Tag: Thriller

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Blog Tour: My Darling Husband

On By carryabigbookIn Blog Tours, Book ReviewsLeave a comment

Synopsis

Everyone is about to know what her husband isn’t telling her…

Jade and Cam Lasky are by all accounts a happily married couple with two adorable kids, a spacious home and a rapidly growing restaurant business. But their world is tipped upside down when Jade is confronted by a masked home invader. As Cam scrambles to gather the ransom money, Jade starts to wonder if they’re as financially secure as their lifestyle suggests, and what other secrets her husband is keeping from her.

Cam may be a good father, a celebrity chef and a darling husband, but there’s another side he’s kept hidden from Jade that has put their family in danger. Unbeknownst to Cam and Jade, the home invader has been watching them and is about to turn their family secrets into a public scandal.

Review

My Darling Husband was a super fast read for me. I kept sneaking away from the festivities to read a snippet here, a few pages there. The alternate narrators and the interview transcripts help to keep you guessing. Whose story can be trusted? With whom are we the reader supposed to sympathize? The harried husband? The kidnapper?

I spent over 13 hours doing “laundry” while Kimberly Belle kept me captivated with drama and tension.

My Darling Husband is pulsing was energy. I highly recommend. Just in time for you to treat yourself to one more gift this holiday season.

Meet the Author

Kimberly Belle is the USA Today and internationally bestselling author of seven novels, including My Darling Husband and The Marriage Lie, a Goodreads Choice Awards semifinalist for Best Mystery & Thriller. Her books have been published in more than in a dozen languages and have been optioned for film and television. A graduate of Agnes Scott College, Belle divides her time between Atlanta and Amsterdam.

Where You Can Find Kimberly

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Blog Tour: What She Did

On By carryabigbookIn Blog Tours, Book Reviews1 Comment
  • Mystery/Thriller
  • Kindle Edition, 236 pages
  • Published September 20th 2021 by Bookouture
  • Retail $9.99
  • Amazon
  • Apple
  • Kobo
  • Google

Synopsis

Marissa lives alone in her tiny one-bed apartment. It’s quiet and safe; all she’s ever wanted. But when the police knock on her door with the news that her last remaining family member has died, she comes face to face with the family secret she has spent a lifetime running from.

A witness saw her car outside his house that day, but Marissa knows she’s innocent. She hasn’t seen her uncle in years and remembers going to bed in her own home that night. But she’s had blackouts before and can’t always trust her memory.

Days later, Marissa’s neighbour is found dead in his home, exactly like her uncle. It was no secret that Marissa didn’t get on with her neighbour, but she’d never want to see him hurt.

As you read, you’ll think you know where to draw the line between innocence and guilt. But blame is a dangerous thing, and nothing is ever what it seems…

Perfect for fans of C.L. Taylor, Teresa Driscoll and Lisa Jewell, What She Did is a dark and twisty crime thriller that will keep you up all night!

Review

Marissa has had a hard life filled with trauma. First, she witnesses her mother’s murder. Then she is subjected to abuse at the hands of her family who take her in. She is a fragile adult. Scarred from the memories, she thinks she has found a safe place in a quiet little cottage tucked away from the world. But that hope is soon destroyed by an obnoxiously aggressive neighbor. When both he and her abusive uncle are found dead – stabbed in the same manner – Marissa is an obvious suspect. The problem is she does not remember the nights of the murders. Did she do it? Marissa herself doesn’t even know. She could have just as easily committed these crimes while sleepwalking as having been blacked out from her excessive drinking. Certainly no one will believe her account.

What She Did is the perfect whodunit for people who like unreliable narrators. Every word and everyone is suspect.

Meet the Author

Carla started writing more seriously ten years ago after having flirted with musical theatre and occasional writing in her youth.

Since then she has written & produced several stage plays, has four self-published books, has acted in several independent films and is currently in the final stages of production of her feature horror film, Penny for the Guy.

She now writes full time as well as co-owning a film, photography & video production company located in the heart of Redditch town centre.

Where You Can Find Her

Check Out These Other Stops on the What She Did Tour!!

