Book Description
My family said he killed my mother. They lied…
I was just a little girl, fast asleep in my stroller, the day my mother was killed. I don’t remember anything about the sunny day that turned so dark.
She’d be so happy for me now, twenty years later, with my dream job as a photographer, and I’m sure she’d love my new boyfriend, Gabriel. But all my happiness vanishes in a heartbeat when the man from our past walks towards me, his eyes on me for just a fraction too long.
I recognise his face from the picture in the papers. He killed my mother.
I try to run but he wants me to listen. He says that he is innocent, and that my family have been lying to me for years.
My father and sister tell me to stay away. They remind me that because of him my mother never got to tuck me in at night or ease me through my first heartbreak. Gabriel says he could be dangerous. But when he is found dead, I am shaken to my core. Who needed to keep him quiet?
I won’t feel safe until I find out what he wanted to tell me. But when I find that my father has lied about the past and Gabriel has hidden photos of my mother under his bed, I realise I can’t trust anyone. I want the truth. But if I find it, will my life be in danger?
An absolutely addictive read that will have you racing through the pages and questioning everything you thought you knew about your family. Perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train, Lisa Jewell and Shari Lapena
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'The Suspect' by Kathryn Croft.
Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Kathryn Croft, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous
Publication date 2nd February 2023.
This is the first book I have read by this author.
I was originally drawn to this book by its beautiful and eye catching cover and its intriguing synopsis and title. The synopsis stated that this book is 'An absolutely addictive read that will have you racing through the pages and questioning everything you thought you knew about your family. Perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train, Lisa Jewell and Shari Lapena ' I am a huge fan of 'The Girl On The Train', Lisa and Shari so am looking forward to seeing if this lives up to this statement. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).
This novel consists of a prologue, 44 chapters and an epilogue. The chapters are short to medium in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
This book is based in London, England 🏴, UK 🇬🇧. I always enjoy when books are set in the UK as I'm from Wales and have sometimes visited areas mentioned in the book. This makes it easier to picture where the scenes are set at times. I have actually visited London recently so am looking forward to seeing if I recognise any areas mentioned.
This book is written in third person perspective and the main protagonist is Jess and Lori Gray. The benefits of third person perspective with multiple protagonists are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything.
This book is fantastically written with vivid descriptions that absolutely grip the readers attention and puts them right in the middle of it all feeling the hair raise on your arms and feeling the sweat run down your back.
This book is an interesting crime mystery set in London. The book does start off slow but does pick up further into the storyline and then you find yourself on a rollercoaster ride of twists and turns. I enjoyed that it is told from the points of view of multiple protagonists and over multiple timelines as it gives the reader a bigger picture of what was going on and when it happened and why events came to be. The past is told to us from the perspective of Lori and is set twenty years ago and the present is told from Jess's perspective and set in present day. I enjoyed the fact it is set in a small town and the main plot was intriguing. There were several points where I suspected each of the main characters and there were several twists. I had no idea who the killer was and was shocked when it was revealed!! A huge congratulations to Kathryn as it is getting harder and harder to surprise me as I have read so many crime novels but you managed to do just that! The storyline is filled with drama, mystery, lies, suspense, tension,, twists, romance and crime. I was kept on my toes trying to work out who was lying and who did what throughout. I always enjoy trying to work out who the killer is in these types of books and I had lots of fun trying to guess who it was in this one. I loved the jaw dropping ending which I was not expecting at all!! It ia a suspenseful, intriguing crime thriller that once it has you hooked keeps you in its pages until the very end. There were a few times I became confused in regards to who's perspective I was reading from and with the amount of friends and family that was involved but I worked it all out by then end.
It is set over multiple time lines. When books show what has happened in the past and what is happening in the present I find it really helps the reader (if it is well done) understand why things are happening and what has lead to the present activities and decisions. It also shows the bigger picture.
This is one of the few books that I have listened 100% on Audiobook. If I listen to a book on audiobook I usually also read the physical book between but for the second time I listened to the whole book and I was impressed! I must say a HUGE congratulations to the narrator Tamsin Kennard who did a great job bringing this story to life. I would listen to it in the car and while walking at any opportunity and Tamsin did a fantastic job on both male and female characters voices!!! I'm not only looking forward to reading more books by Kathryn but also to listening to more books narrated by Tamsin! I have also listened to 'Her First Child' by Sheryl Browne which was also narrated by Tamsin. She did an amazing job with that book too and would highly recommend it.
The characters are realistic, strong and each have their own unique personalities. I really liked Lori and Jess and enjoyed their character development throughout the book. I felt sorry for Jess who just wanted to know the truth about who killed her mother. I could feel her frustration through the book and Tamsin really brought her and her mother to life through her narration. I love Jess' determination and her refusal to stop asking questions to get the answers she is looking for. She is a determined and strong woman who will stop at nothing to find out the truth that she both wants to and needs to know. Regardless of whether you love or hate the characters they all jump out of the pages and play their parts perfectly. I am looking forward to reading more books by Kathryn and seeing what she comes up with next!
Make sure you read to the very end of the book to read the prologue and first chapter of Kathryn's 'The Girl With No Past' which are promising to be just as good as this book and I look forward to reading it!
Overall an intriguing mystery that has a jaw dropping twist at the end!
Genres covered in this novel include Domestic Fiction, Suspense Thriller, Women's Psychological Fiction, Serial Killer Thrillers, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Contemporary Fiction, Murder Thrillers, Psychological Thriller, and Psychological Fiction amongst others.
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of 'The Girl on the Train', Lisa Jewell, Shari Lapena,
Catherine Cooper, Lucy Foxley, Ruth Ware, Clare Mackintosh and Alice Feeney.
361 pages/9 hours and 38 minutes
This book is just £1.99 to purchase on kindle, £8.88 in paperback and £16 for the Audiobook (at time of review) via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!
Rated 4 /5 (I enjoyed it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.
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Author Bio
Kathryn is the bestselling author of ten psychological thrillers and to date she has sold over one million copies of her books. Her third book, The Girl With No Past spent over four weeks at number one in the Amazon UK chart, and she has also appeared on the Wall Street Journal's bestsellers list.
Kathryn writes full time and is now hard at work on her next book.
After twelve years living in London, she now lives in Guildford, Surrey, the place she grew up, with her husband, two children and two crazy cats.
Social Media
Twitter: https://twitter.com/katcroft
Website: https://www.kathryncroft.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorkatcroft/
Bookouture Email Sign Up: https://www.bookouture.com/kathryn-croft
Purchase Link
Amazon: https://geni.us/B0BL1B8PSQsocial
