When the blurb says “perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell”, you just have to read the book, right?
Goodreads Blurb
The Blame by Kerry Wilkinson
Paige, Richard and me. We thought we’d be friends forever. But everything changed the day we took the short cut home from school along the old railway line. I wish we’d gone the long way. I wish we hadn’t seen our classmate, pale and still in the undergrowth. And I wish we hadn’t promised to keep one, awful detail a secret just between us…
Twenty years later, I have a brand-new life, and try never to think about my old one.
But I’m dragged back when Paige calls out of the blue. Richard has been accused of something terrible. Everyone back home is whispering about the body we found years ago, and saying Richard deserves to be locked up…
Before I know it, I’ve returned to the small town I thought I’d never see again. Paige is almost the same as I remember ¬– jet black hair, slender frame – but why does she seem so nervous? She’s adamant the only way to clear our friend’s name is to tell the truth about what we saw twenty years ago.
Can I really trust that Paige is on my side – or is she hiding her own dark secret? And if we clear Richard’s name, will the blame fall on me?
When we find a strange note in Richard’s flat, one thing is for certain: someone else knows the truth too. All three of us are in danger…
A totally addictive read by bestselling author Kerry Wilkinson about how the secrets from our past will always come back to haunt us. Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, I Am Watching You and The Girl on the Train.
Review
You just can’t beat a good mystery, and The Blame is one of the best I’ve read so far this year. The setting was a great choice. The down-on-its luck town provided the perfect backdrop for flawed characters and unsavoury actions. Besides the murder, we are given drug dealers, drug addicts, adulterers, and bullies that never progressed past childhood. Even though the police have their man for the murder, you just know that everything isn’t so clear cut.
It was interesting to see childhood friends come together again after many years. While some books just slot the friends back together like nothing ever changed, I found Harry and Paige’s reunion more realistic. No matter what we choose to believe, nothing ever stays the same. Because we are thrown into Harry, Paige, and Richard’s past as well as their current situation, there is a strong level of character development. However, the author does a good job of providing just the necessary details, rather than overburdening the reader with information that detracts from the main story.
I was completely drawn into The Blame. I loved not just the flawed characters but also the fast pace of the story and gripping short chapters. The only little niggle I had was that I never really understood why Harry would drop everything and come home to support a man he hasn’t had much contact with over the last twenty years. The author does hint at Harry generally being unhappy with his life in Canada, but I would have liked a little more on that front.
Sounds interesting? The Blame is available to buy now.
I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Joyful Antidotes 