If Something Happens to Me by Alex Finlay #BookReview

The crushing blow to the head. Hands yanking him from the vehicle. His girlfriend’s piercing scream…

For the past five years, Ryan Richardson has relived that terrible night. With no trace of Ali after she is abducted, a cloud of suspicion hangs over him, though he is never charged. Trying to put his past behind him, Ryan changes his name and enters law school.

It’s on a summer trip to Italy that he gets the call: his missing car has finally been found, submerged in a lake in his hometown. But inside the car are two dead men. The only trace of Ali is a cryptic note, the envelope in her handwriting stating If something happens to me…

Reeling from the news, Ryan sees the man who has haunted his nightmares since the night Ali was taken. But how could that be possible, so far from home? His search for answers leads him to England and France, but the truth may lie in the shape of two very different people back in the USA.

/

If Something Happens to Me is an absolute binge-worthy novel. The novel is divided into three parts and the first part has three alternating storylines about a law student, a mob boss and his young son, and a new deputy sheriff in the town of Leavensworth. I guess nobody could have predicted that on Poppy McGee’s first day they would find a missing girl’s car with two bodies inside. The questions were really burning on my lips in this one. How was this all connected? Who were those people they found in the car? The chapters were short and compelling and Alex Finlay knows what he’s doing, my attention didn’t drop for even a slight second and he had me questioning in every chapter what was going on.

Ryan Richardson saw his girlfriend for the last time 5 years ago but with new evidence emerging (her car and a note in her handbag) there are people coming out of the woods. Ryan knew he hadn’t imagined Pinky guy when he was grabbed that night (the man lost two of his digits) when he suddenly sees him again but he’s certainly not going to let him get away a second time! It’s going to be a rollercoaster of the deadly kind!

Parts 2 and 3 blend the three storylines superbly in ways I had not imagined, and yet, there are still a lot more questions, about the cryptic note, the mystery man and who Poppy can trust in all of this. I had a field day trying to discern who was good and bad and if you are a little paranoid by nature you can eat your heart out at being suspicious. The sheriff, the FBI lady, the KBI lady (the foreign examiner in Kansas), or even Poppy’s own brother or father, who oh who knows more than they let on? I will only say I had someone in mind in Poppy’s entourage very early on, someone who seemed suspicious for me but that was just another brilliant red herring from the author and I completely fell for it.

Would I recommend this novel? Without a doubt. It’s a perfect fit for readers who enjoy C.L. Taylor or Claire Douglas. It’s grippingly unpredictable with a whole lot of tension. What could you want more? The only thing I’d maybe change is that the ending was wrapped up a bit too quickly.

I received a free ecopy of this novel from the publisher via Netgalley. This is still my honest opinion.

The Couple on Cedar Close by Anna-Lou Weatherley #BookReview

One sunny August afternoon, the residents of Cedar Close throw their annual summer barbecue. Children play in the cherry-tree lined street, tables are laden with food, and the wine is flowing. For Laurie Mills, it’s her first time meeting the neighbours. And it’s the first time she discovers her husband Robert is having an affair.

Cedar Close has always been a nice place to live – a quiet suburban street where everyone looks out for one another and bad things don’t happen.

Until late one evening, when Robert Mills is found dead in his bedroom.

Downstairs, in their beautiful kitchen, his wife Laurie sits alone in the dark with her head in her hands.

She can’t remember the last few hours, but she knows she didn’t kill Robert.

The trouble is, no-one believes her…

I’m afraid I don’t have much to share about this novel. Laurie is suspected of murdering her (nearly ex-) husband but detective Dan Riley’s intuition tells him that there’s more than meets the eye here. Yes Laurie’s an unreliable narrator who doesn’t remember what happened between cooking a meal for them and finding him murdered but this wisp of a woman is believed to have murdered her husband and then to have called it in herself while she’s covered in his blood. Yeah, I’m finding this a little strange as well.

The writing was enjoyable to read but the murderer of Robert was so bloody obvious from the get go (and reading other reviews I’m not the only one of this opinion). Since everything is pretty much hinged on finding out the killer, it irritated me that they couldn’t see what was right under their noses. This wasn’t really a murder mystery for me and what kept me mostly interested was that I was waiting to see HOW they would catch the killer if they’d ever get there.

