Who to believe in tale of suspense

Wow, what a book. Kept me guessing right up until the final chapters, not to mention one scene that made me gasp out loud. “Page-turner” doesn’t do this book justice.

Seventeen years ago,

Martha farewelled her best friend, Juliet, on a moonlit London towpath. The next morning, Juliet’s bike was found abandoned at the waterside. Nearly two decades later Martha is a television celebrity, preparing to host a new crime show . . . and the first case will be that of missing student Juliet Sherman.

The story flits from Martha’s expensive waterside London apartment back to her home town in the canal village and the grim housing estate she grew up in; Ashdown’s evocative prose makes the reader taste the cold while searching for the missing girl on the eerie canal path.

Chapters are written through the eyes of different characters. The protagonist Martha may have a hugely successful career, but she is guarded and cold to her peers because of the demons in her past. To aid the investigation, Martha sends a letter to a childhood friend called Olivia but the letter is answered by a very unstable woman called Casey who writes back to Martha under the guise of Olivia and the investigation starts to fall apart.

The characters are slowly revealed so you never quite know who to trust but enough is exposed to make you feel invested in them; a constant undertone of suspense keeps you on edge and it’s unnerving how little is given away. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to try and slow myself down from finishing a book as I’ve been enjoying it so much. This is an author worth keeping an eye on for future releases.

BEAUTIFUL LIARS

by Isabel Ashdown (Hachette, $35) Reviewed by Lise Clayton