In the exclusive gated community of Withered Vale, people's lives appear as perfect as their beautifully manicured lawns. Money, success, privilege - the residents have it all. Life is good.
There's just one problem.
Olive Collins' dead body has been rotting inside number four for the last three months. Her neighbours say they're shocked at the discovery but nobody thought to check on her when she vanished from sight.
The police start to ask questions and the seemingly flawless façade begins to crack. Because, when it comes to Olive's neighbours, it seems each of them has something to hide, something to lose and everything to gain from her death.
I'd like to thank Quercus for my copy of Dirty Little Secrets to review via NetGalley
I can't believe that this book has been sitting on my Kindle for so long unread but I have finally read it as part of a Jo Spain marathon reading week.
Dirty Little Secrets is a character driven story based around the residents of a gated community. Olive has been living there the longest, in fact her house was originally the only house on the street until the other houses were built around hers creating the Withered Vale community.
The opening prologue really sets the scene making you wonder how no-one hadn't noticed that Olive hadn't been around for the last 3 months. But as we soon discover many of the residents have their own secrets and issues that they are trying to keep hidden whilst at the same time trying to paint a picture perfect image of the lives they are living as opposed to the reality of what's going on in their lives.
Told through alternating chapters we hear from some of the characters in the different households as well as the two detectives, Emma and Frank, leading the investigation. I think at one point or another I had my suspicions with almost everyone. Every time something was revealed I began to suspect that person might have been responsible until the next revelation came along and another neighbour became my focus. It was also interesting reading the chapters from Olive's perspective as even though she might not have been there physically she's very much at the centre of the storyline from beyond the grave and we get to see what she thought about her neighbours.
As the police investigation ramps up, many of the residents find themselves under the spotlight as they are questioned about their relationships with each other but especially about their interactions with Olive. And as we soon discover Olive wasn't quite the charming old women that was initially portrayed, she'd had dramas with each and every neighbour and many of them had their own reasons for wanting her dead but were any of them responsible for her death?
Dirty Little Secrets is an intricately, well-plotted story that would make a great TV drama with its quirky cast of characters and their many dark secrets.
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