The Search Party by Simon Lelic #NetGalley @VikingBooksUK @Simon_Lelic #bookreview #TheSearchParty

 

The Search Party by Simon Lelic

Published by Viking Books UK

Publication Date: 20th August 2020

Book Description:

16-year-old Sadie Saunders is missing.

Five friends set out into the woods to find her.

But they're not just friends...

THEY'RE SUSPECTS.

You see, this was never a search party.

It's a witch hunt.

And not everyone will make it home alive...

THE CHALK MAN meets THE HUNTING PARTY in this gripping story; witness four suspects as, alongside DI Fleet, you attempt to discover the truth about what happened to Sadie...

My Thoughts:

This book is written in an unconventional style and it therefore took me a while to settle in and realise what was going on. Where Cara Hunter successfully uses interviews and social media posts to help tell her story, this book uses purely the interviewee's responses during police interviews to tell the tale in the majority of chapters Because of this I found the overall story much more difficult to follow. The chapters from DI Fleet's perspective are written in a more traditional style and I found these flowed much better. Sections of the book felt as though it was the author's writing rather than language and phraseology a young person would use, the authenticity often switching within a chapter which I found off-putting.

The premise of the book is that a 16 year old girl is missing, feared drowned, and the local police force are focusing the search for her in the river. A group of her close friends have decided they know her far better and decide to form their own search party in another area, and it gradually becomes clear that this hasn't ended well for them.

None of the narrators is reliable and, where I usually love this in characters, unfortunately there are so many story threads that I just found it incredibly messy.  I suppose this would be an accurate representation of how things would be for the police in a real-life case of this kind, however in a fictional world it came across a bit clunky.

I didn't dislike this book and I look forward to reading more from this author - I previously loved his book The House - but I'm not sure I would re-read this one.

About the Author:

Simon Lelic is the author of seven highly acclaimed thrillers: Rupture (winner of a Betty Trask Award and shortlisted for the John Creasey Debut Dagger), The Facility, The Child Who (longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger and the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger), The House, The Liar's Room, The Search Party and The Hiding Place. He has also written The Haven series for younger readers, twice shortlisted for the CrimeFest awards.

The Fall by Gilly Macmillan @CenturyBooksUK @GillyMacMillan #TheFall #bookreview #booktwt #NetGalley

 

The Fall by Gilly Macmillan

Published by Random House UK, Cornerstone, Century

Publication Date: 25th May 2023

Book Description:

Be careful what you wish for...

Nicole and Tom's lives are changed overnight by a ten-million-pound lottery win.

Before they know it they've moved into a state-of-the-art Glass Barn conversion in the stunning grounds of Lancaut Manor in Gloucestershire.

But their dream quickly turns into a nightmare when Tom is found dead in the swimming pool, with a wound on his head.

Someone close to home must be responsible. But other than the young couple who live in the Manor, and their housekeeper in the Coach House next door, there's no one around for miles.

Who among them is capable of murder?

My Thoughts:

Nicole and Tom are the ideal couple, devoted to one another and quite happy with their lot, living an average life in their average house on a regular housing estate. Then their fortunes change with a staggering £10 million win on the lottery. They have a state-of-the-art, all singing, all dancing smart home built in the area where Nicole has fond memories of visiting as a child with her dad. Tom is a very passive person, he's happy as long as Nicole is happy. The only thing he insists on is having the best technology in the house that money can buy - and they clearly have no problems there - oh, and every man's dream: the flash Maserati on the drive. Nicole's more than happy keeping herself busy with the interior design of the property, but she has a strong dislike of all the techy stuff Tom has had installed. The camera and security system should put her mind at rest that they are safe from intruders and the like, but it's constantly glitching and she can't get to grips with the controls. Tom says he'll get it sorted but he never seems to get round to it and it sets her on edge rather than calming her nerves.

The story is told from multiple viewpoints, but it's always crystal clear whose voice the reader is hearing, so this is never an issue. The reader gets to hear different people's opinions and secrets that are never vocalised to anyone else but even so, when Nicole returns home from a day out to find Tom dead in the pool we are as much in the dark as she is. 

I don't think there is a reliable narrator among the whole cast of this book - except maybe the detectives, Hal and Jen. Nobody is exactly who they purport to be and some of the later revelations were particularly shocking. There are the obvious ones who make up the bulk of the story but some of the others will be complete curve balls - unless I'm just not particularly astute at noticing the clues!

May be some events in the story are a little far-fetched, but not to the point of being off-putting. I did however feel the ending ran out of steam a little compared with the detail of earlier parts of the book but there is the potential that the whole thing could have dragged on too much if it were any different.

A very engaging read - the moral of the story: Trust no-one!

About the Author:

Gilly Macmillan is the New York Times bestselling and Edgar-nominated author of What She Knew, The Perfect Girl, Odd Child Out, I Know You Know, The Nanny and To Tell You The Truth.

She grew up in Swindon and studied at Bristol University and The Courtauld Institute of Art in London. She has worked at The Burlington Magazine and the Hayward Gallery and has been a lecturer in photography.

She now writes full-time and lives in Bristol with her family.

The End of Us by Olivia Kiernan #NetGalley @QuercusBooks #bookreview @LivKiernan #TheEndOfUs @riverrunbooks

 

The End of Us by Olivia Kiernan

Published by Quercus Books, riverrun

Publication Date: 27th April 2023

Book Description:

It all started to go wrong the day the Wrights moved in next door

Myles and Lana Butler live on a gorgeous new development in Wimbledon, leaning on a mortgage that is just within reach. When one of Myles' investments fails they are bound to lose everything.

Gabriel and Holly Wright have just moved in next door. The Wrights are sophisticated, ambitious and apparently very wealthy. At an after-dinner drink with their new neighbours, Myles and Lana share their worries and a solution is suggested between the couples. Life Insurance fraud. For a cut of the pay out, the Wrights would help them.

No one thought they were being serious. No one agreed they'd actually go through with it. And no one mentioned it would involve murder.

Then, one night, Lana doesn't come home.

My Thoughts:

Myles and Lana Butler: the local GP and his beautiful wife. The impression of a successful life must be maintained at all costs. The truth of the situation is that Lana's father has financially supported them in their move to Belvedere Court, alongside a mortgage which was always only just within reach. Then an investment suggested by their bank manager goes spectacularly wrong, leaving Myles in danger of losing the house and everything they own. His panic about Lana discovering their precarious position leads him to make some decidedly dodgy decisions - but none of these is a shadow of the proposition made to him at a dinner party with new neighbours Gabriel and Holly Wright.

A few weeks later, Gabe manages to secure admission for them all to a gala dinner - the perfect chance for Myles to network professionally in the hope of establishing some new contacts and potentially new opportunities.  Lana never makes it home after the event, and from there on in life will never be the same for Myles - the pace picks up and quickly spirals out of his control. He is well and truly out of his depth. Can he manage to get both his work and personal life back under control or will the authorities in both cases get to the answers before him? Many of the characters are decidedly shady, and it really is a race against time which will determine the outcome for Myles. 

This is an excellent storyline which will have you trying to work things out even when you don't have the book in your hand - whether it would be as easy to emulate a person's disappearance as easily as the book suggests, I'm not convinced but it does make for a cracking read!

About the Author:

Olivia Kiernan is an Irish writer living in the UK. She was born and raised in County Meath, near the famed heritage town of Kells and holds an MA in Creative Writing awarded by the University of Sussex. The Murder Box is the fourth book in the acclaimed Frankie Sheehan series.