Genre: Thriller, mystery

Stars: 4

Links: Amazon UK and Amazon US

 

The Blurb:

A missing girl.
Threatening notes.
Sinister strangers.
Olivia’s idyllic family life in a Swiss mountain village is falling apart. She thought she’d managed to escape the past, but it’s coming back to haunt her.
Has somebody discovered her secret – why she had to leave Scotland more than ten years ago?
What is her connection to Marie, a lonely schoolgirl in a Yorkshire seaside town, and Lucy, a student at a Scottish university?
A story of the shadows of the past, the uncertainties of the present and how you can never really know anybody

My Review:

I absolutely adored the author’s debut novel, Sewing the Shadows Together, and was delighted to be on the blog tour for this, her second book.

Past, present, intrigue, chills, and a lot of tension combine into a multi-layered, expansive, and, ultimately, beautiful story.

Olivia’s illusion of a perfect life is shattered when she gets a note that links to events best forgotten and then her daughter’s friend disappears. Seeking solace from events past and present, Olivia finds herself spiraling into a cocktail of paranoia, guilt, and gullibility. Throw in some history, and some truly awful characters, and the perfect life becomes ever more fractured…

The author’s fluid writing, tense setting, and flawless movement across time did not disappoint. The characterisation was great – the type that has you warming to flawed and irritating characters and you have no idea why. But it was the sense of place that really stood out. Recommended!

About the author:

Alison was brought up in the Yorkshire Dales by Scottish parents. She studied English at the University of St Andrews, before teaching English in Edinburgh secondary schools and EFL in Finland and Switzerland, where she now lives. She spends her time reading, writing, travelling, playing with her grandchildren and attending crime writing festivals.

You can contact her through her website  or follow her on Facebook or Twitter.