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Blog Tour: Lost Angels

On By carryabigbookIn Blog Tours, Book Reviews1 Comment

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Synopsis

On her hands and knees, Nikki moved to the other side of the body. She couldn’t stop her fingers from trembling as she brushed the dark hair off the victim’s face. She couldn’t look away. “I know her…”

When Special Agent Nikki Hunt is called to the Boundary Waters near Stillwater, Minnesota, it’s not just the cold that shocks her to her core: the body of a young woman has been found frozen beside a remote lake. Nikki is devastated to see the victim is her childhood friend Annmarie, and she recognizes the velvet ribbon tied in her hair as the hallmark of a serial killer who she has been hunting for years.

Desperate for justice, Nikki throws herself into the case. But she is shaken by what she finds at Annmarie’s home: a dead-bolt on her front door and a map in the spare room, with the locations of murdered women circled in thick, red marker. Did Annmarie know she was next? Then Nikki finds out that the killer has left a clue in Annmarie’s bedroom: a photo of Nikki’s mother that no one has ever seen. Has the murderer at large been in Nikki’s life since she was a child?

Nikki soon realizes that the key to unlocking this case is in her own family, but digging up the past could put her own daughter in danger. She has spent her whole life protecting the ones she loves, but to find this killer Nikki might have to risk everything…

Fans of Karin Slaughter, Lisa Gardner and Robert Dugoni will be completely addicted to this heart-pounding thriller. Once you start reading, the twists and turns will have you racing towards the end.

Review

Lost Angels is an action-packed, adrenaline-fueled, roller coaster ride that will have you holding fast to your seat until the very last page. Once again our heroine Special Agent Nikki Hunt comes up against the diabolical serial killer nicknamed Frost. Except now he seems to be moving in closer to her home and family. His latest victim is her childhood best friend Ann Marie. And while she is investigating, the clues suggest that Frost knows something about her family’s secret past. Is Nikki his ultimate target or does he simply like playing cat and mouse with her? What is his connection to Nikki and Stillwater? Will Nikki find Frost before he adds to his body count? Who is next on his list?

Although Lost Angels is the third book in the Nikki Hunt series I feel that new readers will get sucked right into the plot. There is an advantage to reading the other books though in that you have a better understanding of the dynamics between the characters that will allow you to see why Nikki was hesitant to react under different circumstances. Yes, her pride did get in the way but so did her regret over past errors. Don’t get me wrong – Nikki Hunt is tough as steel. But Stacy Green reminds us that she is human too. Love her character and her team. I’ve gotten to the point where I jump as soon as I see books in this series. Looking forward to the next installment.

Meet the Author

Stacy Green is the bestselling author of more than 10 award-winning novels and nonfiction short stories. The ERIN PRINCE SERIES has been optioned for television by a major production team. ALL GOOD DEEDS (Lucy Kendall #1) won a bronze medal for mystery and thriller at the 2015 IPPY Awards. TIN GOD (Delta Crossroads #1) was runner-up for best mystery/thriller at the 2013 Kindle Book Awards. Stacy started her career in journalism before becoming a stay at home mother and rediscovering her love of writing.

Where You Can Find Her

Check out these other stops on the Lost Angels Blog Tour!

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Blog Tour: Such a Good Wife

On By carryabigbookIn Blog Tours, Book ReviewsLeave a comment

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Synopsis

Betrayal was just the beginning…

Melanie Hale is a devoted mother to her two children, a diligent caregiver to her ailing mother-in-law and a trusted neighbor in their wealthy Louisiana community. Above all, she’s a loving partner to her wonderful husband, Collin.

Then there are the parts of herself that Mel keeps hidden. She’s exhausted, worried and unfulfilled. So much so that one night, after a writers’ group meeting, Mel begins an affair with a successful local author named Luke. Suddenly she’s transformed into a role she doesn’t recognize—a woman who deceives with unseemly ease. A woman who might be capable of just about anything.

When Mel finds Luke’s dead body in his lavish rented house, she realizes just how high the stakes have become. Not only does she have to keep her affair a secret in order to preserve her marriage, but she desperately needs to avoid being implicated in Luke’s death. But who would want to kill him? Who else in her life is keeping secrets? And most terrifying of all, how far will they—and she—go to keep those secrets hidden?

