On my blog today I’m sharing my thoughts on the debut novel by Abigail Dean, Girl A.
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‘Girl A,’ she said. ‘The girl who escaped. If anyone was going to make it, it was going to be you.’
Lex Gracie doesn’t want to think about her family. She doesn’t want to think about growing up in her parents’ House of Horrors. And she doesn’t want to think about her identity as Girl A: the girl who escaped. When her mother dies in prison and leaves Lex and her siblings the family home, she can’t run from her past any longer. Together with her sister, Evie, Lex intends to turn the House of Horrors into a force for good. But first she must come to terms with her six siblings – and with the childhood they shared.
MY THOUGHTS
There has been such a buzz surrounding Girl A by Abigail Dean, I knew I had to bump it right to the top of my TBR pile. This is a very dark read. It’s haunting and powerful, and in fact, as I was so immersed in the story, I didn’t want it to end.
We meet Lex, who has been dubbed ‘Girl A,’ by the press following her escape from her parents ‘house of horrors,’ when she was young. Now a successful lawyer living in New York, she has to come back to the UK, following her mother’s death, who has died in prison. Her mother has left the house they grew up in, to her and her siblings in her will. And now, coming back home, Lex once again has to face her past.
Abigail Dean’s writing draws you into her story right from the very first page. It’s not a fast paced read, but I found myself utterly gripped by the story and the characters. Lex was a character who I wanted to find out more about, and I wanted to know the full details of what had happened in her childhood. You can see just how uncomfortable she is about the idea of coming back home. She just wants the visit to be over and done with and to be allowed to get on with the rest of her life, and I couldn’t really blame her for thinking this way. She doesn’t want to hear anything about her mother’s final days. Some of the prison staff try to persuade her to think of her mother in a different light. They also, try to tell her how much they believe she has changed.
Abigail Dean gradually begins to reveal more information. In the flashback scenes, I found Abigail’s writing very intense as she explores the relationship between Lexie and her parents. In the present, we can see just how much the years spent with their parents have affected the children as adults.
I found I did struggle to feel any sympathy for Lex. She came across as very cold as I was reading the book. I felt this, especially when it seemed that she wasn’t too keen to spend time with the rest of her family.
Girl A is such a compelling read. I deliberately slowed down so that I could savour it and that doesn’t happen very often when I’m reading. I’m sure this is a book which I’ll keep returning to from time to time, and I can’t wait to see what Abigail Dean comes up with next. I highly recommend it.
On my blog today, I’m sharing my thoughts on the second book in Robert Bryndza’s Kate Marshall series, Shadow Sands.
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When Kate Marshall finds the body of a young man floating in the Shadow Sands reservoir, the authorities label it a tragic accident.
But the details don’t add up: why was he there in the middle of the night? If he was such a strong swimmer, how did he drown? As Kate and her assistant Tristan Harper follow the evidence, they make a far darker discovery . . .
This is only the latest victim in a series of bloody murders dating back decades. A mythic serial killer is said to hide in the rolling fog, abducting his victims like a phantom. And when another woman is taken, Kate and Tristan have a matter of days to save her from meeting the same fate.
MY THOUGHTS
Shadow Sands is the second book in Robert Bryndza’s Kate Marshall series, and once again, Robert has written a cracking thriller. Kate Marshall is a fantastic new character in the crime fiction genre. I really grew to like her in the first book in the series, Nine Elms, and I can’t wait to see where Robert takes the series next. It’s going to be really interesting, seeing how things will unfold for Kate beyond this book’s events.
Kate Marshall is a former police detective, having once worked with the Metropolitan Police in London. But her career in the police came to an end after she caught a notorious serial killer in the 1990s. Now, more than a decade later, she finds herself being pushed back into that world. During a dive with her son, Jake, her son makes a grisly discovery. The body of a young man is discovered under the water, and it is clear that he has been brutally attacked.
I really liked Kate’s relationship with her work partner, Tristan, in this book. He is going through some personal issues, which really made me feel for him. I was also glad that he had Kate as a friend, particularly when he was having difficulties with his sister. I think they’ll make a great team.