There are indeed two really evil people between these pages (and one of them is an incredible cheat), there’s some touching on domestic abuse, and the murderer is a total psychopath in the true sense of the word, lacking any morals or empathy. I still find it incredible how they can stay in the shadows like this and people in their vicinity are none the wiser.

I did enjoy following Dan Riley and his colleague Davis around, they’re a great team and I’m happy that the best and for me the most unexpected twist that really solidifies the case happened on their watch.

Overall a so and so novel which was readable but doesn’t really stand out. I expected more twists and especially not knowing whodunnit so early on. I’m not writing this author off just yet though because I see the potential there is with another less obvious plotline.

I bought a copy of this novel. This is my honest opinion.

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena #BookReview

You never know what’s happening on the other side of the wall.

Your neighbour told you that she didn’t want your six-month-old daughter at the dinner party. Nothing personal, she just couldn’t stand her crying.

Your husband said it would be fine. After all, you only live next door. You’ll have the baby monitor and you’ll take it in turns to go back every half hour.

Your daughter was sleeping when you checked on her last. But now, as you race up the stairs in your deathly quiet house, your worst fears are realized. She’s gone.

You’ve never had to call the police before. But now they’re in your home, and who knows what they’ll find there.

What would you be capable of, when pushed past your limit?

Yes yes I know I’m late to the party :-). Now The Couple Next Door was a series airing on Belgian tv and I thought to myself, I really want to see it but I better read the book first. Turns out that the tv series only has the same title but has nothing to do with said book. Oh well, at least I finally read my copy 🙂

The Couple Next Door was more suspenseful than I expected. I mean, I had a theory in my head when Cora was taken from her crib while her parents were having dinner and drinks with their next door neighbors. A child being taken at midnight while the parents happen to be away, it’s just too much of a coincidence for me so either one of them told someone about their plans or one of them had to have been involved. There was another theory that the police was investigating as well, where one or both of her parents hurt her and they were covering it up. A valid idea as well I guess, especially taking Anne’s past in consideration, but I still very much wanted to stick with my own tunnel vision :-).

Anne is definitely an unreliable narrator but the others have their own secrets as well so nobody could really be crossed out. I thought I knew where the plot would go but the nightmare just keeps growing bigger and bigger. There are great twists and I was gripped and dying to know how this would turn out. Would they find Cora and would she be alive? I loved the intricate plot and how they all betrayed each other. Well you might think there’s one or two innocent parties in all of the story but you might want to reconsider your thoughts about one of them by the end of the novel. Personally I felt it was a bit overkill in the end but if the goal was to shock and have an ending that lingers then that certainly had the desired effect.

The Couple Next Door is a riveting thriller. I already read two of this author’s other books and I can only confirm that they’re all worth reading. Hopefully I won’t keep from reading the next one for so long.

I bought a paperback copy of this novel. This is my honest opinion.

Every Move You Make by C.L. Taylor #BookReview

Alex, Lucy, River and Bridget.

Four people with one thing in common: they are all being stalked. Their lives are filled with daily terror. Always watching. Always waiting. And never knowing what – or who – is hiding in the shadows.

But this group of four used to be five, until the terrible day their friend Nat was followed home by her stalker…

Coming together for Nat’s funeral, they are handed a wreath saying RIP. However, this isn’t a wreath in memory of Nat – it’s for them, with a card dated in ten days’ time.

It’s a clear message: in ten days, one Jo them will die. And the only way to stop the killer is to get closer than they ever dared to their stalkers. The very people who want them dead…

/

This novel is so tense, I absolutely loved it. Being single isn’t so bad at all if you see what could happen to you.

Alex, Lucy, River and Bridget are the members of a WhatsApp group for people being stalked. Their life was already agony but now it seems that one of them receives the message they will be murdered, only it’s unclear who is targeted. And so the countdown from 10 days to 0 and the nail-biting starts (and the regular stalking continues).

Every Move You Make is a real page-turner. Some of them know their stalker really well, other stalkers remain invisible and I don’t know what’s worse. The only thing they can do to keep safe is balancing on a fine rope of both keeping track of their stalkers whereabouts and staying far away from them.

My  thoughts also wondered for a while why they simply didn’t go to the police but some of them have good reasons not to go to the police and one of them did actually report their stalker. It’s a fact that the police can’t do much, as usual, so it’s really up to them to find out who they should most be afraid of. The stalkers can’t know but they’re the ones who’ll be watched next. Now there’s a taste of your own medicine ha!

