Finding Sophie by Imran Mahmood @BloomsburyRaven @imranmahmood777 #FindingSophie #NetGalley #booktwt

 

Finding Sophie by Imran Mahmood

Published by Bloomsbury Publishing, Raven Books

Publication Date: 14th March 2024

Book Description:

Sophie King is missing.

Her parents, Harry and Zara, are distraught; for the last seventeen years, they've done everything for their only daughter.

The police have no leads, and Harry and Zara are growing increasingly frantic – and increasingly obsessed with their highly suspicious neighbour. He won't open the door, he won't answer any questions. If they want answers, they're going to have to take matter into their own hands.

But just how far are they both prepared to go?

My Thoughts:

You Don't Know Me by this author remains one of my favourite reads of recent years, so I was thrilled to be offered the chance to read this new release, Finding Sophie.

The story leads us through a couple's desperate search for their missing teenager Sophie. They will go to any lengths to find her - but just how far does this mean? Dad Harry has canvassed all of their neighbours with one exception, the elusive resident of number 210, John Douglas. Mum Zara can't sleep or eat and spends hours in her daughter's room trying to work out where she could possibly have gone.

I found some of Harry's actions to be a little far-fetched - but there again, one never knows where the boundaries would be in his situation. My heart broke several times for Zara as she tried to process how the world would function without her daughter there beside her.

The courtroom scenes are exceptionally well written, as one would expect from a barrister with so many years under their belt, but my favourite thing about them was that the reader is never quite sure who is sitting in the dock. I feel this is where the author excels, and I would love for him to write a novel set totally within the courtroom. Personally, I would have preferred the ratio of background story to courtroom interrogation to be more equal if not more focused on the trial.

Overall, an emotional read with excellent story telling skills and a nice smoke screen to whodunit but somehow it just missed the mark for me.

About the Author:

Imran Mahmood is a practicing criminal barrister in England and Wales with over thirty years' experience fighting cases. His debut novel, You Don't Know Me, was chosen by Simon Mayo as a BBC Radio 2 Book Club Choice for 2017, long-listed for the Theakston Crime Novel of the Year and the CWA Gold Dagger Award, short-listed for the Glass Bell Award, and made into a hugely successful BBC One adaptation in association with Netflix. It reached number three in the world on Netflix charts and received a BAFTA nomination for best actor. Mahmood was born and raised in Liverpool but now lives in London with his wife and two daughters.

Find him on Twitter: @imranmahmood777