The writing is as difficult as it always was, as I’m always learning new stuff. I’m still learning about the craft. Towards the end, the search for Millie, however, was quite unbelievable. Jo and he ex – Steve - find what the cops cannot? Seemed almost too easy for them. But the police had been investigating all that time. Didn’t seem plausible. What I love about the Tom Douglas series is that is not just a straight police thriller. The stories are as much about the characters who are at the heart of the case as it is the police and their day to day investigations. This time around the focus falls on Martha who finds herself under suspicion when her bosses wife is murdered. But rather than stay and face the police and profess her innocence, Martha disappears, for reasons that are slowly unveiled as the story progresses. There is far more to Martha than her colleagues know, and whilst as readers we become all too aware of why she has maintained such a air of secrecy amongst her colleagues, it only adds to the suspicion of guilt as far as her colleagues, and the police, are concerned.

Kažkas stebi Džo, laukdamas/a tinkamos progos. Diena po dienos tūno jai už nugaros, bet Džo to nepastebi,nes ji tik regi savo nepriekaištingą pasaulį. Džo turi viską:namus, kurių nevertina, nuostabų vyrą, už kurio nenori tekėti, ir vaiką, be kurio Ašas (Džo partneris, ir netikras mergaitės tėtis) mano negalįs gyventi. Džo turi tai, ko kažkas kitas trokšta ir iš jos tai bus atimta. With Martha’s chapters told in the first person and the rest of the story in the third, I felt as though I were being drawn in to Martha’s world and as events unfolded I had more questions needing answers. I had various scenarios going around in my head and I was desperate to know if I was right. Nobody can understand why Genevieve Strachan would leave her home, late at night, wearing high heels, and end up battered and stabbed. Murdered just minutes away from her own front door, with no clue as to why. As the investigation commences, Martha Porter, the firm’s office manager, disappears before the team can meet and interview her.Moreover, she has covered her personal and digital footprints and can not be found. She is either a key witness in solving the crime or is a key suspect as the perpetrator. Jau kiek lūkesčių turėjau šiai knygai ir maniau, kai paimsiu į rankas, perskaitysiu per kelis gerus prisėdimus. Deja, deja...There are some strands of this book I found uncomfortable, I do not mean this negatively, it is good sometimes that an author stretches our feelings and fears. Again I do not want to reveal too much but the theme of human manipulation is so relevant with everything that is going on at the moment. It does show how easily people can be manipulated to bend to the will of others. I don’t think I’ll ever kill off Tom Douglas. Most detectives have some kind of flaw – their marriages are breaking up, they drink too much, sometimes they’re almost derelicts – but I intentionally wrote Tom as a good person. Readers love him.’

It’s always a highlight of my year when a new book by Rachel Abbott is published but even more of a thrill when it’s a new Tom Douglas book! This is the 8th books in the DCI Tom Douglas series and it’s just as brilliant as ever! I am probably a little bit in love with the Manchester detective but that doesn’t distract me from the twisty cases he has to solve, especially when they hit a little bit too close to home for Tom. Once again Rachel Abbott has created an original story with a cast of characters who are either fascinating or downright despicable. I felt such sympathy for Martha, but don’t get me started on her mum….!!

Summary

I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to get round to reading the Tom Douglas series by Rachel Abbott. I’m always wary about starting a series several books in, but I am so glad I decided to the latest, Close Your Eyes. It can absolutely be read as a standalone, so if you’re new to this series as well, you don’t need to have read the previous books. But I’ll definitely be catching up on them. This is the ninth in the Tom Douglas series but it can be easily read as a standalone. I really recommend it. For the large part of the book Martha is the main protagonist in the story with Douglas and co. more or less bit players but that works well with the mystery. There is a strong thread of coercion and manipulation running through Martha's tale and it is not a comfy read but you don't read novel's like this to be comfy do you?

Close Your Eyes is far more than only a police procedural novel. Whilst the intricacies of the investigation are very well portrayed and the reader learns a lot about the team work involved, it is the sub-plot concerning Martha that really drives the story. As well as that I wrote The Murder Game, featuring Stephanie King. It was for Headline who are traditional publishers. It was good but chaotic, so I didn’t do much publicity for Right Behind You.’ (29266089) In Close Your Eyes, the body of the wife of an up and coming businessman is found not far from their home. Her husband has set up a company that is currently developing an app that can accurately predict what will happen in your day. But what is really going on here? When Tom Douglas and his team arrive at the offices, a young woman, Martha Porter, flees, hoping to avoid speaking to the police. But why does she run? Has she got something to do with the murder? And what is the connection between what is happening now and a cult formed twenty-odd years earlier? As a mother and wife, my heart was literally beating out of my chest, it was heart-breaking to see Jo’s life fall apart and then the realisation that not everything is what it seems, especially when she rings the police station a few hours later to find out where her family are and there is no record of any arrest.Right Behind You sees the very welcome return of Tom Douglas - I do love a Tom Douglas novel. This is brilliant and tense novel full of mystery, misdirection and mistrust. I really enjoyed it. Jo’s life is upended in a matter of minutes. Ash & Jo are a regular couple with their issues and, disagreements & their love for their daughter is immense. Ash is the perfect father to Millie. He also has a kid sister and a brother and, they both love Ash for an amazing brother he is! Jo is portrayed as a strong-minded woman and keeps her cool in the face of her worst nightmare. It would be unfair to blame the woman I met tonight for turning my life upside down. She didn't. It was already upside down. I just didn't know it. THE last time I spoke to Rachel Abbot was in February 2019 when The Shape Of Lies was published, her ninth DCI Tom Douglas novel. She was then dubbed ‘the queen of the psychological thriller’.

There is a very strong theme at the centre of Close Your Eyes but to reveal it would be tantamount to a spoiler. It is a fascinating one with a strong psychological undercurrent. Martha is a complicated character. The telling of her story unfolds throughout the book, little by little. Quite the enigma, Tom Douglas seems not to know what to make of her.

Customer reviews

Right Behind You is the 9th book in the DCI Tom Douglas series and Rachel Abbott is amongst a small handful of authors that I would read without even glancing at the blurb! As always the book centres around the victim of the crime and whilst this is a DCI Tom Douglas book, the story is primarily told through Martha. I thought I was safe here, but I’m not. I’ve stayed too long. Now Genevieve is dead, and the police are on their way. It’s time for me to go. If you haven’t read any of these books before, you are in for an absolute treat. All these books work exceptionally well as stand-alones and could be read out of sequence (shudder), but I always like to follow the series in the way the author intended so grab yourself a copy of Only The Innocent and thank me later. Do mrocznych historii kryminalnych pióra Rachel Abbott można powracać z prawdziwą przyjemnością. Do tej pory ta brytyjska autorka jeszcze nie zawiodła i nie inaczej jest w przypadku najnowszej odsłony serii z inspektorem Tomem Douglasem.