Every Move You Make kept me guessing throughout the novel. The scene at the bar made me even doubt characters I was rooting for until then. Who to trust, it’s certainly a difficult one this time, but I loved the twists and the fight or flight mode was brilliantly done.

I really liked the personal note the author included at the end of the novel, sharing her own story and what inspired her to write this novel. It’s horrible of course but at least one good thing came out of it because she delivered a very gripping novel. The only down part is that I‘m stuck with singing the title of this novel, every single time I see it. And then it feels like it just stops mid-sentence so I need to finish the sentence. Isn’t it a little twisted that it’s a song from The Police or am I completely paranoid after reading this? OK we’ll have that discussion another time.

I received a free ecopy of this novel from the publisher via Netgalley to read and review. This is still my honest opinion.

The Housemaid by Freida McFadden #BookReview

“Welcome to the family,” Nina Winchester says as I shake her elegant, manicured hand. I smile politely, gazing around the marble hallway. Working here is my last chance to start fresh. I can pretend to be whoever I like. But I’ll soon learn that the Winchesters’ secrets are far more dangerous than my own…

Every day I clean the Winchesters’ beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor.

I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies about her own daughter. And how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew’s handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it’s hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina’s life. The walk-in closet, the fancy car, the perfect husband.

I only try on one of Nina’s pristine white dresses once. Just to see what it’s like. But she soon finds out… and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it’s far too late.

But I reassure myself: the Winchesters don’t know who I really am.

They don’t know what I’m capable of…

/

I’m late to the party but I finally read my first Freida McFadden novel. I didn’t have high expectations really and at first I wondered what all the hype was about because I could see from a mile away what was going on with Nina, but oh boy I couldn’t be more wrong!

It was easy to sympathize with Millie, the new ‘housemaid’ of the Winchesters. Nina is kind one moment but the next she’s accusing Millie of stealing or some other bad thing. I felt my hatred for Nina growing and wasn’t it obvious that she’s not got all her ducks in a row? Millie doesn’t have a choice but to endure her mood swings and her forgetfulness because she needs that job. I can say that she didn’t feel nearly as frustrated as I did with her employer’s behavior. In all honesty, up until then I thought it was a good read even if it was a bit predictable, and I really didn’t get the hype.

This all changed in the second part of the novel where major, massive, enormous (you get it, right) twists and turns were starting to unfold. This part dives into Nina’s past and her character started to make so much more sense, which in turn made me feel apprehensive for Millie’s future… The scene with the hair pulling (if you read it you won’t have any problem remembering this) had my heart in a vice! I couldn’t believe it, I was horrified yet mesmerized and I couldn’t stop reading! I also suddenly had an idea what might be in store for Millie in the future and I wondered how there could be put a stop to it. The author just kept on giving these deliciously dark twists and I was hooked till the very end of it.

The Housemaid is a really great read (you certainly shouldn’t judge it by its cover like I did) and while it’s quite dark (I think someone could be sentenced for torture if you think about it) it is unforgettable and not one I want to forget. I love the psychological aspect of this novel and I’m happy I finally dove in and gave into the hype! This rollercoaster read should definitely be on your radar!

I bought an ecopy of this novel. This is my honest opinion.

The Island by Catherine Cooper #BookReview

The perfect escape, or the perfect trap?

When a select group of influencers and journalists receive an exclusive invitation to a luxury resort in the Maldives, it seems like the ultimate press trip.

But when the island is cut off during a storm and people start dying, it looks like someone has murder in mind.

Are the guests really who they seem to be, or does each one of them have a secret to hide?

Something they would kill for?

Malia can’t believe her luck when she’s invited to promote the Ketenangan resort in the Maldives, owned by Henry and Ophelia Cadwallader. She’s an influencer but she hadn’t gained a massive following yet, so a red flag came up immediately for me, especially since half of the story is told via her. She’s easy to identify with though (although definitely more adventurous than me because I don’t think I would dare to eat fugu), she has no attitude and is simply enjoying everything as it comes, yet I wondered throughout the story why this choice… I could have known if I’d have thought it through more probably but sometimes it’s just as nice to be surprised right?

