Many thanks to NetGalley and publisher Simon and Schuster for giving me the opportunity to read this book prior to publication.
Expected: 25 June 2020
One day you're living the dream, commuting to work by riverbus with your charismatic neighbour Kit in the seat beside you. The next, Kit hasn't turned up for the boat and his wife Melia has reported him missing.
When you get off at your stop, the police are waiting. Another passenger saw you and Kit arguing on the boat home the night before and the police say that you had a reason to want him dead. You protest. You and Kit are friends - ask Melia, she'll vouch for you. And who exactly is this other passenger pointing the finger? What do they know about your lives?
No, whatever danger followed you home last night, you are innocent, totally innocent.
Aren't you?
The review
This covers the investigation of Kit's disappearance between Christmas and New Year, interspersed with snippets of the past year detailing Kit and Jamie's relationship from first meeting to the fall out prior to his disappearance.
Such a clever, well-thought out plot with lie upon lie and twist after twist. By the end my head was literally spinning – and what an ending. This is one of those books that’s so hard to talk about without giving anything away but I was blindsided by big reveal. I guess in hindsight I perhaps shouldn’t have been because throughout the entire book you never knew who or what to believe, who the innocent party is, feeling sorry for someone one minute and then hating them next.
Again without wanting to spoil it, the ending was hugely satisfying in that to a certain extent everybody got played and no one was really ‘innocent’. However, this was also a slight problem for me and my reason for a four rather than five star rating in that none of the characters were very likeable. Whilst well constructed, they were all completely ruthless, self-obsessed, untrustworthy characters and narrators. I also like to see justice, particularly for a character I don’t like, and whilst the ending was unexpected and largely satisfying it wasn’t necessarily fair.
The beautifully described South London setting was a real bonus – although I must say as someone who hates commuting Jamie’s fear of the tube and the description of events that caused it were frighteningly realistic.
I will definitely be seeking out some of Louise Candlish’s other books in future.
The author
Louise Candlish is a Sunday Times bestselling author. Our House, a number one bestseller in paperback, ebook and audiobook won the Crime & Thriller Book of the Year at the 2018 British Book Awards. Follow @louise_candlish or find out more at www.louisecandlish.com
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