Kate doesn’t want to get involved in the investigation after her son makes discovers the body. It is only when the victim’s mother approaches her, and begs her to investigate further, does she decide to help her. It soon becomes apparent to Kate that the police have ignored abductions and potential murders which have taken place in the local area for decades. And it seems as though the police want to wrap up the current investigation. Kate is concerned that a police officer may be involved in what’s going on.
Robert Bryndza also explores Kate’s personal story further in this book. There are some chilling scenes in this section of the book. I was racing through the chapters to find out how things were going to pan out for Kate and her son. You don’t have to have read the first book in the series to understand more about what she’s gone through. But I would highly recommend that you do.
This is a very addictive crime thriller, and I really enjoyed reading it. Robert Bryndza is one of my favourite crime fiction authors, and I can’t wait to read the next book in this series.
On my blog today, I’m sharing my thoughts on the third book in the DI Meg Dalton series by Roz Watkins, Cut to the Bone.
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A beautiful young social-media star goes missing.
But who took her?
When controversial internet celebrity Violet Armstrong vanishes in the middle of a scorching Peak District summer, the case sparks a media frenzy.
The clock is ticking for DI Meg Dalton and her team to find Violet before online threats explode into real-life violence. And then the blood and hair of a young woman are found in an empty pig trough at the local abattoir…
The more Meg finds out about this unnerving case, the more she becomes convinced that something very, very bad has happened to Violet. With temperatures rising and the press demanding answers, the case is about to take a terrifying turn…
MY THOUGHTS
Roz Watkins has become an auto-buy author for me. When I read her debut novel, The Devil’s Dice, I knew her character, DI Meg Dalton, was one I was going to want to keep coming back to. The latest book, Cut to the Bone, is another brilliant addition to this series which keeps getting better and better.
What I really like about Roz’s work, is that there is always the touch of the supernatural, which gives her books a very chilling atmosphere. And the story of the Pale Child in this book sent shivers up my spine as I was reading it. It made me want to find out more about what was really going on here and if there was any truth in the claims, or if it was just people’s imagination.
The character at the centre of Meg’s new investigation is Violet, a teenage vlogger who has gone missing. Violet has become the poster child for the meat industry. She posts videos of herself, semi-naked, while cooking with meat and has gained a large following and fan base on social media. Two storms are gathering around her disappearance. Animal rights activists are angry at Violet for how she has behaved, and some are saying she got what she deserved. Then there are Violet’s fans. They accuse the activists of having something to do with her disappearance as she was a supporter of the meat industry. Meg finds herself at the centre of this storm as she comes under fire from both sides. Soon she starts receiving threats.
This turns into a really difficult investigation for Meg and her team. They have to get to know the real Violet while angry voices shout at them from all directions. As they investigate further, they begin to find out that she isn’t quite the person who she portrayed herself to be.
When I first learnt about who Violet was, I didn’t have a lot of sympathy for her, but I grew to like her as the book progressed. I wanted Meg and her team to find the answers to her disappearance, but I kept thinking that their efforts would be undermined, by the two groups at war with each other. This is what makes the book a very tense read. Also, I worried about Meg’s safety as well, as she comes under intense scrutiny.
It’s quite a gruesome book. Some parts may make some readers uncomfortable, particularly the sections relating to the meat industry, but it does make for a very gripping read. I love Roz Watkins writing, and I love Meg’s character. There is some tension between her and her colleague, DS Jai Sanghera, who is going through a rough patch in his relationship with his girlfriend.
I love this series, and I can’t wait to read what Roz Watkins comes up for DI Meg Dalton and her team next.
I’m delighted to be taking part in the blog tour for Winterkill by Ragnar Jonasson today on my blog. With thanks to Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part.
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A blizzard is approaching Siglufjörður, and that can only mean one thing…
When the body of a nineteen-year-old girl is found on the main street of Siglufjörður, Police Inspector Ari Thór battles a violent Icelandic storm in an increasingly dangerous hunt for her killer … The chilling, claustrophobic finale to the international bestselling Dark Iceland series.
