Rebecca Griffiths

Set in 1965 Manchester, England, a mystery unravels when Connie Openshaw comes back to her car to find that her young daughter, Kathy, has vanished. In an area with multiple other disappearances, Connie faces denial and harassment while coming to terms with her mistakes. Meanwhile, Ronald navigates running his solitary farm that holds dark secrets of his own. Connie and Ronald's lives are about to intersect in a disturbing and unforeseen way. Based on the Moor Murders, this is a thriller/historical fiction that will capture your attention throughout.

I did not read much into the background of this story before reading the book. I liked going in blind because I was unaware of any names or events. It felt very thrilling and I would recommend, unless you already know the background, to go in blind, too! Although the first chapter was very difficult for me to get through because the dialect is so different from the way I speak, it got easier to understand as it went along. Griffiths does a fantastic job of interweaving separate storylines and keeping you on your toes. I appreciated the twists and cliff hangers at the end of chapters that kept me wanting more.… (más)

Sarah escaped a man who held her prisoner for eleven days. Seventeen years later he is about to be released from prison. Sarah settles into a new community but finds that she is being watched.

This book ended up being a big let down. I quite enjoyed the start of the story and for a while was enjoying it. There was a big chunk of it half way through where not a lot really happens. Ploughing on to the end a few twists that rounded up the story.

The book was very descriptive with lots of beautiful descriptions of Wales. The book however I felt was padded out with descriptions of everything. This I feel was just a little too much at times.

I wanted to enjoy this book more than what I did. The twists at the end sort of saved the book but it was a slog at times to get there.… (más)

The first couple of chapters of this novel create just enough forward motion to keep you reading, and that's a good thing because in the middle part (about 80% of the book) the story barely moves forward. Instead there is a lot of showy writing - the sort in which nothing can be slippery, it has to be fish-slippery or glass-slippery, and nobody can reach for something, they have to lunge for it. Everything felt overdone, and a static plot started to creak under the weight of over-described facial reactions during cringey conversations and the tedium of people chasing crumbs around plates with "moistened fingers" (just me probably, but eeeeeuuuck).

Then, as the remaining pages begin to thin, out of the blue steps a quite astounding plot twist. It's a bit like watching a football match in which a slightly pudgy defender scores a goal and celebrates with a startling gymnastic tumbling routine. Remarkable and memorable.… (más)