Review

Mel appears to be the best wife. She has a son who is autistic and a mother-in-law who is close to dying. She shows compassion and patience in her care and comes up with solutions to soothe them while protecting her husband and daughter from seeing the worst of their conditions. Collin is a loving and kind husband. Mel honestly cannot complain. But she is unfulfilled. She steps out on her marriage and embarks on an affair with a local writing celebrity.

I do not believe that she really fell for Luke so much as she fell for his life. Being this carfree spirit that could travel the world. That was unihibited in expressing his creativity. It certainly does not help that he is a good looking succesful man. That his books are salacious and erotic further piques Mel’s interest. She is flattered by the attention. It has been a long time since she has seen herself as an attractive woman. But now having someone else looking at her that way it means something to her. So she quickly gives in to passion.

She knows all along that she is making a big mistake. She’s conscious of what’s at stake here, what she is risking as far as her family is concerned. She knows that when other parents’ affairs were exposed that it has come back to hurt their children. They have become targets of bullying in the school and on social media. Mel does not want that for her kids. They are already vulnerable. Ben for the obvious reasons and poor Rachel has been walking around on eggshells. Then Mel inserts herself into other people’s problems being fully aware of the danger it might pose. It’s almost as if she cannot help herself. Perhaps she is drawn to excitement after having led what she feels is a humdrum life where her needs are always on the backburner.

The book opens up with Mel discovering Luke’s body. We know SHE did not kill him. But then who did? And who knows her secret? Can it be used against her? Will she take the fall for a murder she did not commit? Will she be able to keep her family out of the fray of the murder investigation while keeping her crimes of passion a secret?

The first half of Such a Good Wife builds around the sexual tension between Luke and Mel while the second half was more fast paced and centered on the mystery. This is where the twists and turns that mystery lovers crave are found. There were plenty of suspects and juicy motives.

Recommendedfor readers who like steamy romance mixed in with their murder.

Meet the Author

Seraphina Nova Glass is a professor and playwright-in-residence at the University of Texas, Arlington, where she teaches film studies and playwriting. She holds an MFA in playwriting from Smith College, and she’s also a screenwriter and award-winning playwright. Seraphina has traveled the world using theatre and film as a teaching tool, living in South Africa, Guam and Kenya as a volunteer teacher, AIDS relief worker, and documentary filmmaker.

Where You Can Find Her

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Blog Tour – Up All Night: 13 Stories Between Sunrise and Sunset

On By carryabigbookIn #family reads, Blog Tours, Book Reviews, excerpt, GiveawaysLeave a comment

Synopsis

UP ALL NIGHT epitomizes teenage reckless abandon in 13 stories, unmasking that awe-inspiring moment of hope and fear when transformation feels inevitable, while unflinchingly facing the issues teens think about every day. In “Old Rifts and Snowdrifts” by Kayla Whaley, a blizzard leaves Eleanor, a wheelchair user, stranded in the flower shop where she works overnight. It’s dark and cold and Eleanor is all alone—except for her ex-best friend and current crush who she hasn’t spoken to in nearly a year. In Tiffany D. Jackson’s “Shark Bait,” a young girl falls in love on Martha’s Vineyard, where she and her mother settled to escape her father’s adultery. Only, her perfect summer romance is turned on its head by the casual racism and microaggressions perpetrated by her new boyfriend’s friends. In “Like Before” by Maureen Goo, Pepper misses the closeness she shared with her two best friends before they drifted apart during their last year of high school. In a Hail Mary effort to restore their relationship before graduation, she invites her besties to “The Baddest Mother-Effing Sleepover to End All Sleepovers.” In “Missing” by Kathleen Glasgow, four friends visit an abandoned women’s hospital in search of a ghost. The night takes an unexpected turn when Lissy, the strange little sister who had to tag along, gets a little too friendly with the paranormal.

Full list of Contributors: Brandy Colbert, Kathleen Glasgow, Maurene Goo, Tiffany D. Jackson, Amanda Joy, Nina LaCour, Karen M. McManus, Anna Meriano, Marieke Nijkamp, Laura Silverman, Kayla Whaley, Julian Winters, Francesca Zappia.