Easter weekend is approaching, and snow is gently falling in Siglufjörður, the northernmost town in Iceland, as crowds of tourists arrive to visit the majestic ski slopes.
Ari Thór Arason is now a police inspector, but he’s separated from his girlfriend, who lives in Sweden with their three-year-old son. A family reunion is planned for the holiday, but a violent blizzard is threatening and there is an unsettling chill in the air.
Three days before Easter, a nineteen-year-old local girl falls to her death from the balcony of a house on the main street. A perplexing entry in her diary suggests that this may not be an accident, and when an old man in a local nursing home writes ‘She was murdered’ again and again on the wall of his room, there is every suggestion that something more sinister lies at the heart of her death…
As the extreme weather closes in, cutting the power and access to Siglufjörður, Ari Thór must piece together the puzzle to reveal a horrible truth … one that will leave no one unscathed.
Chilling, claustrophobic and disturbing, Winterkill is a startling addition to the multi-million-copy bestselling Dark Iceland series and cements Ragnar Jónasson as one of the most exciting and acclaimed authors in crime fiction.
MY THOUGHTS
Ragnar Jonasson’s books are always the perfect read for this time of year, and it is something I have come to look forward to as the winter approaches. Atmospheric, addictive, and very easy to sink into. Winterkill is an excellent choice if you’re looking for a book to read over the festive period. I have heard this is the last in this series and I am sad to see it draw to a close. But don’t worry if you haven’t read the previous novels as it can be read as a standalone. You’ll definitely want to read the first five books once you read this one.
Detective Inspector Ari Thór Arason is called to a horrific scene where a teenage girl has plunged to her death from a high-rise building. On the basis, it looks as though the girl has committed suicide, but Ari Thór believes there is something else at play here. What was going on in her life to prompt her to throw herself from the top of a building? Was it really just an accident? As Ari Thór continues to investigate, he begins to sense that something prompted the young girl to take this course of action. But what was so terrible that made her decide that this was her only way out?
The novel is told over the course of the Easter weekend. Siglufjörður is facing a horrific snowstorm, causing blackouts and severe disruption. It isn’t the best weather to be conducting a murder investigation, but Ari Thór pushes on. The threatening blizzard creates a dark and foreboding atmosphere; it gives you the sense that it could cause many things to go wrong with the investigation. But this isn’t something that the residents of Siglufjörður aren’t used to. Apart from those who haven’t spent all their lives there. The weather can catch them off guard. Ari Thór is still fairly new to the area as well, having come from the capital, Reykjavík. The locals have come to slowly accept him after proving that he can stick around after surviving the harsh winters. This is something always seen as a test to newcomers who are not used to the climate.
Ragnar Jonasson builds on the atmosphere as the novel progresses. I love the way how the writing takes us into the Icelandic landscape. Once again it has been expertly translated by David Warriner. The writing flows beautifully, and it hooked me right away from the opening chapters. You get a clear sense of the dominating fjord. It made me want to google images of the town, and the scenery is stunning.
The crime which takes place in this book isn’t an overly complicated one. You get the sense that Ari Thór is on the cusp of discovering something big and even the revelations that come are a shock to him. Ragnar wraps everything up really well and delivers the perfect ending which sent shivers down my spine as I was reading it.
As I have come to expect from Ragnar Jonasson’s books, Winterkill is utterly chilling and unputdownable. It took me no time at all to finish this book. This is a series which I highly recommend. Once you read one book by Ragnar Jonasson, you’ll want to read everything he’s ever written. Top stuff!
Welcome to this week’s WWW Wednesday.WWW Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words.
Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!
The three Ws are: What are you currently reading? What have you finished reading? What will you read next?
What am I currently reading?
DI Helen Birch faces a terrible choice – family or justice? – in the gripping second novel from the author of All the Hidden Truths
DI Birch joined the police to find her little brother, who walked out of his life one day and was never seen again. She stayed to help others, determined to seek justice where she could.
On the fourteenth anniversary of Charlie’s disappearance, Birch takes part in a raid on one of Scotland’s most feared criminal organisations. It’s a good day’s work – a chance to get a dangerous man off the streets.
