Book Review: What You Left Behind by Samantha Hayes

Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book, free of charge, from Crown Publishing, via Edelweiss, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it

Continuing our look at great books for your new ereader this holiday season,

I have a great British police procedural for you!

Synopsis:

Two years after a terrifying spate of teenage suicides, the remote village of Radcote has just begun to heal. Then a young man is killed in a freak motorcycle accident and a suicide note is found among his belongings. When a second boy is found dead shortly thereafter, the nightmare of repeat suicides once again threatens the community.

Desperate for a vacation, Detective Inspector Lorraine Fisher has just come to Radcote for a stay with her sister, Jo, but the atmosphere of the country house is unusually tense. Freddie, Jo's son, seems troubled and uncommunicative, and Jo is struggling to reach out to him. Meanwhile, Lorraine becomes determined to discover the truth behind these deaths. Are they suicides, or is there something more sinister at work? Finding answers might help Freddie, but they'll also lead to a shocking truth: whatever it is—or whoever it is—that's killing these young people is far more disturbing than she ever could have imagined, and unraveling the secret is just as dangerous as the secret itself.

Review:

This is my first book from Samantha, and it is a top notch mystery thriller! it is literally a book you just can't put down! Det Fisher is someone we know- an everyday character, who just happens to be a police detective. You understand the dysfunction between her and her sister, their history and apartness. Especially this time of year, we can all relate to trying to make amends and keeping family connections. But what happens when the nephew you knew, is know grown and a stranger, and a possible suspect in case you got thrown in by accident, and your curious nature? There's the rub. Samantha leads the reader down a path full of red herrings and ha;f truths, so that when the truth is laid out, you'll be shocked and surprised! This was a great read and one I highly recommend!

About the Author:

Before becoming a writer, Samantha Hayes worked at jobs ranging from private detective to bartender to fruit picker to factory worker, lived on a kibbutz, and spent a few years in Australia and the United States. Her writing career began when she won a short story competition in 2003. She now lives in Warwickshire with her family. What You Left Behind is her second novel.