The police belonged to another world – the world they saw on the television or in the papers. Not theirs.When two eighteen-year-old girls go missing on their gap year in Thailand, their families are thrust into the international spotlight: desperate, bereft and frantic with worry.
Journalist Kate Waters always does everything she can to be first to the story, first with the exclusive, first to discover the truth – and this time is no exception. But she can’t help but think of her own son, who she hasn’t seen in two years, since he left home to go travelling. This time it’s personal.
And as the case of the missing girls unfolds, they will all find that even this far away, danger can lie closer to home than you might think . . .
I'd like to thank Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for inviting me to be a part of this blog tour and Thomas at Transworld for my proof copy of The Suspect to review.
Kate Waters is back but this time the case she is investigating, two missing girls Alex and Rosie in Bangkok, has a more personal connection to her as she's not seen her own son Jake since he left to go travelling to Thailand two years ago. And with very sporadic contact from him, the odd phone call here or email there, it's no wonder that she jumps at the chance to fly to Bangkok to follow the leads, and maybe try and trace Jake whilst she's at it.
The story is told from the perspectives of three main characters; 'The Mother' - Alex's mother Lesley, 'The Journalist' - Kate, as well as 'The Detective' - Kate's friend and police contact DI Bob Sparkes. The short chapter and multiple narrative format worked really well to keep the tension and pace flowing and was an effective way of enabling us to be able to follow the story through from all angles, from the moment the missing persons call is received to the shocking conclusion of the story.
But we also get to see what the girls are experiencing in Thailand through Alex's Facebook posts which paint a glossy account of their adventures, and her emails to her best friend at home Mags which tells a completely different story, which reinforces the point that people's public and private profiles can tell different stories.... the one you want people to see versus the actual reality.
Kate is certainly an interesting character who was determined to get ahead of her fellow journalists by using her travelling son connection as an in with the families, but then we also get to see her fierce protective mother side when things start to take a bit of a surprising turn. At times I was shaking my head at her actions thinking she was going a step too far but then at the same time I was torn as I could totally understand her reasonings for doing what she was doing.
As for Bob, my heart was breaking for him when he found himself torn between being professional and investigating the case and what was going on back at home with his wife Eileen. It is a situation that no-one would ever want to be in and you could sense how conflicted he truly was.
For me The Suspect was Fiona Barton's best book to date so I'll be interested to see where her writing takes us next, another book featuring Kate and Bob Sparkes, or something completely new altogether. Let's hope we're not left waiting too long.
thanks so much Sharon, I loved this one too x
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