JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh

Welcome to Golden Cove, a remote town on the edge of the world where even the blinding brightness of the sun can’t mask the darkness that lies deep within a killer…

On the rugged West Coast of New Zealand, Golden Cove is more than just a town where people live. The adults are more than neighbours; the children, more than schoolmates.
That is until one fateful summer – and several vanished bodies – shatters the trust holding Golden Cove together. All that’s left are whispers behind closed doors, broken friendships, and a silent agreement not to look back. But they can’t run from the past forever.

Eight years later, a beautiful young woman disappears without a trace, and the residents of Golden Cove wonder if their home shelters something far more dangerous than an unforgiving landscape.

It’s not long before the dark past collides with the haunting present and deadly secrets come to light.

A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh is a small town crime thriller novel, following the disappearance of local teenager Miriama Hinewai Tutaia in Golden Cove New Zealand, and its potential connection to the disappearance of three backpackers eight years earlier.

The main characters are police officer Will Gallagher, in charge of trying to find Miriama, and Anahera Spencer-Ashby, a young woman who grew up in Golden Cove and has recently returned after living in London for many years as a highly successful pianist and performer.

Will and Anahera are both complex and conflicted characters — Will was exiled to Golden Cove after a previous case went in an unexpected direction, and Anahera runs home to Golden Cove after her husband dies and his pregnant mistress turns up on her doorstep.

“But there were other possibilities and he’d be a bad cop if he ignored them. No one had ever called him that, not even when his mistakes had led to two deaths. Will’s police work had been stellar; it was his understanding of human nature that had let him down.”

Will and Anahera are both incredibly interesting and thoroughly developed characters. Both of them share wounded histories and are psychologically damaged from past events in their lives. Whilst they don’t know each other prior to Anahera returning to Golden Cove, the two bond over their circumstances and find comfort in each other’s company.

There is definitely this sense of isolation that comes with being in Golden Cove, like you’re all alone and nothing you do will penetrate the outside world. Anahera was able to leave because she’s musically gifted, but most people stay (as Anahera learns when she returns home). Many juicy secrets are harboured in Golden Cove. As a result, tension and suspense are heightened and the setting itself feels like another character.

“Another fifty meters and the sand disappeared under a flow of water that turned into a whirlpool surrounded by rocks as black as obsidian and as jagged as broken glass. Everyone knew to keep their distance from the spot — there was simply no hope for anyone who fell into that water.”

The pacing is slow but consistent, successfully building suspense and intrigue. There is more than one mystery plaguing this small town and everyone is a suspect. Will can determine multiple motives for wanting young, beautiful local Miriama missing — she held many secrets, and was fancied by just as many admirers.

Setting and environment are big strengths in this novel, and Nalini has captured the small, isolated town of Golden Cove incredibly well. The ‘small town’ vibe is rich with secrets and hidden pasts, and it will draw every reader in and keep them enticed until the final pages.

There’s a small romantic storyline that develops in the book, which is both welcome and expected with this genre. However, it’s not a dominant part of the book and if it were removed, the events in the novel would mostly remain unchanged.

“Two hours later, he’d gone through every single one of the names and ID photos and come up with nothing. If Fidel Cox had returned to the area, he’d done so in a way that wouldn’t be noticed.”

Admittedly, I wasn’t a fan of the ending. There were two major revelations at the climax of the book — one made sense and the other did not. The truth behind Miriama’s disappearance was not consistent with the characterisation set up prior and it seemed like a cheap ploy to surprise the reader. To be honest I felt a bit cheated at the end.

Enthralling, inviting and entertaining. Recommended for fans of crime, thrillers, and mystery novels.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

A Madness of Sunshine
Nalini Singh
December 2019
Hachette Publishers

Girl in the Rearview Mirror by Kelsey Rae Dimberg

Desperate to put her past in the rearview mirror, Finn Hunt leaves the Midwest for Phoenix, Arizona, where no one knows her story.

While she’s working a dead-end job, a chance meeting with Philip Martin, son of a prominent US Senator, leads Finn to a position as nanny for Amabel, his precocious four-year-old daughter. Quickly seduced into the Martins’ privileged world, Finn can almost believe she belongs there, almost forget the dark past that haunts her.

Then, in the stifling heat of a desert summer as the Senator’s re-election looms, a strange woman begins to follow Finn, claiming a connection to Philip and threatening to expose the family to scandal. As Finn tries to protect Amabel, and shield the Martins, she’s inadvertently drawn deeper and deeper into their buried secrets.