Two days later, Charlie comes back. It’s not a coincidence. When Birch finds out exactly what he’s been doing all those years, she faces a terrible choice: save the case, or save her brother. But how can you do the right thing when all the consequences are bad?
As she interrogates Charlie, he tells his story: of how one wrong turn leads to a world in which the normal rules no longer apply, and you do what you must to survive.
From one of the most acclaimed new voices in crime fiction, What You Pay For is a brilliantly tense and moving novel about the terrible disruption caused by violence and the lines people will cross to protect those they love..
Tom has the perfect life. Great marriage, successful job and a beautiful home. That is until things start happening that he can’t explain. Strange coincidences that start to make him question his sanity. Suddenly plunged into a situation out of his control and realising he is in danger, he spirals into a dark, brutal world of life and death. He finds he can trust no one and nowhere is safe. Alone, confused and desperately searching for answers; all whilst trying to escape unknown assailants.When suddenly contacted out of the blue by someone claiming he can help, Tom learns that his life has not been all that it seems, and a secret organisation is now hunting him. And with the help of his new ally and using his instinct and tenacity, he fights for his life and ultimately comes to terms with who, and what, he really is. Dark Angel is a dark, gritty, suspense story of loss, redemption and survival, set across some of America’s most iconic cities.
What have I finished reading?
A blizzard is approaching Siglufjörður, and that can only mean one thing…
When the body of a nineteen-year-old girl is found on the main street of Siglufjörður, Police Inspector Ari Thór battles a violent Icelandic storm in an increasingly dangerous hunt for her killer … The chilling, claustrophobic finale to the international bestselling Dark Iceland series.
Easter weekend is approaching, and snow is gently falling in Siglufjörður, the northernmost town in Iceland, as crowds of tourists arrive to visit the majestic ski slopes.
Ari Thór Arason is now a police inspector, but he’s separated from his girlfriend, who lives in Sweden with their three-year-old son. A family reunion is planned for the holiday, but a violent blizzard is threatening and there is an unsettling chill in the air.
Three days before Easter, a nineteen-year-old local girl falls to her death from the balcony of a house on the main street. A perplexing entry in her diary suggests that this may not be an accident, and when an old man in a local nursing home writes ‘She was murdered’ again and again on the wall of his room, there is every suggestion that something more sinister lies at the heart of her death…
As the extreme weather closes in, cutting the power and access to Siglufjörður, Ari Thór must piece together the puzzle to reveal a horrible truth … one that will leave no one unscathed.
Chilling, claustrophobic and disturbing, Winterkill is a startling addition to the multi-million-copy bestselling Dark Iceland series and cements Ragnar Jónasson as one of the most exciting and acclaimed authors in crime fiction.
In a town full of secrets… Someone was murdered. Someone went to prison. And everyone’s a suspect. Can you uncover the truth?
Dear Reader – enclosed are all the documents you need to solve a case. It starts with the arrival of two mysterious newcomers to the small town of Lockwood, and ends with a tragic death.
Someone has already been convicted of this brutal murder and is currently in prison, but we suspect they are innocent. What’s more, we believe far darker secrets have yet to be revealed.
Throughout the Fairway Players’ staging of All My Sons and the charity appeal for little Poppy Reswick’s life-saving medical treatment, the murderer hid in plain sight. Yet we believe they gave themselves away. In writing. The evidence is all here, between the lines, waiting to be discovered.
Will you accept the challenge? Can you uncover the truth?
What will I read next?
500 years ago: eight martyrs were burnt to death 30 years ago: two teenagers vanished without trace Two months ago: the vicar committed suicide
Welcome to Chapel Croft.
For Rev Jack Brooks and teenage daughter Flo it’s supposed to be a fresh start. New job, new home. But, as Jack knows, the past isn’t easily forgotten.
And in a close-knit community where the residents seem as proud as they are haunted by Chapel Croft’s history, Jack must tread carefully. Ancient superstitions as well as a mistrust of outsiders will be hard to overcome.
Yet right away Jack has more frightening concerns.
Why is Flo plagued by visions of burning girls? Who’s sending them sinister, threatening messages? And why did no one mention that the last vicar killed himself?