Review

When I cracked the spine of my ARC I was delighted to be greeted by an author whose work I had enjoyed. The first story Never Have I Ever by Karen McManus rocked me with its ending. I thought to myself if the rest of the stories are this good, then this is going to be a delicious treat. But there was a part of me that was nervous. I put the book down and paused, What if the other stories aren’t this good? I needn’t have worried. There was not one story in this collection I did not like.

When I got to Silverman’s Creature Capture the Pokenerd in me leaped for joy. But the game was just the setting. The real spark comes from this story’s message:

“Look.” Emily leans toward me, eyes conspiratorial, voice lowered. “I’ll let you in on a little secret. No one really cares about you–”

My stomach drops. Wait? What–

“–and no one really cares about me, and no one really cares about anyone all that much except for themselves. We’re all too focused being worried about what people think of us to spend time judging others, you know? So, like screw it. Be who you are.”

No one really cares.

. . .

I’ve spent so much of high school worried what other people will think of me, that I’m not like them, but maybe Emily is right. Maybe no one cares that I play Creature Capture or like knitting glow-in-the-dark scarves or think a wild Saturday night involves a Scrabble tournament with my parents. Maybe I should say screw it and just be me. And maybe, maybe then if someone does care, it’ll be in a good way.

There was a moment after reading Shark Bait where I turned the page to the next chapter, excited to see what would happen next. I got so lost in the story I forgot that was it. That was the end. Those characters were gone from me. I had to remind myself that this was a short story collection.

Up All Night was not only representative of many genres, but also had characters of different abilities, cultures and sexualities. There was a range of themes covering friendship, blended families, first love, new horizons, letting down your mask and being genuine to yourself and your feelings. There is something for everyone here young and old. I am glad that I got the chance to check out 11 new-to-me authors. My TBR just got larger and richer for it.

Laura Silverman, Editor

Laura Silverman is an author and freelance editor in Brooklyn, NY. She earned her MFA in Writing for Children at the New School. Her books include Girl Out of Water, You Asked for Perfect, It’s a Whole Spiel, and Recommended for You.

Where You Can Find Her

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July Book of the Month Challenge

On By carryabigbookIn Book Reviews, Giveaways, Reading Challenges1 Comment

What is the BOTM challenge?

The Book of the Month (BOTM) Challenge is part of my yearly “Show Your Shelf Some Love” challenge where I read from the huge stack of books gathering dust on my shelves. Back in December when I was setting up my bullet journal I took an inventory of the books I bought but had not read. I was surpised to see that I had accumulated over 400 books. Now admittedely some of these were on my Kindle so I can see how I overlooked them. But as one of my resolutions was to curb my spending I figured that focusing my reading on the books I already owned was a good place to start.

When I set up this challenge I had 31 unread titles from my Book of the Month subscription. My goal for July was to read 9 of those and give them away. As usual though, I have no patience and impulse control so I jumped the gun and read two of these titles at the end of June:

  • The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
  • Force of Nature by Jane Harper

Book 3: The Guest List by Lucy Foley

Rating: 4 out of 5.

What should have been the wedding of the century turns into an evening for revenge. Will Slater, TV personality and and his bride-to-be Jules are both very ambitious and relentless in going after their goals. So they seem like a perfect match. But someone does not want them to be married. Jules has received an anonymous letter at her private home and ominous “trinkets” have been left behind.

You would expect a destination wedding to be grand and indulgent. But Cormorant Island is not just remote it is completely isolated. The skies are gray and the seas are choppy. The setting becomes its own character and adds to the sense of foreboding.

The Guest List opens up with the lights going out on the wedding and although the actual murder does not take place until you are about 80% through with the book the reader is kept entranced as the different characters spill their past secrets and present insecurities. Everyone is jealous and bitter. Each chapter evidence of their long memories and short tempers. So by the end when our victim is cut down, there are a myriad number of motives and suspects. Yet I was still surprised by the ending. I totally did not see that one coming.

This is my first Lucy Foley book. I’ve now added The Hunting Party to my TBR.

