening letter and list of names of people Simon once had links to during his football playing career.

Then a priest is found murdered in a quiet village, stabbed in the neck in the confessional. When news of his death is aired, Maddy recognises it at once and makes the connection to the suicide she reported on a week or so ago. Simon, Neil and Ray (the murdered priest) were on the same team who played football together some twenty four years ago. Maddy is frantic upon discovering the link and contacts Rachel with the information. Suddenly, Simon's accident takes on a sinister turn when linked with the two deaths. But there was another two names on that list in Simon's study. Can Rachel and her team find them in time before there are any more deaths?

Meanwhile, the team are also acting on a hunch that Siena's ex - Rob Turnbull, a sergeant in the army - may have had something to do with Simon's accident and travel to Wales, where is on a three day manoeuvre, to bring him in for questioning. But when they arrive they discover that Rob left soon after arrival, leaving his mate to cover for him. So where was he now and did he have something to do with Simon's accident after all?

We also meet Bella, a young Portuguese agency nurse who worked for a time at the hospital Siena was in after her suicide attempt and is now on the ward in Charing Cross where Simon now is receiving care after his accident that wasn't. Bella has her own sad story of an alcoholic mother who practically abandoned her, leaving her to be brought up by her grandmother Vevo, who is now terminally ill with cancer. She converses via email with her best friend Beca regularly for updates on Vevo before she must return to Portugal and her dying grandmother, the only parent she has really known.

Bella's story is soon woven into Maddy's to reveal a dark and disturbing secret that is set to turn everything on its head...and Maddy's world upside down.

A spotlight is also shown on Rachel's personal life as she gets to know Tim, a lawyer she has met through the course of her work, and though she draws the line at dating fellow coppers she sees no harm in stepping out with Tim. However Rachel has trust issues and fears and tends to push suitors away when they start to get too close, whilst carrying a baggage load of history. But is Tim all that he appears? To me he seemed a little manipulative and while Rachel found herself getting too close for comfort, Tim offered no resistance when suggesting he meet her sister Ruth. But Rachel and Ruth have their own shared past which is both painful and heartbreaking. Can Rachel move on from that and find happiness? And will it be with Tim?

WHAT HE DID is a different type of police procedural where the focus is more on the other characters rather than Rachel and her team. It made it seem more like psychological tale of suspense where the police are secondary to the main story...and I kind of liked it. We still got to know Rachel and her foibles as well as her strengths as a police officer tasked with leading an investigation. But at the same time it was more than that. What makes it so different is that friendship is in play as a backdrop to the main story involving Rachel, Maddy and even Siena.

A complex story that is both compelling and intriguing, WHAT HE DID is fast paced and action packed with no holds barred that will leave you wanting more! If this book is anything to go by, the first one as well as the rest of the series is one that is not to be missed and I look forward to plenty more like it.

I really loved WHAT HE DID and devoured it in almost one sitting...but for the need to feed hubby. I don't care if the story is predictable - it's the ride I come here for! And boy, what a ride! Although I am still left with a few questions about the goings on in Rachel's personal life, I hope to see them resolved in future releases. I need to know if my instincts are correct...

Definitely recommended to lovers of psychological thrillers who love their books fast paced with short snappy chapters, WHAT HE DID is one not to be missed!

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