Author: Louise Candlish
Published by: Simon & Schuster on Apr. 18, 2023
Genres: Mystery/Thriller
Pages: 400
Format: Paperback
Source: Simon & Schuster Canada
Book Rating: 9/10
From the internationally bestselling author of The Other Passenger and The Heights comes a new explosive thriller about obsession and deadly secrets.
There’s the obvious story. And then there’s the truth.
Alex lives a comfortable life with his wife, Beth, in the leafy suburb of Silver Vale. Fine, so he’s not the most extroverted guy on the street, he prefers to keep himself to himself, but he’s a good husband and an easy-going neighbour.
That’s until Beth announces the creation of a nature trail on a local site that’s been disused for decades, and suddenly Alex is a changed man. Now he’s always watching. Questioning. Struggling to hide his dread…
As the landscapers get to work, a secret threatens to surface from years ago, back in Alex’s twenties when he got entangled with a seductive young woman called Marina, who threw both their lives into turmoil.
And who sparked a police hunt for a murder suspect that was never quite what it seemed.
It still isn’t.
Review:
Gripping, twisty, and suspenseful!
The Only Suspect is a tortuous domestic thriller that transports you between present day and 1995 and into the lives of both Alex, a husband who seemingly has it all until the development of a local nature trail causes him to become stressed and more secretive and erratic, and Rick, a twenty-something young man enjoying the single life in Camden until he obsessively falls for an enigmatic woman who might not be exactly whom she appears to be.
The prose is tight and edgy. The characters are secretive, consumed, and troubled. And the plot, using a past/present, back-and-forth style, builds and unravels into a compelling tale full of drama, deception, lies, jealousy, obsession, manipulation, infidelity, and the complex, toxic relationship that can exist between friends.
Overall, The Only Suspect is a nostalgic, devious, unnerving page-turner by Candlish that does a wonderful job of keeping you guessing from start to finish and highlighting just how easily people can sometimes allow themselves to be psychologically and emotionally manipulated.
This book is available now.
Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.