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tharina's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed the book and would have given it four stars except for one inexplicable error - some of the dates in the chapter headings were 2006 when it clearly meant 2007. For example, one chapter is dated August 2006 and refers to a character's marriage taking place "fifteen months" after April 2006. It should be August 2007. Very annoying.
samstillreading's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed the first Sophie Hannah book I read (Hurting Distance), so I was surprised to see so many of her books on Borders’ shelves during the last days of their closing down sale. Perhaps she isn’t as well known in Australia? (Perhaps that might explain why I bought another of her books for $5 at the $5 bookstall). I think she is really underrated here – she’s a first class thriller writer. Mystery, police, psychological drama and murders – she has it in one. Fans of Minette Walters or The Hand that Rocked the Cradle would enjoy her books.
Don’t be put off that the police characters (namely Charlie and Simon) are recurring. I’m reading the books completely out of order and it doesn’t matter at all. There was ‘something’ between them in the past (possibly even before the series started) and now we have missed opportunities and sexual tension. While you may be beginning to think ‘oh no here we go again’, that really isn’t the case. What makes Hannah’s books stand out is that the main characters of the books are victims or near victims. The police are secondary and are there so you know both sides of the story.
The majority of this story is told by Sally Thorning. Sally’s a harried mum with a job, a lovely husband and a messy house. The previous year, she was meant to attend a conference which was cancelled. So, instead of telling her family, she went to a hotel for a week of peace. There, she met Mark Bretherwick and had a dalliance with him. So when Mark’s wife and daughter are murdered, Sally is upset. But the man on the television report isn’t the man Sally knows. The only thing is, she can’t tell anyone what she knows without jeopardising her marriage…
The novel presents a very different view of motherhood from what is commonly portrayed in the media – we have the perfect mother, the busy mother and the uncaring mother all portrayed. It explores as much the psychological aspect of raising a child as it does the murders. Some may be offended at having to confront their own feelings about being a parent. (Perhaps this is why some have ranked this book poorly?) You certainly won’t guess the murderer beforehand! Hannah weaves red herrings, blind alleys and chance clues together skilfully so that you’ll stay up all night reading this. I’m looking forward to reading more of her books!
(Note that this book was also published under the title of The Wrong Mother).
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
Don’t be put off that the police characters (namely Charlie and Simon) are recurring. I’m reading the books completely out of order and it doesn’t matter at all. There was ‘something’ between them in the past (possibly even before the series started) and now we have missed opportunities and sexual tension. While you may be beginning to think ‘oh no here we go again’, that really isn’t the case. What makes Hannah’s books stand out is that the main characters of the books are victims or near victims. The police are secondary and are there so you know both sides of the story.
The majority of this story is told by Sally Thorning. Sally’s a harried mum with a job, a lovely husband and a messy house. The previous year, she was meant to attend a conference which was cancelled. So, instead of telling her family, she went to a hotel for a week of peace. There, she met Mark Bretherwick and had a dalliance with him. So when Mark’s wife and daughter are murdered, Sally is upset. But the man on the television report isn’t the man Sally knows. The only thing is, she can’t tell anyone what she knows without jeopardising her marriage…
The novel presents a very different view of motherhood from what is commonly portrayed in the media – we have the perfect mother, the busy mother and the uncaring mother all portrayed. It explores as much the psychological aspect of raising a child as it does the murders. Some may be offended at having to confront their own feelings about being a parent. (Perhaps this is why some have ranked this book poorly?) You certainly won’t guess the murderer beforehand! Hannah weaves red herrings, blind alleys and chance clues together skilfully so that you’ll stay up all night reading this. I’m looking forward to reading more of her books!
(Note that this book was also published under the title of The Wrong Mother).
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
bbsbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This was a tense and exciting read but it had the potential to be so much better.
It follows Sally, a mother of two young children who had an affair last year. One night she sees the name of her lover on the news, his wife and daughter have been murdered but the man on the TV is not him!
There were so many twists and turns in this book, it kept me guessing until the end. It is the third installment of the Spilling CID series and follows the lives of the police officers on the case as well as Sally. I really wish that it didn't. A lot of the scenes between the police officers were boring and didn't add anything to the overall story. This may not be the case if you have read the rest of the series, but for me I was much more invested in what Sally was doing than whether or not two of the police officers were going to get married.
The book explored themes of motherhood. The struggles of being a mother to young children and having a career, how not all women enjoy motherhood and the pressure to appear to have the perfect family. It also portrayed how men are not held to the same standard, for example, Sally's absolutely useless husband who may as well have been her 3rd child, Mark Bretherick (Sally's lover) who can carry on travelling around the world on business trips and barely knows his daughter or DC Sellers who gets bored of his stay at home wife so cheats on her with a younger woman. then of course there is Professor Hey, who covers up the death of his wife and child because it would show the world that he did not have a perfect family at all. </spolier> The male characters in this book were absolutely awful and misogynistic which put me off at the time but when considering these themes it makes sense for them to act this way. I believe it is probably accurate to how many men in the police force think, especially back when this book was released in 2007.
This book did suffer from over writing at times and featured one of the most boring paragraphs I have ever read which almost made me throw the book away, but I'm glad I carried on as there were some really thrilling moments and the overall story was interesting.
I won't be rushing out to read the rest of the Spilling CID series but I did enjoy the murder mystery of this book. If you are a fan of crime or thriller then definitely give it a go.
It follows Sally, a mother of two young children who had an affair last year. One night she sees the name of her lover on the news, his wife and daughter have been murdered but the man on the TV is not him!
There were so many twists and turns in this book, it kept me guessing until the end. It is the third installment of the Spilling CID series and follows the lives of the police officers on the case as well as Sally. I really wish that it didn't. A lot of the scenes between the police officers were boring and didn't add anything to the overall story. This may not be the case if you have read the rest of the series, but for me I was much more invested in what Sally was doing than whether or not two of the police officers were going to get married.
The book explored themes of motherhood. The struggles of being a mother to young children and having a career, how not all women enjoy motherhood and the pressure to appear to have the perfect family. It also portrayed how men are not held to the same standard, for example, Sally's absolutely useless husband who may as well have been her 3rd child, Mark Bretherick (Sally's lover) who can carry on travelling around the world on business trips and barely knows his daughter or DC Sellers who gets bored of his stay at home wife so cheats on her with a younger woman.
This book did suffer from over writing at times and featured one of the most boring paragraphs I have ever read which almost made me throw the book away, but I'm glad I carried on as there were some really thrilling moments and the overall story was interesting.
I won't be rushing out to read the rest of the Spilling CID series but I did enjoy the murder mystery of this book. If you are a fan of crime or thriller then definitely give it a go.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Torture
wild_night_in's review against another edition
4.0
I cannot wait to read the other crime thrillers she's written. This one was fiendish and dark as can be!
celiaedf12's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this mystery. Sally spends a week having an affair with another man and then goes back to her normal married life. Years later, she sees on the news that the man's wife and daughter have been murdered. But the man speaking to the press isn't the man she spent the week with - so which one of them is lying?
There's abductions and creepy diaries and a kind of overly layered solution to the murders, but it was an enjoyable mystery for the train ride home.
There's abductions and creepy diaries and a kind of overly layered solution to the murders, but it was an enjoyable mystery for the train ride home.
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