Next Up: The Kindest Lie by Nancy Johnson

A promise could betray you.

It’s 2008, and the inauguration of President Barack Obama ushers in a new kind of hope. In Chicago, Ruth Tuttle, an Ivy-League educated Black engineer, is married to a kind and successful man. He’s eager to start a family, but Ruth is uncertain. She has never gotten over the baby she gave birth to—and was forced to leave behind—when she was a teenager. She had promised her family she’d never look back, but Ruth knows that to move forward, she must make peace with the past.

Returning home, Ruth discovers the Indiana factory town of her youth is plagued by unemployment, racism, and despair. As she begins digging into the past, she unexpectedly befriends Midnight, a young white boy who is also adrift and looking for connection. Just as Ruth is about to uncover a burning secret her family desperately wants to keep hidden, a traumatic incident strains the town’s already searing racial tensions, sending Ruth and Midnight on a collision course that could upend both their lives.

Powerful and revealing, The Kindest Lie captures the heartbreaking divide between Black and white communities and offers both an unflinching view of motherhood in contemporary America and the never-ending quest to achieve the American Dream.

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Reading the Rainbow – June

On By carryabigbookIn TBR7 Comments

I’m sure by now that you have heard the old adage “Never judge a book by its cover.” But if you’re like me some book covers simply make you swoon. Before I go too far this post is not about cover lust but a challenge to read books from your TBR that are of a particular color. Each month Life of a Book Addict group on GoodReads assigns two colors. The challenge is to read as many books within that month that prominently display that color. At the end there’s a beautiful collage of books generated by all the members of the group. This month Jackie has picked green and navy as “June is bright and colorful with flowers and blooming trees all around. We have green grass and lots of water sports again.”

My shelf

My Name is Leon by Kit de Waal

For fans of The Language of Flowers, a sparkling, big-hearted, page-turning debut set in the 1970s about a young black boy’s quest to reunite with his beloved white half-brother after they are separated in foster care.

Told through the perspective of nine-year-old Leon, too innocent to entirely understand what has happened to him and baby Jake, but determined to do what he can to make things right, he stubbornly, endearingly struggles his way through a system much larger than he can tackle on his own. My Name Is Leon is a vivid, gorgeous, and uplifting story about the power of love, the unbreakable bond between brothers, and the truth about what, in the end, ultimately makes a family.

Sister Mine by Nalo Hopkinson

Nalo Hopkinson–winner of the John W. Campbell Award, the Sunburst Award, and the World Fantasy award (among others), and lauded as one of our “most inventive and brilliant writers” (New York Post)–returns with a new work. With her singular voice and characteristic sharp insight, she explores the relationship between two sisters in this richly textured and deeply moving novel . . .

Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby

A new essay collection from Samantha Irby about aging, marriage, settling down with step-children in white, small-town America.

Caul Baby by Morgan Jerkins

New York Times bestselling author Morgan Jerkins makes her fiction debut with this electrifying novel, for fans of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Jacqueline Woodson, that brings to life one powerful and enigmatic family in a tale rife with secrets, betrayal, intrigue, and magic.

The Passengers by John Marrs

Eight self-drive cars set on a collision course. Who lives, who dies? You decide.

The new gripping page-turning thriller from the bestselling author of THE ONE – soon to be a major Netflix series.

The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Finnmark, Norway, 1617. Twenty-year-old Maren Magnusdatter stands on the craggy coast, watching the sea break into a sudden and reckless storm. Forty fishermen, including her brother and father, are drowned and left broken on the rocks below. With the menfolk wiped out, the women of the tiny Arctic town of Vardø must fend for themselves.

Inspired by the real events of the Vardø storm and the 1621 witch trials, The Mercies is a story of love, evil, and obsession, set at the edge of civilization.

Skippy Dies by Paul Murray

A tragic comedy of epic sweep and dimension, Skippy Dies wrings every last drop of humour and hopelessness out of life, love, mermaids, M-theory, the poetry of Robert Graves, and all the mysteries of the human heart.

