Today I’m sharing some more of my mini reviews of books that I’ve enjoyed recently. All four of these books are from NetGalley but are out now!

Both of You by Adele Parks

Both of You is the story of Leigh who is happily married with two step-children but one day she disappears. Her husband is slow to report her missing as she works away during the week so he wasn’t sure when exactly she disappeared. We follow him, and the detective who is working on the case. Then soon after another woman is reported missing by her husband and it’s in similar circumstances and this is when the tension begins to ramp up. I found this book really fast-paced and while I spotted whodunnit early on my enjoyment was not marred by this as I was so invested in the why and the how. There are quite a few suspects and suspicious happenings throughout the book which does put you off the scent somewhat, which I liked. I read this book in just a day as I didn’t want to put it down, I needed to know if my suspicions were correct and to see how it would end. I would say that the ending is very abrupt and you are left reeling a little bit by that but the more the book sits with you the more it makes sense for it to end the way it does. I recommend this one for your summer reading plans!

The First Day of Spring by Nancy Tucker

I really enjoyed The First Day of Spring – I listened to the audiobook and I read it every single chance I had as I just wanted to know how this novel was going to go. The story follows Chrissie who seems quite neglected and has a difficult home life – her mother is very cold and her father is often absent. One day she kills a younger child and does all she can to avoid being caught. This novel is so delicately written that you can’t help but have sympathy and compassion for Chrissie, even when you know what she’s done. It’s actually heartbreaking when you hear her thoughts of what death means and it’s awful when you realise how little she understands. The novel also follows Chrissie as an adult when she has a young child of her own and is struggling to know how to nurture a child when she was never nurtured. I found this such a moving novel, which is rare in crime fiction. It really got to me and I keep finding myself thinking about it. It’s definitely a novel that makes you pause and think, whilst also being such a gripping and engaging thriller. I recommend this one!

The Murder of Graham Catton by Katie Lowe

I can’t help but be drawn to novels featuring a crime podcast so this one seemed like it was for me. The novel follows Hannah whose husband was murdered in the family home a decade before. Hannah can’t remember all the details of what happened but a man named Mike was convicted of the crime. Now a true crime podcast is going over the case and looking at potential new evidence. Hannah works at a psychiatric clinic and has had her own mental health battles so this is a very stressful time for her. She felt like quite an unreliable narrator to me and I was never sure whether I could believe what she was portraying. This novel does requite some suspension of disbelief but it didn’t stop my enjoyment nor did it stop me reading at every opportunity as I wanted to know whodunnit and why. There wasn’t as much of the actual podcast in this novel as I’d hoped there would be – we hear about it second hand as Hannah and her family talk about it whereas I’d been expecting some transcripts. I enjoyed this novel all the same though and will definitely read more by this author in the future.

Passenger List by John Dryden

I seem to be reading a lot of books recently about bad things that happen involving planes but I’m finding them all quite addictive. Passenger List follows Kaitlin as she tries to find out what happened to the flight that went missing with her twin brother on board. She doesn’t believe the official explanation and is determined to get to the truth. This novel does require a lot of suspension of disbelief but if you can do that then it is a very fast paced page turner and one that will keep you guessing all the way to the end. There are lots dark alleys and red herrings in the novel alongside quite a few shady characters but all this serves to keep you on your toes, and I quite liked not knowing who to trust and not knowing if Kaitlin was making good decisions or not. This would make a great holiday read!