Chapel Croft’s secrets lie deep and dark as the tomb. Jack wouldn’t touch them if not for Flo – anything to protect Flo.
But the past is catching up with Chapel Croft – and with Jack. For old ghosts with scores to settle will never rest . . .
Hannah knows the cage intimately. Small, the size of a shopping centre parking space. A bed, a basin, a table and chair. A hatch and metal drawer through which to exchange food and other items.
Then there’s him. Always there on the edges of her vision, no matter how hard she tries to block him out.
Every day, the same thoughts run through Hannah’s mind:
What if he speaks to me? What if he hurts me? What if he gets out?
On my blog today, I’m sharing my thoughts on the second book in the DCS Frankie Sheehan series by Olivia Kiernan, The Killer in Me.
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Detective Chief Superintendent Frankie Sheehan does not wish to linger on the grisly scene before her eyes. Two mutilated corpses. In a church. In Clontarf. Her profiling background screams one fact: this is just the beginning of a sickening message.
Meanwhile, a 17-year-old case is playing out on a TV documentary, the convicted professing his innocence and historical police errors being exposed daily in the media. Frankie’s superior, commissioner Donna Hegarty, makes no bones about who she expects to clean things up – both in terms of past mishandlings and the present murders.
But not everyone working the cases wants the truth to come out. And the corridors of power have their own vested interest. Soon Frankie pinpoints just what is making her so nervous: the fact that anyone could be the next victim when justice is the killer.
The Killer In Me is a fast-paced thriller in which lies are safer than the truth, the past is never far from the present, and the ability to kill could well, it seems, live in everyone.
MY THOUGHTS
The Killer in Me is the second book in Olivia Kiernan’s DCS Frankie Sheehan series. In the opening pages, Frankie is asked to look again at a seventeen-year-old case by her sister-in-law, Tanya West. Sean Hennessy was convicted of the murder of his parents and the attempted murder of his younger sister. Now, with the help of a new documentary and a charity, Justice Meets Justice, he is trying to appeal his earlier conviction. But Frankie is still convinced of his guilt. However, this still doesn’t stop her from taking an interest in the case and looking at it again. Now, with Sean’s return to his hometown, a series of new murders take place. But is Sean responsible as the media and the police come to believe? What would make him commit these murders when he is trying to protest his innocence for the murder of his parents?
Olivia Kiernan’s engaging writing draws you into the story from the very first page. I really liked DCS Frankie Sheehan in the first book, Too Close To Breathe, and she’s fast becoming a favourite character of mine in crime fiction. She is also one of the most intriguing characters I’ve come across recently. There are many different strands to these investigations that Frankie has to navigate her way through to get to the truth.
In the opening pages, a fresh investigation launches when the bodies of a man and woman, husband and wife, are found outside a church. The priest is one of the first to shoot to the top of the list of suspects. But it isn’t long before a link is drawn to Sean Hennessy. The crime scene has been designed to send the police a message. But what message?
I was really intrigued by both the fresh murders which have taken place and Sean Hennessy’s appeal to overturn his conviction. Like Frankie, I couldn’t really see how his new case could be presented, especially after the damming evidence against him the first time around. I could see there would have to be something pretty spectacular that would need to come to light, to be within a chance of having his guilty verdict overturned.
The plot really makes you think about the characters, especially those who are involved in the crime. I found that I was studying those who came under suspicion even more as I was reading. The police procedural aspect of the plot feels really authentic. I particularly liked the small-town setting on the coast of Ireland as well. Olivia Kiernan brings to landscape life, and she makes you feel as though you are there. It’s what makes this book really atmospheric.
Olivia Kiernan has created another brilliant, addictive read. I’m really excited to catch up on the third book. This is turning into a top crime series, and I would highly recommend it to crime fiction lovers.
I’ve finally caught up on Camilla Way’s book, The Lies We Told, I’m sharing my thoughts on my blog today.
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DO YOU PROMISE NOT TO TELL?
A DAUGHTER Beth has always known there was something strange about her daughter, Hannah. The lack of emotion, the disturbing behaviour, the apparent delight in hurting others… sometimes Beth is scared of her, and what she could be capable of.