Someone Knows by Lisa Scottoline

From the New York Times-bestselling author comes a pulse-pounding domestic thriller about a group of friends who have been bound for twenty years by a single secret—and will now be undone by it. Someone Knows is an emotional exploration of friendship and family, as well as a psychological exploration of guilt and memory.

How many of you are doing color challenges this year and how do you select your books?

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Blog Tour: Little Boy Lost

On By carryabigbookIn Blog Tours, Book Reviews2 Comments

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Synopsis

The clear sky burst into flames of peach and gold, illuminating the small body leaning against the rocks. He looked even smaller than he had in the photos, purple marks blemishing his neck. His eyes were open, staring ahead at the vastness of the still water.

When three nine-year-old boys go missing on a field trip to Lakemore’s annual spring festival, panic tears through the small town. Detective Mackenzie Price and her partner Nick Blackwood lead the search, but no trace of the boys is found—until one of them is found murdered, a note stuffed down his throat.

“Find Johnny’s killer, or they all die.”

Johnny was supposedly a victim of Jeremiah, a serial killer Nick helped put behind bars nearly a decade ago for the murder of ten young boys. But when Mack and Nick pay him a visit, he claims that he knows nothing—and that he remains innocent of Johnny’s murder.

Then a second boy is found, another clue left on his body, leaving just one left alive. Desperate to save the last boy’s life, Mackenzie and Nick comb over Jeremiah’s case, only to discover proof of a shocking cover-up—and a killer who will stop at nothing to right the wrongs of the past.

Packed full of shocking twists and nail-biting suspense, Little Boy Lost is a truly unputdownable crime thriller, perfect for fans of Karin Slaughter, Lisa Regan and Angela Marsons.

Review

Little Boy Lost was a captivating thriller full of delicious little twists. In this third installment to the Mackenzie Price series we are brought back to the majestic scenery of Washington state. But evil abounds here as the disappearance of three 9 year old boys forces Nick to confront one of the most diabolical killers from his past. Did Nick make a mistake charging Jeremiah Wozniak with little Johnny’s murder? Has a killer been walking amongst them all these years? He is certain beyond belief that Wozniak is a psychopath who will kill again if given the chance. But his soul wrestles with the fact that he might have let another killer go free. Meanwhile Mackenzie is dealing with skeletons from her own past. Her father’s murder investigation has been reopened and a zealous cop is on the case. Will he uncover Mack’s secret? Is Charles’s killer after her too? Mackenzie does not know whether her need for self preservation will land her harm’s way. Does she reveal her truth and risk her reputation? Or does she guard her secret and risk her life?

Meet the Author

Ruhi Choudhary discovered her passion for writing when she was seven years old and wrote her first Star Trek episode. Being a fan of the dark and twisted, she found her calling in crime thriller.

She likes to write stories that make you a little uncomfortable and characters that you struggle to make up your mind about but stay with you.

She lives in Toronto and spends her days training to be a scientist and wishing it rained more often!

Where You Can Find Ruhi

Stop by and visit these awesome blogs on the Little Boy Lost Tour!

Teaser Tuesday 2/2

On By carryabigbookIn Book Reviews, Teaser TuesdayLeave a comment

The Teaser

She was watching him still, that prideful shimmer in her eyes, and he felt a sudden horrible weight descend on him. He’d never had the experience of having someone else’s hopes wrapped up in him. Of knowing that he’d come up short of the imagined mark.

Prodigal Son by Gregg Hurwitz

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

My Review

Evan Smoak, “The Nowhere Man“, is supposed to be retired. He’s received his pardon and his walking papers with a warning to never pick up his hat again. If he goes back into the business the United States will send the weight of all its power after him and will not relent until he has been neutralized. At the conclusion of Into the Fire we thought he had retired; that he was trying to live a normal life. So what brings him back? Mysterious calls from someone claiming to be his mother. But who is this person really and can he trust them? Will Evan be able to think clearly and make the right decisions or will his emotions get him killed?

Prodigal Son is a fast paced, action thriller with lots of cool weaponry and high tech gadgets. Beyond the suspense though, it humanizes Orphan X and gives you more of his backstory. Newcomers to the series – don’t worry. You will feel as if you were with Evan from Day One. Hurwitz writes a spectacular novel that keeps us on the edge of our seat, then leaves us hanging begging for more.