Ah the Maldives, the descriptions of the resort, the location (with its own turtle sanctuary!) and everything the invited journalists and influencers were able to experience, who wouldn’t be envious?! Then again, when something looks too good to be true it usually is… I enjoyed that the author played on that and made me feel anxious for what was to come… There were a couple of false starts and some red herrings and the anticipation was steadily building. When someone doesn’t feel well, is it someone’s doing or simply a case of too much food and drink? Ah the uncertainty was great but killing me too. If you’re a reader who wants to jump right into the action of looking for a killer you might be disappointed here, but I was perfectly content to follow their amazing experiences at the resort… those bodies will still come you know.

At 70% in I had managed to find a suspect – because of a teeny tiny clue mentioned when looking for clues about someone else in a room – and it felt like a small victory to me but then I only had a name and I didn’t even know half of it by then. I enjoyed getting to know the younger versions of some of the characters in the other timeline set in the 1990s and what they were really made of. In the end I did feel for Alexander, I don’t know if it is justified or not but I wouldn’t have let it end for him the same as the author did (I’m not saying with this that he died). The motive was a bit so and so for me, the MO however was inventive and the story as a whole had me wanting to read it in one go.

This is a perfect novel for armchair travelers. As the author mentions in the story some place and shocked me a bit because it never even crossed my mind but ‘how many people have died in hotel beds? Do they always throw them away? I doubt it.’ Yeah I’m fine staying home now :-). I can’t wait to see which new high-upscale place I’ll read about next!

I bought an ecopy of this novel. This is my honest opinion.

My 2023 AudioBookReviews

I listened to quite a few AudioBookReviews this year. For some reason I often find them harder to review (and to like) than paperbacks so I’ve decided to only give a rating in general and only give a more complete review of what I found the worst and the best audiobook that I listened to this year. Let’s see if I can surprise you…

The Prisoner by B.A. Paris :

False Witness by Karin Slaughter:

The Drift by CJ Tudor:

Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllistar:

At seventeen, Lenora Hope
Hung her sister with a rope

Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-year-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. Other than her denial after the killings, she has never spoken publicly about that night, nor has she set foot outside Hope’s End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre occurred.

Stabbed her father with a knife
Took her mother’s happy life

It’s now 1983, and home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at a decaying Hope’s End to care for Lenora after her previous nurse fled in the middle of the night. In her seventies and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora was rendered mute by a series of strokes and can only communicate with Kit by tapping out sentences on an old typewriter. One night, Lenora uses it to make a tantalizing offer – I want to tell you everything.

“It wasn’t me,” Lenora said
But she’s the only one not dead

As Kit helps Lenora write about the events leading to the Hope family massacre, it becomes clear there’s more to the tale than people know. But when new details about her predecessor’s departure come to light, Kit starts to suspect Lenora might not be telling the complete truth – and that the seemingly harmless woman in her care could be far more dangerous than she first thought.

This is one of the most enjoyable audiobooks I listened to so far. It’s narrated by Dawn Harvey and Christine Lakin and I absolutely loved both voices (I only found out now that Christine – the younger voice – is actually kind of a celebrity and starred in a 90’s TV show called “Step By Step”).

Anyway The Only One Left is a story about Kit, a caregiver who doesn’t really have a choice but to accept a position at Hope’s End where she needs to take care of Lenora Hope, someone suspected of murdering her entire family. Kit isn’t without a mysterious past either because rumor has it she had a hand in helping her terminal mother die.

At seventeen, Lenora Hope
Hung her sister with a rope

Stabbed her father with a knife
Took her mother’s happy life

“It wasn’t me,” Lenora said
But she’s the only one not dead

The novel is very atmospheric and there are a lot of strange things happening in the crumbling manor but it can’t possibly be Lenora moving about, can it? But then who is keeping Lenora from telling Kit what happened on that fateful night, and why?

I couldn’t figure this one out AT ALL. Riley Sager is still at the top of his game with awesome twists and turns and I’m telling you, this mystery is a killer read! It’s amazing that he could surprise me so much with such a small setting and cast but my jaw practically dropped to the floor when reading this one. I’m afraid to say I already made my top 10 post this year but it really deserves a place among my most favorite reads this year.

Could you hate your neighbour enough to plot to kill him?

Until Darren Booth moves in at number 1, Lowland Way, the neighbourhood is a suburban paradise. But soon after his arrival, disputes over issues like loud music and parking rights escalate all too quickly to public rows and threats of violence.

Then, early one Saturday, a horrific crime shocks the street. As the police go house to house, the residents close ranks and everyone’s story is the same: Booth did it. But there’s a problem. The police don’t agree with them.

