WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN by Wendy James

For me, the strength of a domestic thriller lies in the ordinariness of its characters. The more these people resemble the humdrum existence of the ordinary citizen – in this case the stay at home mum who is satisfied with cleaning the house, look after her children and put dinner on the table for her husband – the more sinister the plot appears. If this can happen to any boring, ordinary, tax-paying citizen, this could happen to any of us! Let’s also make it clear that James’ novel is set in the 90’s, a time before you could jump on social media and the internet and find out everything about everyone else, and the premise will appear a lot more believable.

In 1975, Susan’s sister Karen sets out for her high school formal and never comes home. Now, twenty years later, Susan is married to her high school sweetheart and has two children of her own. Her mother has recently died after a long illness, never fully recovering from her elder daughter’s disappearance. In her will, she leaves the family home to both her daughters, and the family solicitor informs Susan that every effort must be made to locate her missing sister. In the 90’s, this involved placing an advertisement in several prominent papers and weeding out the frauds (remember these ads?). To Susan’s surprise, a woman comes forward claiming to be Karen. Now living under the name Carly, she has knowledge of family matters that convince the family solicitor that she must indeed be Karen, despite an inconclusive DNA test.

Initially resistant, Susan eventually welcomes Carly into her home, thrilled to have found her long lost sister. Soon Carly skilfully inserts herself into the family, winning over even Susan’s sceptical husband Ed and the trust of their two children, and moving into the family home.

With themes of sisterhood, family and belonging, James presents a tale that is heavy with foreboding and peppered with the seeds of mistrust as the reader follows the family’s journey from here forward. I know that I certainly had my own thoughts about Carly, and witnessing the ensuing chaos was like watching an impending train wreck. Like in her novel THE ACCUSATION (which I loved), James always leaves an element of doubt in all possible scenarios. What if Carly is the real deal? What actually did happen to Karen on that fateful night?

Personally, I found parts of the story a little bit lacking or perhaps just too ambiguous to make this premise work to its best effect. Susan was merely an ordinary, nice, trusting person who longed for family (aka her lost sister), and I generally just felt sad for her as she generously let Carly into their fold. As a “thriller” I was missing elements of suspense or the social critique that would make me either resent Susan or Ed for being greedy or middle class snobs (i.e. be on team Carly), or feel a burning hatred for the obvious impostor Carly (i.e. be on team Susan). As it was, I only felt somewhat deflated and was left with more questions than answers (which may have been the author’s intent). That said, I am still thinking about these characters long after I have moved on to another book, so there is definitely something in James writing that always gets under my skin, and I am eagerly awaiting her future novels.

THE SWIFT AND THE HARRIER by Minette Walters

Ever since reading Walters’ novels about the black death, I have been hooked on her historical fiction books. In THE SWIFT AND THE HARRIER, Walters once again brings one of England’s past eras to life – this time the 1700s, a time of civil war. As with her previous HF novels, Walters has created an interesting, strong female character to lead the story, young physician Jayne Swift, the daughter of a local squire who is defying all of the rules applied to women at the time. Not only is she intelligent and quick-witted (and not too afraid to show it), but she has also defied convention by teaching herself medicine and choosing the path of physician rather than wife. Whilst this alienates her from most of her peers, she meets her match in William Harrier, who has many guises of his own (from footman to knight and many alter egos in between).

Whilst I mostly enjoyed the book, it did stall a few times in overly descriptive and repetitive scenes that could have been edited slightly to move the story along. There were a few times when I desperately longed for something to happen as I trudged through a myriad of characters or battle scenes. Perhaps I should have paid more attention to the history lessons at school, and some of the political details would have fallen into place a bit easier for me.

In summary, set against the backdrop of the English Civil War, THE SWIFT AND THE HARRIER takes us on a delightful journey into the history books, led by an interesting female protagonist. Even though I wasn’t totally convinced that a woman like Jayne truly existed in that male dominated era, I enjoyed the history lesson and the very understated romance that slowly unfolded between herself and one of the male leads. THE SWIFT AND THE HARRIER will appeal to readers who enjoy a character driven, slower paced novel that covers a period in history not often found in other fiction books.

THE GLASS HOUSE by Eve Chase

THE GLASS HOUSE is my third book by Eve Chase, all read in quick succession because I just can't get enough of her stories of dark family secrets and sibling relationships. As with some of her previous books, Chase lets her story play out in two separate storylines running parallel to one another, until they seamlessly come together to reveal the answers we have been seeking.

In the summer of 1971, Jeannie Harrington escapes her controlling husband and her grief by moving her two children and their nanny, "Big Rita", to their country house Foxcote Manor. There, in the depths of the forest, a baby girl is found abandoned and is taken in by the family, despite Rita's misgivings that all is not well in the Harrington household. Fast forward to the present, and we hear about Sylvie, whose mother is in ICU after an accident at home and whose daughter just had some life changing news. I loved the gradual unravelling of threads and exposing of secrets that ultimately brought these different timelines and characters together for a satisfying finale.

All in all, THE GLASS HOUSE was a deliciously mysterious story of family secrets against an atmospheric backdrop of the Forest of Dean, which leant the novel an almost fairytale like quality, especially the scenes at Foxcote Manor. Chase is a master at portraying family relationships, especially those between siblings, and once more her book ticked all the boxes for me.

THE COUPLE AT NO 9 by Claire Douglas

THE COUPLE AT NO 9 was my first book by Claire Douglas, but it certainly won't be my last! If you are looking for dark family secrets and a delightful twist, then look no further.

Young couple Tom and Saffron have their dreams of converting Saffron's grandmother's old cottage into their dream home shattered when earthworks uncover two skeletons in the garden. Forensics soon identify one of the bodies as that of a man who disappeared thirty years ago. But how was Saffron's grandmother Rose connected to him? Rose has recently moved into a care home and is suffering from Alzheimer's, so her recall of the past is confused and patchy. The more Saffron and her mother Lorna dig into the past, the more convinced they are that events may be connected to one of Rose's lodgers, a mysterious woman called Daphne, who was living in the cottage when Lorna was a baby. There is only one problem: Daphne has also disappeared, and noone remembers what happened to her. Is Daphne the other woman in the grave? And if so, could Rose have killed her?

I loved the way Douglas explores the story from the POV of three different generations of women, who are all complex, well rounded characters who intrigued me. As the story unfolded and some of the threads came together, there was drama and tragedy and a mighty twist that completely took me by surprise. With its slow, almost languid start and an explosive finale, THE COUPLE AT NO 9 ticked all the boxes for me and I can't wait to read more from this author in future.