Category Archives: Sophie Hannah

Review: The Next to Die by Sophie Hannah

Title: The Next to Die by Sophie Hannah
Publisher: William Morrow
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery
Length: 416 pages
Book Rating: C

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss

Summary:

The New York Times bestselling author of The Monogram Murders and Woman with a Secret returns with a disturbing tale of psychological suspense and obsession that hits at the heart of some of our most precious relationships.

What if having a best friend could put you in the crosshairs of a killer?

A psychopath the police have dubbed “Billy Dead Mates” is targeting pairs of best friends, and killing them one by one. Before they die, each victim is given a small white book.

For months, detectives have failed to catch Billy, or figure out what the white books symbolize and why the killer leaves them behind. The police are on edge; the public in a panic. Then a woman, scared by what she’s seen on the news, comes forward. What she reveals shocks the investigators and adds another troubling layer to an already complex case.

Stand-up comedian Kim Tribbeck has one of Billy’s peculiar little books. A stranger gave it to her at a gig she did last year. Was the stranger Billy, and is he targeting her—or is it something more nefarious? Kim has no friends and trusts no one, so how—and why—could Billy Dead Mates want to target her? If it’s not her, then who will be the next to die?

Sophie Hannah raises the stakes with each successive page in this haunting and twisting thriller that reaffirms her place as one of today’s most talented suspense writers.

Review:

The Next to Die by Sophie Hannah is an intriguing British mystery about the search for an unusual serial killer.

The Major Crimes detectives are stymied in their investigation of a series of murders by a killer they have nicknamed “Billy Dead Mates”. The four murder victims are two pairs of best friends, three of whom are women. The only promising clue is an unusual book each of the victims have in their possession at the time of the deaths. Following the death of her estranged grandmother, comedian Kim Tribbeck is dismayed to remember that she too received one of these books. However, she and the detectives are a little confused since she was given the book a year earlier. In the current cases, the victims were murdered with days of receiving the books.  With feminist columnist Sondra Halliday writing vitriolic posts about the murders, she begins receiving missives that are presumed to be from the killer. Detective Constable Simon Waterhouse, Detective Inspector Gilles Proust and Detective Chris Gibbs assigned the cases and they soon have a couple of suspects in their crosshairs. But are either of them the killer?

Kim’s part of the story alternates between pages from her manuscript about the murders and events in real time. She is a bit of a mess since she is recently divorced and dealing with her grandmother’s death. Kim is a loner so she is somewhat confused about why she ostensibly received the first book. Why didn’t the murderer follow through with killing her? Even more troubling is the discovery of new evidence that leaves everyone concerned that Kim might be the next victim.

DC Simon Waterhouse is socially awkward but highly intelligent. He is a crack investigator who tends to work by himself. Simon is making the most progress but he remains closemouthed about his discoveries and theories about the case.

Simon’s wife Sergeant Charlie Zailler is not as focused on the current investigation as she should be. She is curious about her sister’s secretive activities.  Despite Simon’s pleas for her to abandon her efforts, Charlie is determine to uncover the truth about what her sister is doing.

Although the premise of The Next to Die is unique, the mystery is extremely slow paced.  Sondra Halliday’s  passages are long, rambling and slightly over the top. Kim is a sympathetic character with a sad backstory but she is her own worst enemy much of the time. Simon is an interesting addition to the cast and his analytical and methodical investigation is quite interesting.  Sophie Hannah  brings the novel to a somewhat dramatic conclusion but the “big reveal” is a huge letdown.

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Filed under Contemporary, Mystery, Rated C, Review, Sophie Hannah, The Next to Die, William Morrow

Review: Keep Her Safe by Sophie Hannah

Title: Keep Her Safe by Sophie Hannah
Publisher: William Morrow
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 352 pages
Book Rating: B

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss

Summary:

She’s the most famous murder victim in America. What if she’s not dead?

Pushed to the breaking point, Cara Burrows flees her home and family and escapes to a five-star spa resort she can’t afford. Late at night, exhausted and desperate, she lets herself into her hotel room and is shocked to find it already occupied — by a man and a teenage girl.

A simple mistake at the front desk… but soon Cara realizes that the girl she saw alive and well in the hotel room is someone she can’t possibly have seen: the most famous murder victim in the country, Melody Chapa, whose parents are serving natural life sentences for her murder.

Cara doesn’t know what to trust — everything she’s read and heard about the case, or the evidence of her own eyes. Did she really see Melody? And is she prepared to ask herself that question and answer it honestly if it means risking her own life?

Review:

In Keep Her Safe by Sophie Hannah, a British woman escaping from her family problems stumbles onto a mystery at an upscale resort in Arizona.

Overwhelmed and angry about her family’s response to an unexpected life-changing event, Cara Burrows books herself a two week vacation at a posh Arizona spa. Exhausted after the long flight, she arrives at the Swallowtail Resort and Spa in the middle of night where she is inadvertently assigned to a room that is already occupied by a man and a teenage girl. The next day, she overhears another guest report her sighting of Melody Chapa, a young girl whose parents have been convicted of her murder despite the fact her body has never been found.

