Then someone will have a brainwave and dig out an old school photograph from the loft, one that’s faded and curled where time has eaten into us all, and they’ll climb down from the stepladder and cough and brush the dust from their clothes, and they’ll say, There she is, look, I’ve found her—she’s the one at the back, and they’ll have to point to make it clear: No, no, that one—the one you can’t see very well. She presents as naïve, a bit simple, and is used to people underestimating her, doesn’t mind that, in fact. When Linda was young, her father did something very bad which forced Linda and her mother to leave town and start a new life.

Now she sits in her kitchen, wondering if this is all there is: pushing the vacuum around and cooking fish sticks for dinner, a far cry from the glamourous lifestyle magazines coming through the mail slot addressed to the previous occupant, Rebecca. A serial killer, a traumatized woman, the quirkiest of characters, such perfect observational writing-- Joanna Cannon is a superstar.

I really enjoyed this book, the writing is superb (see notes for some examples), and the author’s way with words captured me (Joanna Cannon - get OUT of my head! It accompanies me past plastic swings in an empty parks, and we pause together before a smear of traffic, waiting for the lights to change. I have read and loved everything Joanna Cannon has written, and she has surprised me again with this entertaining, character driven mystery that has dark undertones.

It was the same when I reported the suspicious man in Boots, and when I asked them to check on a strange car parked up on the high street. The audiobook was narrated by Lissa Berry whose brilliant reading adds a lot of value to this novel. I may have been right about the twist, in the end, but the journey getting there was something I never could have imagined! The reason I was so impatient is that I read two other books this year that were about a quirky, loner woman— The Maid and One's Company—and I didn’t like either of them.Linda lives a quiet (if unfulfilling) life with her husband, Terry, in a peaceful town—until young women start to go missing.

And she’s surprised that no one else has noticed anything about the photograph shown in the police press conference, but the police, who can’t be trusted anyway, are repeatedly dismissive of anything Linda brings to their attention. She does a good job of narrating Linda and has a lovely, honey-smooth voice but I somehow kept tuning off from her narration due to the way Linda’s character was written. But she's good at solving puzzles and there are times she sees things other people might have overlooked. I would like to thank both Netgalley and Harper Collins UK for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. The chapters are mostly in the past with the murders and Linda’s preoccupation, but there also “now” chapters where Linda is in the present, foreshadowing what may have happened in the past.The poor woman had no hope given her equally as awful mother, who’s greatest ambition in life was to sit by and watch things play out outside of her window; gossip was what fuelled her. THE AUTHOR: Joanna Cannon was born in a small Derbyshire town, at the very edge of the Peak District National Park. Soon, she begins escaping into different worlds to avoid the anxiety, and starts making “friends” who don’t truly have her best interests at heart.

I enjoyed this from start to finish, particularly the satisfying last few chapters, it’s very well done. Joanna Cannon is the author of the Sunday Times bestselling debut novel The Trouble with Goats and Sheep, which has sold over 250,000 copies in the UK alone and has been published in 15 countries. Joanna Cannon’s second novel Three Things About Elsie is published in January 2018 and explores memory, friendship and old age. Now she sits in her kitchen, wondering if this is all there is – pushing the Hoover round and cooking fish fingers for tea is a far cry from the glamorous lifestyle she sees in the glossy catalogues coming through the door for the house’s previous occupant. But, as we delve deeper and deeper into Linda’s psyche and the time gaps between Cannon’s alternating ‘Now’ and reflective narratives diminish, an intense concern and foreboding grows.Before you decide that this one is not for you, this is not a thriller, or not what I’d consider a thriller. She doesn’t, of course, because as much as Mother enjoys drama, she has always thought of it as more of a spectator sport. Linda prides herself on being observant, on remembering details, and she’s noticed that Terry is departing from his usual schedule, one of several things that are suddenly out of the ordinary with her husband. All the characterisation is good such as Linda’s mother Eunice who my mother would have described as ‘quite a card’ but Linda’s characterisation is outstanding.