Duplicity

Goodreads Description

There are three sides to every story: Yours. Mine. And the truth… Max and Alissa have a fairy tale life—newlywed, madly in love and enviously rich. Then Max is brutally stabbed to death at their home and Alissa, miraculously, escapes with her life. But why was she spared? The hunt for the killer begins, uncovering a number of leads—was Max’s incredible wealth the motive? Had his shady business practices finally caught up with him? Or was it a stalker with a dangerous obsession? Devoted friends rally around gentle, sweet Alissa as she is left to mourn the loss of her husband and pick up her life. But not everyone is who they seem…Deep-rooted jealousies, secrets and twisted love lie just beneath the surface, and not all fairy tales have a happy ending.

My Review

Oh. My. Word. This was a great psychological thriller (with elements of being a police procedural) and it blew my socks off. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. I loved the alternating chapters between the current situation, being Max's murder and the chapters dealing with "The Other One", an unnamed child who's suffering incredible abuse and living a horrible life. I knew that the chapters must relate to each other somehow but this really didn't become clear until about half way through the book.

This story was great, the characters were believable and the dialogue was spot on. I sometimes find that authors battle to get dialogue to be realistic. I have, in the past, found myself reading a book and feeling that the dialogue had missed the mark, or I would think to myself "would someone really say that in that situation". In this book, I thought that the dialogue was spot on, from general discussions people were having, to the formal police interviews, it all just seemed right. This was one of the first things that struck me about this book.

But things only got better from there. This author is a class act and she's hit the mark with this book. It's interesting, gripping, contains a number of interview type scenes which I personally love and it's a story where you cannot trust any of the characters that you meet. This is a full speed ride and I definitely recommend it. But trust me, you'll be ignoring chores and letting the dirty dishes pile up once you get started with this one so best you clear your diary for a day or two before you start. Great read, with a great twist that I didn't see coming.

Rating: * * * * *

Publication Date: 27 December 2016

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Format: Ebook / Kindle

Source: ARC through NetGalley. Many thanks to author Sibel Hodge and publishers Thomas and Mercer for my copy. It was my pleasure to read and review this title.