Book Review: Come and Find Me by Sarah Hilary

I hate to pick favourites but crime/thriller books may possibly be just that (don’t tell the others!) Yes, there has been a distinct lack of the genre on Joyful Antidotes recently. I’m about to change that now and, believe me, it was worth the wait.

Come and Find Me by Sarah Hilary centres on dangerous criminal Michael Volkey. Lara Chorley and Ruth Hull are both infatuated with Mickey and send him letters that would make your skin crawl. But what happens when Mickey escapes from jail? As the manhunt for the convict tightens, DI Marnie Rome knows what it is like to be obsessed with someone. Isn’t she finding it hard to think of anything else but the foster brother that killed her parents?

Come and Find Me is the fifth book in the DI Marnie Rome series. Now, I often say that you don’t need to read the previous books in a series to enjoy a latter one but it can be good for overall context. However, in terms of Come and Find Me, you really don’t need to have read any previous books PERIOD. This book is written in such a clever way that any background information the author might have felt the reader needs is slotted in nicely, so nicely that the reader doesn’t even realise there were previous instalments. Seriously, I was shocked to see that this was book number five. I even checked multiple sources to confirm. It felt that much of a standalone book to me.

Still, there were many, many other things I enjoyed about this book. Firstly, there is action right from the start. Now, one would expect a book of this genre to have many twists and turns, and that is correct. However, they are transitioned in smoothly rather than jumping up on you. I felt this technique not only kept my mind ticking over plot-wise, it also made any twists believable. When there was a plot turn, I was able to think back and say “ah, yes, now I see what X meant” instead of “where did that come from?!”. This makes for a much better read, in my opinion.

Then there are the characters. Come and Find Me has a good mix of likeable and unlikeable characters. Most of these characters are also very well-rounded and not simply one-dimensional figures. However, it is how Hilary uses the characters to tell the story that I enjoyed the most. The story of Mikey is told from the perspectives of different characters, each with their own personality, emotions and private lives. Marnie and colleague Noah are focused on finding Mickey and dealing with their personal problems but it is Mickey’s cellmate, Ted, who is the prize winner. He instead focuses on who Mickey really is as a person rather than the speculation the police receive and it is his account which brings Come and Find Me from a good to an excellent book.

Finally, Come and Find Me is not just a great piece of fiction. It also takes on some hard-hitting themes, like believing rumours about other people and the faults of the prison system. This is where Hilary really shines and I can do nothing but praise the research that went into her presentation of prison life.

I really, really enjoyed this book and I hope you will too. You just have to pick it up. It would be a crime not to!

I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.