For May, Becky has picked "He Said/She Said" by Erin Kelly. She remarked: It is a psychological thriller - and the main characters are solar eclipse chasers. If you have time, I suggest reading it prior to April. It's available immediately on Libby. While recently reading it I looked up when the next eclipse is and found that the "path of totality" is happening on April 8, 2024, in many parts of the U.S. I was like, what a coincidence! Because this doesn't happen for years and years!
"A
tour de force – a gripping, twisting, furiously clever read that asks
all the right questions, and keeps you guessing until the very end. I
loved it." ― Ruth Ware
"Haunting. Mesmerizing. Unforgettable." ― Gillian Flynn
In
the summer of 1999, Kit and Laura travel to a festival in Cornwall to
see a total eclipse of the sun. Kit is an eclipse chaser; Laura has
never seen one before. Young and in love, they are certain this will be
the first of many they’ll share.
But in the hushed moments
after the shadow passes, Laura interrupts a man and a woman. She knows
that she saw something terrible. The man denies it. It is her word
against his.
The victim seems grateful. Months later, she turns
up on their doorstep like a lonely stray. But as her gratitude takes a
twisted turn, Laura begins to wonder―did she trust the wrong person?
15 years later, Kit and Laura married are living under new names and
completely off the digital grid: no Facebook, only rudimentary cell
phones, not in any directories. But as the truth catches up to them,
they realize they can no longer keep the past in the past.
From Erin Kelly, queen of the killer twist, He Said/She Said
is a gripping tale of the lies we tell to save ourselves, the truths we
cannot admit, and how far we will go to make others believe our side of
the story.
Some stories take longer to 'cook' than others. It's no exaggeration to say that my latest novel, The Skeleton Key, about a family of artists, and a treasure hunt that takes on a life of its own, was a lifetime in the making. As a child, my favourite picture book was the 1979 treasure hunt phenomenon Masquerade, by artist Kit Williams. On every page, riddles were posed and intricate, dreamlike paintings depicted Jack Hare in his quest to deliver a jewel from the moon to the sun. Each picture was bordered by letters that held a clue to the location of a tiny hare, wrought in gold, studded with precious stone, and buried somewhere in England. My favourite page was a double-page spread of a little girl sitting in a field of dog roses while Jack Hare galloped past. I envied her so much: she was in the story, as I longed to be. I thought that if I looked at the picture for long enough, I might fall into it: and in a way, I did. Masquerade became part of me, and forty years later, it has found its way out again in the form of The Skeleton Key.
Aside from The Skeleton Key, I'm known for He Said/She Said, about a young couple who witness a rape and, after the trial, begin to wonder if they believed the right person. It was number one in the kindle charts for six glorious weeks, and spent three months in the Sunday Times Bestseller charts.
My first novel, The Poison Tree, was a Richard and Judy bestseller and a major ITV drama starring Myanna Buring, Ophelia Lovibond and Matthew Goode.
I’ve written six more original psychological thrillers – Stone Mothers, Watch Her Fall, The Sick Rose, The Burning Air, The Ties That Bind.
I had read scores of psychological thrillers before I heard the term: the books that inspired me to write my own included Endless Night by Agatha Christie, The Secret History by Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and A Fatal Inversion by Barbara Vine. My books are atmospheric thrillers, always about people trying to atone for, escape, or uncover a past crime. I’m more interested in what happens before the police arrive – if arrive they ever do - than how murder is solved.
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