A SON Luke comes from the perfect family, with the perfect parents. But one day, he disappears without trace, and his girlfriend Clara is left desperate to discover what has happened to him.
A LIFE BUILT ON LIES As Clara digs into the past, she realizes that no family is truly perfect, and uncovers a link between Luke’s long-lost sister and a strange girl named Hannah. Now Luke’s life is in danger because of the lies once told and the secrets once kept. Can she find him before it’s too late?
MY THOUGHTS
The Lies We Told has been on my TBR pile for a long time. I loved Camilla Way’s novel, Watching Edie, which I read a few years back now, and I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to catch up on her books. This novel is a dark, twisty and a creepy psychological thriller.
Camilla Way cleverly weaves together several strands which kept me invested in the plot. In 1986, we meet Beth and Doug who have just welcomed home their new, longed for daughter, Hannah. But not everything is as it seems. Beth notices something odd about her daughter very early on. Things begin to get even more concerning when Hannah becomes violent. But what is the root cause of this behaviour? Fast forward to 2017 and Clara’s boyfriend, Luke goes missing, and there is evidence that foul play may have been committed. But how are the different strands linked? What secrets have been buried for so long?
I thought the flashback scenes to when Hannah was a young girl were really taut and utterly terrifying. You could see the discontent she has for her parents, especially for her mother, Beth. She does have a better relationship with her father, but that is because he isn’t around all the time to see what she is like. This is when I felt frustrated for Beth. Beth is at her wit’s end, trying to work out what is wrong with Hannah. She desperately wants to know what she should do to make things better between them. Hannah really stole the scenes here. She was so unpredictable.
When we move forward to the scenes in 2017, when Clara’s boyfriend, Luke, disappears, I could instantly see that something was very wrong. His parents are extremely worried, and this makes Clara nervous. What are Luke’s parents hiding from her? Soon she begins to learn devastating secrets which Luke has kept from her. But that is nothing compared to the hard-hitting truths that are about to come.
Camilla Way keeps the twists coming. Just when I thought everything had all been wrapped up, she delivered another twist which knocked me for six. I loved how she brought everything together. It was plotted out so well, and everything made sense as both strands in the story came together. Early on in the book, I had no idea how they would cross paths, but Camilla Way pulled them together in a very clever way.
The Lies We Told is disturbing, dark and chilling. Hannah is one of the most complex, thought-provoking characters I’ve come across in a long while. Now all I need to do is catch up on Camilla Way’s latest book, which I am planning to do as soon as possible.
On my blog today, I’m sharing my thoughts on the debut thriller by Philippa East, Little White Lies.
BLURB
She only looked away for a second…
Anne White only looked away for a second, but that’s all it took to lose sight of her young daughter.
But seven years later, Abigail is found.
And as Anne struggles to connect with her teenage daughter, she begins to question how much Abigail remembers about the day she disappeared…
MY THOUGHTS
Little White Lies is a breath-taking debut by Philippa East which I managed to finish in just a couple of days. The tension is on every page, and I found it very difficult to put down. If I had, had the time, I could have quite happily finished it in one sitting.
At the beginning of the novel, Anne White receives a phone call from the police that she thought she would never receive. Her daughter, Abigail, has been found, seven years after she went missing. At last, the nightmare is over. But is it? Anne imagined that there would be an instant bond between them, but there isn’t. Why is there this disconnected feeling? What does Abigail remember about the day she went missing?
You can feel the tension permeating the atmosphere of Anne’s home after Abigail comes back. It seems as though they are walking on eggshells around each other a lot of the time. I wanted to know why there was this frosty atmosphere between them. I had heard of the term ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ before. When people have suffered from abuse, or who have been kidnapped, they have bonded with their abusers or kidnappers. If you are in their position for a great deal of time, you become wholly dependent on the abuser, especially if you have been kidnapped. You rely on them for food, water and just about everything you require to live. It is a deep psychological trauma that I can imagine must take years of therapy to work on. I wondered if this was what was happening with Abigail. She had been with her kidnapper for eight years.