The family trusts Finn, for now, but it will only take one mistake for everything she holds dear – the Martins’ world, her new life – to fall apart . . .

Girl in the Rearview Mirror by Kelsey Rae Dimberg is a mystery thriller novel about privilege, power, family and expectation. Set in Arizona, twenty-something Finn works as a babysitter for a very high profile family and she quickly finds herself entangled in a dangerous web of lies.

The family that Finn nannies for — the Martins — are rich and very powerful. Philip Martin is the son of a prominent U.S senator, and there’s nothing they can’t buy their way out of. No scandal they can’t weasel their way out of. No undesirable blackmailer they can’t pay off or make ‘disappear’.

When a woman shows up claiming to hold a secret that could destroy the Martins’ lives, Finn tries desperately to fix the situation before it implodes. But has she bitten off more than she can chew? Will she just make the situation worse?

“Marina would never miss her own party. She wouldn’t retreat from Philip Martin and let Iris have him. Yet that’s exactly what she was doing…I could tell her I knew about Iris. Offer to help. But knowing of my involvement would make her quiver. If she found out I’d know for days, she’d fire me on the spot.”

Initially, the pacing is incredibly slow. The first third of the book doesn’t move fast enough to grab the reader’s attention, and you have to hope the reader continues to invest in the storyline. Girl in the Rearview Mirror is a fantastic read, but the beginning had me bored.

Finn’s mysterious and secretive past isn’t really mentioned until the second half of the book and I couldn’t really see how her past and present were going to link. And the first third of the book is all about Finn’s babysitting, and the world of US politics — two things that I found pretty boring.

“I put together their childhood in pieces: the album, the anecdotes Philip let slip, Bryant’s longer knowledge of the tension between Philip and his father, and something else — a feeling I had of knowing Philip.”

Finn’s paranoia grows over the course of the novel — she’s an unreliable narrator. She second guesses everything and questions every moment. She embarks on some rather absurd (and unbelievable) investigatory trips. At times, she’s incredibly naive and really rather stupid. It’s super obvious that *spoiler alert* her boyfriend is drugging her at night and I’m pretty sure she realises it and yet she just keeps on downing the drinks that he makes for her and then she’s really ‘surprised’ when she wakes up the next morning feeling rubbish. It’s hard to sympathise for her and her situation when she’s so clueless.

Kelsey builds tension really well, revealing little snippets of information and secrets to intrigue you even more and pull you in further. There are plenty of plot points that I didn’t see coming. Sometimes with crime novels, the structure of the plot can be fairly predictable, but I honestly didn’t know where this one was going and so I was more than happy to keep reading.

“The redhead observed us, arms crossed, and I swore she was smirking. She was older than I’d guessed at the fair, early twenties, maybe. Even in the shadow of her hat, her skin was pale, almost opalescent. Against it, her hair was bright as a flag.”

The writing is sleek and sophisticated, the characters all unique and dynamic. Girl in the Rearview Mirror highlights issues of wealth and privilege, and how those two things can mean a lot of collateral damage for a lot of innocent people.

Recommended for fans of mysteries, crime and thrillers. Stick with the book, because the first 100 pages may be a struggle, but the effort is worth it in the end.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Girl in the Rearview Mirror
Kelsey Rae Dimberg
July 2019
Pan Macmillan Publishers

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

In a large house in London’s fashionable Chelsea, a baby is awake in her cot. Well-fed and cared for, she is happily waiting for someone to pick her up.

In the kitchen lie three decomposing corpses. Close to them is a hastily scrawled note.

They’ve been dead for several days. Who has been looking after the baby? And where did they go?

Two entangled families.
A house with the darkest of secrets.

The Family Upstairs is a compulsive new thriller from British author Lisa Jewell, centring around a vulnerable family, the people they allow into their house, and how that has a disastrous ripple effect on generations to follow.

25 years earlier, the police arrive at 16 Cheyne Walk in Chelsea, London after concerns for the welfare of the inhabitants. They find three bodies inside in the kitchen, as well as a healthy 10 month old baby who has been well cared for. An investigation ensues, but the police are never able to uncover what happened inside that home.

The book switches POV between a few different characters. First, we have Henry Lamb 25 years earlier. He lives with his parents and his sister at the fashionable house in Chelsea. They’re rich and they’re happy. But over time, they spend too much money, their worth diminishes, and Henry’s mother seeks solace in something bigger than just family. She invites outsiders into their home, at first just for a short time. But then it becomes clear that these new tenants have no intention of leaving and over time, their influence over the family grows dangerous.