Since I loved The Only Suspect so much I thought I’d try one from the backlist as an audiobook. Those People centers around some fateful events and the people in the street of Lowland Way that could be responsible for it. Ant and Em, Finn and Tess, Ralph and Naomi, and Sissi across the street all have their reasons to hate their newest neighbours Darren Booth and Jodie -I-dont-even-know-her-surname. Booth is the neighbour from hell, playing loud music and keeping everyone awake next door, blocking the street with his many cars since he started to sell them from the house… The problems are numerous and they build up and up and there’s nothing they can do.. until one night the tables are turned. Who’s behind it though and will it have the desired effect?

Have you read Murder on the Orient Express? Well I advise you to do so beforehand because the author gives away the entire plottwist of Agatha Christie’s novel. I’m sorry but that’s so not done and totally unnecessary as well. She might throw the reader a line that this novel might be similar but it is not. There you go, you might as well know.

Those People wasn’t all that interesting, it was a bit too slow for my taste and I didn’t really care much about the people, except for Sissi who owns a b&b and suffers greatly from the attitude of the man living across the street. Her guests are leaving bad reviews so she might have no other choice then to close her business, if the site doesn’t make her already. I also found it not so easy to distinguish the who’s who of some of the characters, they didn’t really stand out so much individually.

The whodunnit was surprising and so was the victim in this story but the characters were not developed enough and it was not always easy to keep everyone apart. The case was intriguing but it was all a bit drawn out so since I don’t have a two and a half star graphic I’ll give it three stars. I can hardly believe it’s the same author who wrote this novel I absolutely loved (The Only Suspect), her writing seems to have grown massively. If it was the other way round I’d probably would have given up on her now but I know what she’s capable of so I do keep an eye out for future work!

When the Devil Drives by Chris Brookmyre #BookReview

Is the devil merely the name we give the worst in ourselves?

When private investigator Jasmine Sharp is hired to find Tessa Garrion, a young woman who has vanished without trace, it becomes increasingly clear that there are those who want her to stay that way. What begins as a simple search awakens a malevolence that has lain dormant for three decades, putting Jasmine in the crosshairs of those who would stop at nothing to keep their secrets buried.

Uncovering a hidden history of sex, drugs, ritualism and murder, Jasmine realises she may need a little help from dark places herself if she’s going to get to the truth.

But then needs must…

/

I bought a copy of this novel without knowing it was actually the second book about Detective Jasmine Sharp of Sharp Investigations. There are a few references to a previous investigation and to her uncle but other than that it there were no threads transferred so it can be read as as standalone (although it did make me curious to know more about what happened to her uncle).

This is not the first novel I read by Chris Brookmyre (The Cliff House and Black Widow are highly recommended btw) but the genre of this novel leans more towards his other novel The Cut. I wasn’t really sold on the angle of the devil and its presence among some of the theatre company and all this juju talk about satanism but I was patient enough to find out more and I have to say that the third part of the novel really picks up speed and my interest accordingly, and there was a great twist that I hadn’t seen coming either.

Jasmine was a great protagonist with a criminal for a sidekick, which was a bit surprising but it worked well and another plotline follows another female’s investigation, this time from the police’s side, into a murder during a theatre performance. I didn’t get the information who was killed so that kept me on my toes and while the police didn’t actually contribute a lot I enjoyed how one plotline eventually caught up with the other.

Jasmine is investigating a small pool of suspects who were all actors in a Scottish play and yet it wasn’t possible for me to determine who killed the woman in the opening pages of the book. Brookmyre is one clever plotter and he has a very distinct writing style that you’ll probably either love or hate and I find myself firmly in the first category.

This novel might not have been my favorite one due to some of the topics included (I’m starting to think gothic is never going to please me) but I’m still a fan of his twists and turns and the way he can surprise me.

I bought a paperback copy of this novel. This is my honest opinion.

The Guest House by Robin Morgan-Bentley #BookReview

Jamie and Victoria are expecting their first baby.

With a few weeks to go, they head off for a final weekend break in a remote part of the North Pennines. The small and peaceful guesthouse is the ideal location to unwind together before becoming parents. Upon arrival, they are greeted by Barry and Fiona, the older couple who run the guesthouse. They cook them dinner and show them to their room before retreating to bed themselves.

The next morning, Jamie and Victoria wake to find the house deserted. Barry and Fiona are nowhere to be seen. All the doors are locked. Both their mobile phones and car keys have disappeared. Even though it’s a few weeks early, Victoria knows the contractions are starting.

