Liz Loves Books.Com.

Available now from Simon and Schuster.

Source: Purchased copy.

It’s been eight years since Gen Loxley lost her daughter, Beth: eight years of grief in which nothing’s really moved forward, for all that her husband, Art, wills it to. Gen, once a writer of novels, has settled in to a life of half-hearted teaching, while Art makes his name and their fortune – and pressures her into trying IVF once again. For Gen, it seems a cruel act of replacement; life without Beth is unthinkable, unbearable – but still it goes on. And then a woman arrives on Gen’s doorstep, saying the very thing she longs to hear: that her daughter was not stillborn, but was spirited away as a healthy child, and is out there, waiting to be found…So why is Art reluctant to get involved? To save his wife from further hurt? Or something much more sinister? What is the truth about Beth Loxley?

So another of my very favourite kind of books, those twisty turny psychological thrillers – this one had been languishing on my shelf for a while due to the ever growing to be read mountain, but finally it was time and it was a darn good read.

Gen drifts through life, still grieving, having never really moved on from losing her baby. When a woman turns up one morning and tells her that Beth is still alive somewhere, a chain of events are set in motion that will see Gen’s world turned completely upside down.

This was another utterly addictive read for me – helped along by a  terrifically compelling character, Gen, who you immediately get emotionally involved with and by her Husband Art, an enigmatic and driven man who may well be hiding some horrific secrets. Much of the brilliance in this story for me came within the relationship of these two, cleverly drawn, keeping you wondering about the true nature of it througout. Is Art lying? Or could it be genuine concern for Gen’s welfare? In a lot of ways, as well as being a fascinating mystery story this is also very much a tale of a marriage and just how well you can know a person even after many years together.

Offset by some great supporting characters – Gen’s best friend Hen, Art’s utterly absorbing Sister Morgan and various others, Ms McKenzie weaves a web of deception and intrigue around them that will have you often holding your breath, at other times wanting to knock heads together and with some very emotional and heartfelt  moments. As a whole I found this difficult to put down – I always wanted to know just one more thing about these people and what exactly happened eight years ago…

If I had any downsides at all they were slight – I did have to suspend disbelief on one or two occasions about the action (or lack thereof) that certain characters took at certain times, well you know these were the “knocking heads together” moments for me – and one of the characters in my head was a little too moustache twirly (sorry can’t put it better than that!) but overall this was absolutely terrific – and the ending blew my mind and gave me a sinister creepy feeling that didnt go away for a good few hours. Impressively achieved!

Definitely recommended highly for fans of the mystery genre. Top notch.

Happy Reading Folks!