The reader follows Henry’s journey from child to adolescent to teenager to adult. At first, he’s spoilt and naive, and too trusting. Over time, he can see the effect that these visitors are having on his parents and the house that they’ve cherished over the years. Henry takes drastic measures to try and regain control.

We also meet Libby and Lucy, although it’s clear that their storylines are in the present — decades later.

Libby has recently turned 25. She rents an apartment but she’s struggling financially — she’s an adopted child. When she finds out she’s inherited a 3-storey mansion overlooking the Thames, she goes searching for the truth about her parents. We find out pretty quickly that Libby was the baby found in the mansion all those years earlier. Her parents were two of the three dead adults found in the kitchen. And Henry? Well, Henry must be her brother.

Lucy Lamb is Henry’s other sister, who he grew up with in the Chelsea mansion. Where is she now? She’s living in France but is homeless, and she has two young children. Slowly, she starts making her way back to London to find the baby that was left behind 24 years earlier.

“Her head, which a week ago had been filled with new sandals, a hen night, her split ends, the houseplants that needed watering, was now filled with people sleeping on mattresses and dead rabbits and a big, scary house, empty but for a large rocking crib from Harrods with strangely sinister pale blue roses painted on the sides.”

The Family Upstairs is a psychological thriller that had me hooked from start to finish. At first, it seemed a little confusing with the different POV — I got Lucy and Libby mixed up a couple of times — but I soon settled into the storyline. The mysterious deaths in the London mansion and the unclaimed baby left behind prove a fascinating premise.

The writing is tight and polished, building tension and inviting intrigue that keeps the reader entertained throughout the entire book. Each chapter gives you just enough information to make you think you know where the story is going, but still keeps enough mystery that you’re desperate to keep reading.

“What can I tell you about David Thomsen form my perspective then, as a young boy? Well, I can tell you that he was very handsome. Not in the soft, almost feminine way that his son was handsome, but in a more traditional way…I can tell you that he appalled me and fascinated me in equal measure.”

The storyline and the plot is incredibly complex, and so the pace moves really quickly because there’s a lot of history for the reader to take in. Henry, Libby and Lucy have all lived incredibly different lives and to give them due attention, we need to spend a lot of time understanding their circumstances, their motives, their next move

“Lucy hasn’t had a drink for weeks. She would die for a beer. But she can’t. She has to keep all her wits about her for the next half an hour or so. She shakes her head.”

Chilling and dark, and highly recommended. Anyone who loves a good mystery thriller will devour this book.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Family Upstairs
Lisa Jewell
August 2019
Penguin Random House Publishers

REVIEW AND AUTHOR INTERVIEW: The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth

Someone once told me that you have two families in your life – the one you are born into and the one you choose. Yes, you may get to choose your partner, but you don’t choose your mother-in-law. The cackling mercenaries of fate determine it all.

From the moment Lucy met Diana, she was kept at arm’s length. Diana is exquisitely polite, but Lucy knows, even after marrying Oliver, that they’ll never have the closeness she’d been hoping for.

But who could fault Diana? She was a pillar of the community, an advocate for social justice, the matriarch of a loving family. Lucy had wanted so much to please her new mother-in-law.

That was ten years ago. Now, Diana has been found dead, leaving a suicide note. But the autopsy reveals evidence of suffocation. And everyone in the family is hiding something…

From the bestselling author of The Family Next Door comes a new page-turner about that trickiest of relationships.

The Mother-In-Law by Sally Hepworth is a complex, emotionally charged novel that will keep readers engaged, entertained and eager for the next page. I loved it.

Lucy shares a rather complicated relationship with her mother-in-law Diana. She’s prickly, to say the least. She’s harsh, blunt and she speaks her mind. At times she makes Lucy feel small and unimportant and like she doesn’t matter. Lucy lost her own mother at the age of thirteen, and she is disappointed that her relationship with Diana is so fraught and tried.

And then Diana is murdered.

“In the three days since Diana died, I haven’t cooked a meal, done a load of laundry or been to the supermarket. I haven’t disciplined a child, helped anyone with homework or hidden any vegetables in spaghetti sauce.”

I loved that Diana’s character never changed. Her personality and her reasons for her decisions may not make a lot of sense to readers, but she’s the kind of person who remains the same person throughout the novel.

Sure, she warms to Lucy and she learns to admit when she’s misjudged someone, but she has values and morals and she sticks to them. She’s an interestingly unique character and I quite liked her, even if some of her decisions had catastrophic results.