The baby is coming, and there’s no way out.

I read and enjoyed the author’s debut novel The Wreckage so much that I couldn’t resist buying his second novel, especially since one of the cover’s catchphrases is ‘a tense spin on a locked-room mystery‘. If you say locked-room then consider me in for reading it!

I really enjoyed the writing in this novel. Jamie and Victoria are indeed locked-in and the baby was on its way so it was a pretty despairing situation and I have to say that the birthing scene was so intense that I wasn’t aware of anything else. I’m normally not so affected by any of this but the fact that she wasn’t in the hospital but had no choice to deliver there and then certainly increased my anxiety. Something was really off from the moment they woke up and found their car keys and phones missing and the house locked-up. Why would someone do that?

I knew it wouldn’t be over because there were also scenes set a month later where there is no baby in the picture. Did he not make it? Surely there was nothing in the whole world that could have made them give up their baby to this Barry and Fiona? Whatever happened it certainly put a massive strain on their marriage and both were barely coping at all.

I made some crazy assumptions at the start and it’s the only thing I was right about but everything else was entirely unpredictable. I was eager to get to the truth and unpack the how and why of it all. I was wondering about the credibility of one of the major twists in the story while I was reading but I am starting to like it more and more now that I finished reading the novel. There are some questionable actions but there are always other people in the world who would do exactly that, even if you would never do something like that yourself.

The Guesthouse was a suspenseful read that caused me to have severe anxiety for Jamie and Victoria. There was only a little lull in the middle where I simply couldn’t figure out why they wouldn’t take action instead of grieving over the loss of their child. Kill ’em all in revenge is what I’d say 😉 but of course it doesn’t work like that and at the right time the story is driven forward with some excellent twists.

Would I recommend this book and author? Definitely! If you like to be surprised you’re in for a treat. As for me, I hope his next novel releases soon!

I bought a paperback copy of this novel. This is my honest opinion.

The Ice Child by Camilla Lackberg #BookReview

SEE NO EVIL
It’s January in the peaceful seaside resort of Fjällbacka. A semi-naked girl wanders through the woods in freezing cold weather. When she finally reaches the road, a car comes out of nowhere. It doesn’t manage to stop.

HEAR NO EVIL
The victim, a girl who went missing four months ago, has been subjected to unimaginably brutal treatment – and Detective Patrik Hedström suspects this is just the start.

SPEAK NO EVIL
The police soon discover that three other girls are missing from nearby towns, but there are no fresh leads. And when Patrik’s wife stumbles across a link to an old murder case, the detective is forced to see his investigation in a whole new light.

The Ice Child is book 9 in the Patrick Hedstrom (working for the police) and Erica Falck (a writer) series. It’s often Erica who needs to become involved and is able to create a breakthrough in the case. I know this because I read book 1, 2, 3 and 5 as well. Apart from a few children that popped up and a frosty situation going on between Anna and her husband I didn’t miss a lot between book 5 and 9 🙂 so I can certainly say it can be read as a standalone.

The Ice Child is a good read which keeps up the mystery without it feeling like it’s stalled. There are a lot of characters in this novel and different family situations to keep the reader occupied. The paragraphs were kept short so it also switched a lot but – quite surprisingly – I didn’t have any problems orienting myself and as the story progressed I got to know them all better so I didn’t feel any confusion about that although I did read some reviews where others found it harder.

In between the main investigation there are also visits that Erica pays to a woman named Laila who is serving time in prison for killing her husband. Laila isn’t talking about it though so it was very intriguing what the point of this was. Did it have anything to do with the missing children or were these two separate stories? The only thing I got from Laila were a type of diary entries which were a build up to the fateful day. I wasn’t even so worried about why she killed her husband so much as that I wanted to know how she could hurt one of her children.

A lot of what was going on felt off but I couldn’t possibly see how big I had to picture it, so no I couldn’t outsmart the author this time. It was all very puzzling up until one crucial, pivotal point and then that seemed to be a starting shot for an avalanche of twists and turns, coming together in a great finale where all questions were answered at once.

Overall a cleverly plotted nordic noir novel that was able to surprise me. I only found out after I finished this one that I still have book 8 (in Dutch) in my library so that’s certainly something to look forward to now.

I received a free copy of this novel from a friend. This is my honest opinion.