SYNOPSIS
ONE WOMAN’S SECRET
TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY
THREE DEADLY BETRAYALS
FOUR POTENTIAL SUSPECTS
FIVE BAD DEEDS
Ellen Walsh has done something very, very bad. If only she knew what it was . . .
Teacher, mother, wife, and all-around good citizen Ellen is juggling non-stop commitments, from raising a teen and two toddlers to job-hunting, to finally renovating her dream home, the Meadowhouse. Amidst the chaos, an ominous note arrives in the mail declaring:
SOONER OR LATER EVERYONE SITS DOWN TO A BANQUET OF CONSEQUENCES.
Why would someone send her this note? Ellen has no clue. She’s no angel – a white lie here and there, an occasional sharp tongue – but nothing to incur the wrath of an anonymous enemy.
Everyone around Ellen – her husband, her teenage daughter, her sister, her best friend, her neighbours – can guess why, though. They all know from bitter experience that while Ellen’s intentions are always good, this ultimately counts for very little when you’ve (unintentionally?) blown up someone’s life. Could the five bad deeds that come to haunt Ellen explain why things have gone so horribly wrong?
As she races to discover who’s set on destroying her life, Ellen receives more anonymous messages, each one more threatening than the last . . . and each hitting closer and closer to home and everything she cherishes.
MY THOUGHTS
This is a very well plotted psychological thriller told from the points of view of several characters, Ellen, Orla, Adam, Jason, Gwen, Nush, and Kristy. The book is set in five parts as in the five bad deeds.
Ellen is the main protagonist, she appears to have a happy life, the house of her dreams although she is desperate for the renovations she wants done to make it feel like hers, a teenage daughter, Orla, and twin boys Max and Kian who are just in nursery. Then Adam her husband. Initially all seems well in their lives although Orla is a bit of a handful but it seems it wasn’t always like that, her and Ellen used to get on well, so what changed? besides the twins arrival, who Orla thinks get all the attention, she seems to think she should have everything she wants.
Ellen hadn’t grown up with money her and her sister Kristy had had it tough, but they both came out the other side. Adam on the other hand was raised in a well to do family. At times I find Adam spineless, they seem to have a happy marriage but he is hardly home, off playing squash or golf, or out for a drink with work, leaving Ellen to do everything else despite her being a teacher as well as running the house. They are planning the works on the house as Ellen seems to be almost guaranteed promotion. Until something happens that ends that dream, from then on in things just keep getting worse, who is sending her messages, she has no idea what it is she has supposed to have done to make anyone turn on her like this. Although gradually you see a different side to the people around her, just when she needs their support they turn on her, but why? Even Adam.
I initially liked the characters but as the story evolved, I found they all had some not so nice characteristics, is it jealousy? Ellen has told some white lies were these now catching up on her? Especially when she was accused of having a relationship with a 17 year old pupil she was privately tutoring. Zane, he was an intelligent young girl man who had got 10 GCSE’s but was expelled from school half way through his A levels. Ellen took him on for free but never told anyone.
I absolutely whizzed through this book in a day, I couldn’t put it down, I had no idea who was sending the anonymous messages to Ellen, I had a couple of guesses but was so way off with them.
This is a fast paced, engrossing read, if you like a psychological thriller with several red herrings that throw you off track then read this, the characters are all believable if not all likeable as you get to know them more, it seems they all want to throw Ellen under the bus. She does come across at times that everything is about her, and she spends money like there is no tomorrow. But the main thing is what are the five bad deeds she has done? Is it from her past? Or from something more recent? Pick this up and you will not be able to put it down guaranteed.
Thank you so much to @SimonBooks and @likely_suspects for my ARC of this, all thoughts are my own and have not been influenced in any way. This is an absolute ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️read without a doubt, when you find a book you can’t put down, you know it’s good. Very highly recommend this one.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Caz Frear grew up in Coventry and spent her teenage years dreaming of moving to London and writing a novel. After fulfilling her first dream, it wasn’t until she moved back to Coventry thirteen years later that the writing dream finally came true.
She has a first-class degree in History & Politics, which she’s put to enormous use over the years by working as a waitress, shop assistant, retail merchandiser and, for the past twelve years, a headhunter.
When she’s not agonising over snappy dialogue or incisive prose, she can be found shouting at the TV when Arsenal are playing or holding court in the pub on topics she knows nothing about.
Jackie’s Reading Corner 