The fearful thing for Anne and her family is that Abigail’s kidnapper is still at large. Until he is caught, he still poses a threat to Abigail.
Anne was a really interesting character. Although she is grateful and thrilled to have her daughter back after so long, she is also apprehensive. I wanted to know what it was Anne thought Abigail might know about the day she went missing. Anne can’t confront her daughter about what she might know. This is what raises the tension between them as they try to reconnect.
Philippa East raps up the tension in the final chapters, especially during the court scenes. You know that a dark secret is about to be revealed and I couldn’t wait to find out what that was. There are some taut scenes as the book races towards its conclusion, and I couldn’t stop reading until I had turned the final page.
Little White Lies is a well written, extremely tense debut thriller. Philippa East’s writing engaged me right from the start. I can’t wait to read what she writes next.
Welcome to this week’s WWW Wednesday.WWW Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words.
Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!
The three Ws are: What are you currently reading? What have you finished reading? What will you read next?
What am I currently reading?
A severed leg and a dead engineer. A tale of love – and murder.
A human leg is discovered in a suburban freezer. The victim is a teenage girl killed some ten years earlier. But then other body parts start appearing. And these ones are male, dark-skinned, and very fresh . . .
Is this a tangled tale of love gone wrong? Or are there sinister lines connecting the dead engineer to a recent suicide in a Cardiff prison, and an engineering company that’s up to a whole lot more than is first apparent?
Fiona Griffiths starts to investigate, in the midst of the coldest winter on record. Up in a remote cottage in the Welsh Black Mountains, she finds the data that contains the clue to the entire mystery . . . but, as the first snow starts to fall, she discovers that she’s not alone.
In a town full of secrets… Someone was murdered. Someone went to prison. And everyone’s a suspect. Can you uncover the truth?
Dear Reader – enclosed are all the documents you need to solve a case. It starts with the arrival of two mysterious newcomers to the small town of Lockwood, and ends with a tragic death.
Someone has already been convicted of this brutal murder and is currently in prison, but we suspect they are innocent. What’s more, we believe far darker secrets have yet to be revealed.
Throughout the Fairway Players’ staging of All My Sons and the charity appeal for little Poppy Reswick’s life-saving medical treatment, the murderer hid in plain sight. Yet we believe they gave themselves away. In writing. The evidence is all here, between the lines, waiting to be discovered.
Will you accept the challenge? Can you uncover the truth?
What have I finished reading?
She only looked away for a second…
Anne White only looked away for a second, but that’s all it took to lose sight of her young daughter.
But seven years later, Abigail is found.
And as Anne struggles to connect with her teenage daughter, she begins to question how much Abigail remembers about the day she disappeared…
DO YOU PROMISE NOT TO TELL?
A DAUGHTER Beth has always known there was something strange about her daughter, Hannah. The lack of emotion, the disturbing behaviour, the apparent delight in hurting others… sometimes Beth is scared of her, and what she could be capable of.
A SON Luke comes from the perfect family, with the perfect parents. But one day, he disappears without trace, and his girlfriend Clara is left desperate to discover what has happened to him.
A LIFE BUILT ON LIES As Clara digs into the past, she realizes that no family is truly perfect, and uncovers a link between Luke’s long-lost sister and a strange girl named Hannah. Now Luke’s life is in danger because of the lies once told and the secrets once kept. Can she find him before it’s too late?
What will I read next?
THIS MOTHER’S DAY YOU WILL CALL HER MUMMY
Glamorous, beautiful Mummy has everything a woman could want. Except for a daughter of her very own. So when she sees Kim – heavily pregnant, glued to her phone and ignoring her eldest child in a busy shop – she does what anyone would do. She takes her. But foul-mouthed little Tonya is not the daughter that Mummy was hoping for.
As Tonya fiercely resists Mummy’s attempts to make her into the perfect child, Kim is demonised by the media as a ‘scummy mummy’, who deserves to have her other children taken too. Haunted by memories of her own childhood and refusing to play by the media’s rules, Kim begins to spiral, turning on those who love her.
