Think of a flower: the stem is the crime of the abduction of two sisters and the petals are the lives of residents in the city of Petropavlovsk and town of Kamchatsky who are tentatively involved with the main story. It's written in such a way you feel you're snooping into the lives of others which I find a bit uncomfortable. But a very interesting concept with an intriguing ending – so hang on in there.
View Disappearing Earth
This diary style narrative introduces Mia and her husband Roy and weaves itself around their intimate and familial relationships. Smoke and mirror deceptions emerge as the pacy story gathers momentum across a few short months. Their once seemingly happy lives are laid bare amid a growing tension and sense of foreboding. The revealing of once hidden truths makes the navigation towards acceptance and forgiveness a shocking and dangerous journey.
View Your Truth or Mine?
In the first of a trilogy, Inspector Salazar returns to her home town Elizondo, near Pamplona, to head the search for a serial killer. So far, so predictable but Salazar is an intriguing character with very good reasons for leaving Elizondo, and I found this a very satisfying blend of police procedural and supernatural thriller, featuring some truly terrifying characters.
View The Invisible Guardian
A claustrophobic and gripping read with an intense combination of pace and beauty which really worked for me. As the temperature rises, the threat of collateral damage radiates from every page. This book grabbed my moral certainties and bounced them off the walls. Rachel spoke directly to me - but could I trust her - and what would I have done in her situation - as a mother, as a teacher?
Get ready for a deftly written story which dispels any illusion of a rural idyll. Focusing more on the folk than the flora and fauna - inadequate housing, lack of jobs and limited public transport are the reality. Beautiful, suspenseful and deeply moving, if, like me, you are a reader who likes a book that grips whilst making you think, this is it.
View Unsettled Ground
Constable Sam Shepherd IS the law in Mataura, but is she up to solving the cunning murder of her ex's wife? Huge enjoyment factor here - Sam is a very human heroine and her wry awareness raises the humour stakes. A very satisfying read.
View Overkill
Creepy thriller about an abduction, partly narrated by a small child - Lisa. In this case the house in the woods is lived in by a male ‘witch’ with a God syndrome - with Lisa is his 'Gretel' victim. Also it is about family values and the power of the media to manipulate people’s opinion of the crime. The voice of the child makes it even more haunting and I finished this in no time.
View Dear Child
I almost passed this book over, but happily something stayed my hand. Fifteen year old Yasmin Laksaris - obese and taunted by her classmates - is one of the most compelling characters I've come across. The story took me right inside her teenage psyche. An effortless read that will have you squirming in your comfy chair.
View Things We Have in Common
It is clear from the outset that a young woman will be brutally killed, but this novel turns the archetypal murder mystery on its head. As the inhabitants of a French town are held under a microscope, I was drawn into the lives of a diverse mix of people. A powerful page-turner which asks us to consider our sense of self and how we perceive others, as well as our expectations as readers.
View Significance
There is no hiding place from a shady web of depravity and sleaze as the story progresses from bizarre and creepy to alarming and sinister with a feeling of unease invading every page, although all this grim horror is balanced with beautiful, descriptive prose and vivid detail of the Yorkshire landscape. This vision of rural noir is not for the easily offended as you are pushed beyond sympathy to a state of bewildered anger.
View Turning BlueYou won’t find the biggest bestsellers on Whichbook as everyone knows about them already. But you can use your enjoyment of a current bestseller to see titles with a similar mood that you might try next.