The basis of Diana’s difficult behaviour is that she had a really difficult childhood and she had to build her extravagant lifestyle from nothing. She thinks the best thing that she can do for her children is give them no money and very little help, thereby forcing them to build their lives themselves and not rely on other people when in need of help.

“After Tom badgered me for years, I finally relented and allowed Ollie and Nettie to attend schools with term fees high enough to feed an entire Afghan village for a year. Years later, I’m still doubtful as to whether the schools were any better than the local ones.”

The novel keeps you guessing, wondering who Diana finally frustrated enough for them to murder her. Because Diana is, at times, very infuriating. And I imagine being her child would be incredibly difficult at times.

Sally Hepworth builds tension well, maintaining a consistent pace throughout the novel so that the reader feels like they’re getting enough enough information to piece together the story, but not too much that the ending is predictable or obvious.

Sally also illustrates motherhood and parenting really well, showing readers the harsh reality of what it’s like when you’re looking after a baby, especially if you’ve got other children you’re looking after too. The book switches back and forth between present and past and we read about Lucy’s journey into motherhood, but we also read about Lettie — Lucy’s sister-in-law — and her struggles with fertility. She and her husband desperately want children but Lettie struggles to fall pregnant and her and her husband struggle to save the money to pursue alternate means of conceiving, such as IVF or surrogacy.

“She glances over her shoulder, then spins on her stool so she is facing me. She’s lost weight. Her eyes look more prominent in her face. And her hair has a dull look, like it hasn’t been washed in a while.”

This book seems to blend a number of different genres — it’s a mix of literary fiction, but also family saga, crime, thriller and mystery. It’s a delicious concoction that I devoured.

The Mother-In-Law is an astounding book, difficult to fault. Recommended for all readers of any genre.

The Mother-in-Law is available now, Macmillan Australia, RRP $29.99.

***

AUTHOR INTERVIEW WITH SALLY HEPWORTH

Firstly, tell us a little bit about your latest novel, The Mother In Law?

The Mother in Law is a novel about the investigation into the unexpected death of a wealthy matriarch, and mother-in-law. But on a deeper level it is about the relationship between that matriarch, Diana Goodwin, and her daughter-in-law, Lucy, and the difficulties they have as they try to forge a relationship.

Here is how my publisher describes the book:
From the moment Lucy met Diana, she was kept at arm’s length. Diana is exquisitely polite, but Lucy knows, even after marrying Oliver, that they’ll never have the closeness she’d been hoping for. But who could fault Diana? She was a pillar of the community, an advocate for social justice, the matriarch of a loving family. Lucy had wanted so much to please her new mother-in-law.

That was ten years ago. Now, Diana has been found dead, leaving a suicide note. Lucy and Oliver wonder if her treatment for cancer had worn her down.

The autopsy finds that Diana didn’t have cancer, but it does reveal evidence of suffocation. Someone wanted Diana dead. And everyone in the family is hiding something…

What does a typical writing day look like for you?
I work 10 hours a day, 4 days a week. On those days, my day tends to look like this:
-8am: I arrive at the library, go through my emails and clear my inbox.
-9am: I do any writing related work that isn’t writing (for example if I have an article to write, or a Q&A to complete, or a cover to approve, I’ll do that first).
-10am: I move into the book part of the day. If I’m writing a first draft, I’ll focus on work count—around 2,000-3,000 words a day. If I’m editing, I’ll focus on how many pages I want to edit (3-5 chapters per day). I don’t always get to my goal, but it helps to aim for something.
-1pm: lunch
-2pm: more writing / editing
-5pm: Clear my inbox again.
-5:30pm I walk home.

What do you think is vital when writing suspense and mystery?
Unanswered questions are really the definition of suspense, aren’t they? I think so. I can’t quit a book if there are questions yet to be answered. Maybe that’s just me? Ideally your story should start with one or two unanswered questions, and then more should be introduced as the story goes along.

What element of novel writing do you most struggle with?
Editing. How I loathe editing! I adore creating a first draft, for me that is when I feel the energy flowing. But editing seems to exercise a different muscle, and for me, it doesn’t matter how often I do it, it is a muscle that is out of shape. What can I say? I prefer building to renovating ☺

What element of novel writing do you think is your biggest strength?
I think I’m quite good at keeping the pages turning. I achieve this through short chapters, creating cliffhangers at the end of each chapter, and leaving plenty of unanswered questions dangling throughout the book.