Trying to avoid thinking about her own troubles, Cara googles the infamous case and she is stunned by the realization that Melody Chapa bears an uncanny resemblance to the teenager she briefly saw the previous night. With the help of fellow guests, outspoken florist Tarin Fry and her beleaguered daughter Zellie, the trio have barely scratched the surface of this intriguing case when Cara and the resort’s front desk clerk Riyonna Briggs inexplicably vanish. Tarin pressures local detective Orwin Priddey and his erstwhile partner Bryce Sanders to take Cara’s disappearance seriously after  former prosecutor turned abrasive talk show host Bonnie Juno suggests Cara left of her own volition. Is Cara’s unexplained departure connected to Riyonna’s disappearance? More importantly, is there a link between the missing women and Cara’s sighting of Melody Chapa?

Cara is a rather unlikable and unsympathetic character.  She is impatient with everyone and intolerant of Americans whom she judge to be excessively friendly and guilty of hyperbolic overstatement (all of which begs the question: why go to America if you disapprove of Americans???).  It is also a little hard to forgive her somewhat callous attitude towards her family and her reason for the trip is rather selfish and completely avoidable. While Cara’s reason for immersing herself in researching the circumstances of Melody’s disappearance and her parents’ murder conviction is self-serving, Cara is eventually truly concerned about the case.

The first part of the novel focuses on prickly Cara, her family situation and her internet research into the Chapa case.  The information about Melody’s case is revealed through on line articles, YouTube clips and a handful of segments from Bonnie Juno’s television show. The second part of the story concentrates on Tarin’s efforts to keep the investigators motivated to search for Cara. Detective Priddey plays his cards close to his chest as he quietly questions witnesses and follows leads. Bonnie Juno inserts herself into the investigation and loudly (and frequently) proclaims the Chapas’ are guilty as sin and behind bars where they belong.

Keep Her Safe is a rather engrossing mystery despite a disagreeable lead protagonist and the slow moving storyline.  An intriguing and creative premise make it easy to overlook some of the more improbable elements of the plot. Sophie Hannah throws in some brilliant twists and turns at the novel’s conclusion that are absolutely stunning.  All in all, an entertaining, twist-filled mystery that fans of the genre will enjoy.

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Filed under Contemporary, Keep Her Safe, Mystery, Rated B, Review, Sophie Hannah, Suspense, William Morrow

Review: A Game for All the Family by Sophie Hannah

Title: A Game for All the Family by Sophie Hannah
Publisher: William Morrow
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 464 pages
Book Rating: C

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss

Summary:

Pulled into a deadly game of deception, secrets, and lies, a woman must find the truth in order to defeat a mysterious opponent, protect her daughter, and save her own life in this dazzling standalone psychological thriller with an unforgettable ending from the New York Times bestselling author of Woman with a Secret and The Monogram Murders.

You thought you knew who you were. A stranger knows better.

You’ve left the city—and the career that nearly destroyed you—for a fresh start on the coast. But trouble begins when your daughter withdraws, after her new best friend, George, is unfairly expelled from school.

You beg the principal to reconsider, only to be told that George hasn’t been expelled. Because there is, and was, no George.

Who is lying? Who is real? Who is in danger? Who is in control? As you search for answers, the anonymous calls begin—a stranger, who insists that you and she share a traumatic past and a guilty secret. And then the caller threatens your life. . . .

This is Justine’s story. This is Justine’s family. This is Justine’s game. But it could be yours.

Review:

A Game for All the Family by Sophie Hannah is a perplexing mystery within a mystery.   Following their move from London to the bucolic countryside, Justine Merrison begins getting a series threatening phone calls she believes might be tied to her fourteen year old daughter Ellen’s writing project.

Having recently quit her stressful job in television, Justine is looking forward to doing Nothing.  The first few months of life in their new house are idyllic but the first disquieting phone calls occurs on the same day she finds out Ellen is upset about her friend George’s expulsion from school.  When Justine tries to intervene on George’s behalf, she is stunned to learn there is no George so therefore, there was no expulsion.  Despite a few doubts, Justine believes Ellen’s story and she is determined to get to the bottom of what happened and find out why the school is lying to her.  At the same time, she continues receiving telephone calls that are increasingly sinister.  She is also growing concerned about Ellen’s writing project about a murder mystery that appears to be based on real life events but her search for more information leads to one dead end after another.  Believing all of these events are somehow linked, Justine begins her own investigation but will she uncover the truth before it is too late?

The premise of A Game for All the Family is certainly unique but the execution of the story falls a little flat.  The chapters alternate between the present day events and Ellen’s story and while, initially both story arcs are interesting, there is little progression in either storyline.  The dual storylines are written in two distinct voices but Ellen’s murder mystery is so incredibly implausible that it eventually detracts from the main storyline.  With each incredulous plot twist, the novel becomes a convoluted mess of highly improbable coincidences.

All in all, this latest release by Sophie Hannah’s is an entertaining but overly long and somewhat bizarre mystery that readers will have to suspend disbelief to enjoy.

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Filed under A Game for All the Family, Contemporary, Mystery, Rated C, Review, Sophie Hannah, Suspense, William Morrow