Though they are worlds apart, Mummy and Kim have more in common than they could possibly imagine. But it is five-year-old Tonya who is caught in the middle…
A blizzard is approaching Siglufjörður, and that can only mean one thing…
When the body of a nineteen-year-old girl is found on the main street of Siglufjörður, Police Inspector Ari Thór battles a violent Icelandic storm in an increasingly dangerous hunt for her killer … The chilling, claustrophobic finale to the international bestselling Dark Iceland series.
Easter weekend is approaching, and snow is gently falling in Siglufjörður, the northernmost town in Iceland, as crowds of tourists arrive to visit the majestic ski slopes.
Ari Thór Arason is now a police inspector, but he’s separated from his girlfriend, who lives in Sweden with their three-year-old son. A family reunion is planned for the holiday, but a violent blizzard is threatening and there is an unsettling chill in the air.
Three days before Easter, a nineteen-year-old local girl falls to her death from the balcony of a house on the main street. A perplexing entry in her diary suggests that this may not be an accident, and when an old man in a local nursing home writes ‘She was murdered’ again and again on the wall of his room, there is every suggestion that something more sinister lies at the heart of her death…
As the extreme weather closes in, cutting the power and access to Siglufjörður, Ari Thór must piece together the puzzle to reveal a horrible truth … one that will leave no one unscathed.
On my thoughts today I’m sharing my thoughts on the debut thriller by Julienne Brouwers, Double Deceit.
BLURB
Jennifer Smits is a young mother, married to a hotshot lawyer and living in Amsterdam. Her world explodes when her husband is found dead at a holiday park during a weekend getaway. Convinced that the police have failed in their investigation, she embarks on a desperate quest for the truth – but the deeper she digs, the more she gets enmeshed in a tangled web of lies, spun by a ruthless law firm. As Jennifer’s search for answers intensifies, her grip on reality weakens. Barely able to manage her patients at the health clinic, or take care of her young son, Jennifer is at risk of losing it all – even her closest friends begin to desert her. And then a chance encounter with a charming stranger sparks a new chain of events that plunges her deeper into a world of threats and corruption. Soon, she begins to fear for her life – but who can she trust, and how far will she go in pursuit of the truth?
MY THOUGHTS
Double Deceit is a really well written, twisty thriller by Julienne Brouwers that kept me utterly gripped. We follow Jennifer, who is going through a rough patch in her marriage to her husband, Oliver. In the opening scene, she is searching for her son, who her husband failed to keep an eye on while he was playing in the pool at the holiday complex where they are staying. The episode leads to an argument between them and Jennifer’s husband stalks off. The next time she sees him, he is dead. The police are convinced that her husband was killed in a horrific accident, but Jennifer believes there are signs of foul play. Even when the police don’t take her seriously, Jennifer is determined to find out what happened to her husband.
I felt really frustrated for Jennifer. Even in the early days, when she was trying to get the police to take a closer look at her husband’s case, I could see that they weren’t interested. It was as if she was screaming from the top of her lungs, but no one could hear her. The police want to be done with the case and brush it to one side, but Jennifer won’t give up her fight easily. There were definitely moments throughout the story, when I thought, perhaps it would be easier for Jennifer if she were to give up and move on with her life.
It was as she began to dig more into Oliver’s life that things started to heat up. It was here that this was the moment in the story, where there would be no turning back for Jennifer. She learns some hard-hitting truths about her husband’s past, which makes her question the man he really was. But it also makes her more convinced that his death was the result of foul play. But even when she presents new evidence she has found to the police, they still didn’t seem to care or want to take her seriously.
The one thing I did question though was Jennifer’s friendship with Dan, who worked with her husband at the same law firm. There did seem to be some unanswered questions about Dan which made me question his motives. It was just a small point which made me think twice about him.
This is a book where dark secrets are hiding, waiting to be uncovered and the tension is palpable as Jennifer gets closer to understanding the truth. As the book raced towards its conclusion, it seemed as though there was everything to play for. I had no idea how things were going to turn out for Jennifer.
Overall I really enjoyed this book; I’m definitely going to be looking out for what Julienne Brouwers writes next.
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Hooked From Page One 
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