What do you think is key to writing relatable, realistic relationships?
I try to look to my own relationships, and the relationships of people I know, to create situations that feel real. It also helps to step into each character’s skin, see the world through their eyes, and understand what drives them, what motivates them. Writers need to be deeply empathetic to create authentic characters, and be prepared to explore a point of view that is different to their own. They also have to steer away from making a character a villain, simply because they have made a poor choice. The best people (in fiction and in real life) have flaws and strengths, failings and assets.

What have you learnt with each new book you’ve written? Has your writing process improved?
Honestly I’m not sure my process has improved! It feels just as muddled as ever. In fact, I’m constantly plagued by the idea that someone else is doing it better (fortunately all my writer friends also feel like this, so I figure it’s just part of being a writer). As for what I’ve learned, it’s been different for each book, but the most important thing I’ve learned is that eventually I will finish this book (even if it doesn’t feel like it at the time).

Finally, what are you working on next?
I’m currently editing my 2020 book, which is about three couples who end up at a swingers party.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Mother-in-Law
Sally Hepworth
February 2019
Pan Macmillan

The Au Pair by Emma Rous

A tautly plotted mystery of dark family secrets, perfect for fans of Kate Morton.

Seraphine Mayes and her brother Danny are known as the summer-born Summerbournes: the first set of summer twins to be born at Summerbourne House. But on the day they were born their mother threw herself to her death, their au pair fled, and the village thrilled with whispers of dark-cloaked figures and a stolen baby.

Now twenty-five, and mourning the recent death of her father, Seraphine uncovers a family photograph taken on the day the twins were born featuring both parents posing with just one baby. Seraphine soon becomes fixated with the notion that she and Danny might not be twins after all, that she wasn’t the baby born that day and that there was more to her mother’s death than she has ever been told…

Why did their beloved au pair flee that day?
Where is she now?
Does she hold the key to what really happened?

The Au Pair by Emma Rous is a mystery thriller spanning decades. The book explores love, relationships, truth, family secrets, selfishness and honesty.

The protagonist, 25-year-old Seraphine Mayes, has never looked like her brothers and her father, and wants to know why their mother committed suicide at their family home in Summerbourne. An unfamiliar photo sparks an investigation into their family history, uncovering many dangerous, long-hidden secrets.

Seraphine’s father has recently died in a sudden accident, and she’s going through his belongings. She finds this photo from July 1992, of her mother, father, brother, standing and smiling with a newborn baby. But Seraphine and Danny are twins. Why is there only one baby in the photo? And why, mere hours later, did their mother commit suicide at their family’s remote estate on the Norfolk coast? Questions arise, and Seraphine is determined to uncover answers.

‘Danny and I were always told this was the first picture taken of us after all those months lost to grief when we were born…I have a sudden memory of Dad telling me this was the brief stage when Danny and I were the same size; when he’d just caught up with me, before he surged ahead and left me forever the smaller one.’

The writing is really accessible for all readers; the prose flows rather well and the characters are interesting enough to entice the reader. The premise of the novel is an intriguing one, and will draw readers in and keep them guessing until the final chapters.

This debut novel is a little convoluted at times, and as the secrets start to reveal themselves, the reader will find themselves a little confused with how everything connects. At times, the book is a mind boggle.

Sometimes, the dialogue feels a little forced, particularly in conversation between the siblings where there’s tension or revelation or betrayal. The ‘outrage’ felt by some of the family members is not quite captured realistically.

“Why did he say I was impossible? Who Am I?”

This book has a gorgeous cover, which initially drove me into this book and got me interested in reading it. And despite its flaws, I enjoyed reading the novel and struggled to predict the ending of the book. There were many twists and turns, all adding suspense and tension to the plot. This book will have readers desperate for answers.

The Au Pair utilises dual narrative timelines, switching back and forth between Seraphine in 2017 and Laura, the au pair working at Summerbourne from 1991-1992. Slowly, Laura’s timeline fills in the gaps of the story and we learn what really happened the day of Seraphine’s birth.

There is a strong sense of place in this book; the Summerbourne estate almost felt like another character. I could really sense the atmosphere and the isolation and the mystery and intrigue that followed all who had lived there before. The cliffs that surround Summerbourne are dangerous and have been the cause of a few accidents and deaths in the past. It’s a very ominous setting for the book.

There was one twist in the book — surrounding Laura — that I found very unbelievable and unrealistic. And I felt like it made the ending a little too easy? It’s hard to explain without spoiling the book, but if you do decide to read The Au Pair, you’ll know what I’m referring to once you reach the end of the book.

Recommended reading for people who love mysteries and family sagas. This is a modern gothic thriller.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Au Pair
Emma Rous
December 2018
Hachette Book Publishers