Do you have Prodigal Son on your TBR? Have you read any of the books from the Orphan X series?

Blog Tour: The Woman Inside

On By carryabigbookIn Blog Tours, Book Reviews3 Comments

Buy Links:

Synopsis

Daisey Garrett wakes up in a hospital bed. She remembers her boyfriend has left her for another woman but she doesn’t remember what happened to her. The night she was attacked in her own home.

Daisey shouldn’t be alive but against all odds, she’s survived an ordeal most would never recover from. And her new friend and roommate Iris will help her get back on her feet.

But Daisey’s mind is broken. She’s on edge, drinking too much and as she sits across from her cheating ex, Luke, in the beautiful home they once shared together, she can’t shake the feeling that she is being watched.

Yet tiny fragments of Daisey’s memory are starting to come back to her.

The missing pieces of that fateful summer night are beginning to surface…

The lies she told the police.

The lies Luke told her.

Iris will help her find the truth, won’t she?

A tense, twisty, addictive page-turner, The Woman Inside takes you within the tangled mess of people’s lives and the dark secrets they hold close. Perfect for fans of Gone Girl, Before I Go to Sleep and The Wife Between Us.

Review

The Woman Inside is the fourth book in the DI Dan Riley series. I instantly took to Detective Inspector Riley. I did not feel as if I lost anything coming into the series midway. The book definitely stands alone and is well written so that you have enough context to get the backstory on Dan, our victim Daisey and the killer. The book does goes through flashbacks showing critical scenes in the past that affected our killer better known to the press as “The Rose Petal Ripper”. This name is earned by the serial killer’s MO of leaving fresh roses on the bodies of the victims.

Daisey Garrett is our killer’s third victim but she is the first to survive leaving DI Dan Riley with his only witness. The problem: she suffers from traumatic amnesia and cannot remember most of the events of that night. And what she can remember she does not want to tell out of embarrassment and misplaced loyalty. These lies and half truths color the evidence. Will DI Riley be able to discern the facts in the case before the killer comes back to finish what they started?

One way that I rate my mysteries is to see if I can solve the case before the big reveal. In this case I was partially right though Weatherly did throw in a few curveballs.

One thing that I noticed was that Daisey’s memory loss was attributed to trauma to the prefrontal cortex. This part of the brain is primarily involved with rational thought, decision making and impulse control*. It’s the justification for setting the drinking age at 21 because this part of the brain is still developing through your teenage years. Basically, it’s that part of the brain that keeps us from doing stupid stuff. Lawyers have used damage to the prefrontal cortex to explain away the depraved behavior of their clients as it plays a critical role in governing personality and emotions.

Why do I say all of this? Because this type of injury is more in tune with the killer than the victim. We also don’t see too many unexplained behaviors with Daisey after the attack. Her personality seems to stay pretty much the same. Understandably, she has a greater sense of fear but at her core she is a good person. To her detriment, she still wants to believe in the goodness of the next person.

Despite my little quibble, (I’m a Biology teacher. No one else is going to care.) I enjoyed the book and read it over 2 days. For the most part the medical aspects made the mystery more interesting. Great police procedural! And DI Riley is as good as they come.

Meet the Author

Anna-Lou began her career as a dancer but a moped accident in Ibiza put paid to those aspirations and so she went back to her first and one true love – writing! She re-trained as a journalist, specialising mainly in women’s interest and celebrity, becoming the Editor of J-17 and Smash Hits as well as writing for a host of women’s magazines.

Anna-Lou has written three Adult Fiction titles – Vengeful Wives and Wicked Wives, both published by Avon in the UK and Bookouture in the US and Canada and Pleasure Island published by Bookouture.

Where You Can Find Her

*The prefrontal cortex controls what is known as semantic memory; things like colors, shapes and other basic facts not tied to personal events or emotions. The limbic system of the brain connects emotions to memory. It’s not so much a physical part of the brain as it is a functional part. If one had to pinpoint Daisey’s memory loss from that night most likely the amygdala would have been damaged as it controls memories based in fear.