Publication Date: July 2017 from Little Brown (Constable)
Source: Netgalley
TV journalist Melanie Black wakes up one morning next to a man she doesn’t recognise. It’s not the first time – but he ignores her even though she’s in his bed. Yet when his wife walks in with a cup of tea he greets her with a smile and to her horror, Melanie comes to realise that no one can see or her hear her – because she is dead.
But has she woken up next to her murderer? And where is her body? Why is she an invisible and uninvited guest in a house she can’t leave; is she tied to this man forever? Is Melanie being punished in some way, or being given a chance to make amends?
As she begins to piece together the last days of her life and circumstances leading up to her own death it becomes clear she has to make a choice: bring her killer to justice, or wreak her own punishment out to the man who murdered her.
Read this pretty much in one sitting this afternoon – clever, addictive tale, a crime thriller with a ghostly element – well actually a literal ghost trying to muddle her way through the afterlife and eek out some kind of revenge at the same time.
Where She Went is told entirely by Melanie, who has woken up dead, stuck by the side of the man who probably killed her and his long suffering wife. Everybody pretty much is horrible in this novel – even poor Eve, said wife, who puts up with a controlling and abusive environment. Melanie herself is not particularly sympathetic either, dead as she is, but still you kind of root for her as she discovers what she can and can’t achieve.
The writing flows beautifully, I liked the way the back story revealed itself, and it is relatively creepy – Melanie whispering her thoughts into the heads of others – it actually gives you pause for thought on those random things you sometimes see out of the corner of your eye. The mystery elements are well thought out and clever but the excellent thing about this book is the character voice. Melanie is sharp and ironic, keeping you on side even as she shows her less than kind nature, I was especially fond of the little twist ending and the ability the author leaves you with to imagine what might happen next.
Overall this was beautifully different, something less usual within the crime genre, it worked on many levels and as such I have no problem recommending it.
One to watch this year.
Happy Reading!
I like the sound of that!!!