 |
Publication date: 25th January 2018
Bloomsbury Publishing/Raven Books
I received an advance copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review
|
'Elegantly crafted, humane and thought-provoking. She's top drawer' Ian Rankin
This is how it begins.
With a near-empty building, the inhabitants forced out of their homes by property developers.
With two women: idealistic, impassioned blogger Ella and seasoned campaigner, Molly.
With a body hidden in a lift shaft.
But how will it end?
This is how it begins.
With a near-empty building, the inhabitants forced out of their homes by property developers.
With two women: idealistic, impassioned blogger Ella and seasoned campaigner, Molly.
With a body hidden in a lift shaft.
But how will it end?
My review:
Set in the world of political activists and protests, we meet Ella Riordan who is the daughter of a former top policeman. She has rebelled against the establishment after dropping out of police training school due to a case of bullying. As part of a book launch Ella and her friend Molly hold a party at which events take a disastrous turn for the two girls and they end up hiding a body.
The story flicks back over events from earlier in the women's lives, giving us an insight into how their lives have become so entwined over recent times. Molly has been deep into the campaigning scene, having been active at such high profile events as the Greenham Common peace campaign and with Ella's more recent involvement in these type of events Molly has introduced her to some dangerous characters.
Who was the man whose body they hid? Why had he turned up at the launch without an invitation? The two women begin to mistrust each other, each worrying that the other will let slip their secret once the man is found. Once the story reaches this point the pace of the tale ramps up with new facts about each of the women coming thick and fast which make for a gripping climax.
Very well plotted and paced, my only problem with this book was that I would really have loved to have sat and read it in one or two sittings due to the way the tensions build as the facts spill out and I felt I lost some of the momentum each time I had to put the book down to do real life stuff (damn that day job!!).
Great characters and a nicely layered plot, I would definitely recommend this; some good discussion points for a book club read too.
The story flicks back over events from earlier in the women's lives, giving us an insight into how their lives have become so entwined over recent times. Molly has been deep into the campaigning scene, having been active at such high profile events as the Greenham Common peace campaign and with Ella's more recent involvement in these type of events Molly has introduced her to some dangerous characters.
Who was the man whose body they hid? Why had he turned up at the launch without an invitation? The two women begin to mistrust each other, each worrying that the other will let slip their secret once the man is found. Once the story reaches this point the pace of the tale ramps up with new facts about each of the women coming thick and fast which make for a gripping climax.
Very well plotted and paced, my only problem with this book was that I would really have loved to have sat and read it in one or two sittings due to the way the tensions build as the facts spill out and I felt I lost some of the momentum each time I had to put the book down to do real life stuff (damn that day job!!).
Great characters and a nicely layered plot, I would definitely recommend this; some good discussion points for a book club read too.
Eva Dolan was shortlisted for the CWA Dagger for unpublished authors when only a teenager. The four novels in her Zigic and Ferreira series have been published to widespread critical acclaim: Tell No Tales and After You Die were shortlisted for the Theakston’s Crime Novel of the Year Award and After You Die was also longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger. She lives in Cambridge.
No comments:
Post a Comment