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Claire is shocked when she receives a message out of the blue from Sophie, a beautiful young woman who tells Claire that she’s their father’s secret child. Having spent years nursing her sweet little daughter Ella through a life-threatening illness whilst dealing with the emotional fall-out of a devastating marriage breakdown, Claire feels tentatively excited to meet Sophie. Perhaps she might finally have someone in the family to lean on…

As Claire welcomes her sister into her life, she’s delighted to see just how much Ella loves her new Aunt Sophie. But as the pair spend more time together, Claire begins to wonder where exactly her perfect new sister came from and what kind of person she really is. With their elderly father’s mind rapidly deteriorating, is it possible that he’s hiding something from Claire about Sophie’s sudden appearance in their lives?

When Sophie suggests a family day at the seaside, little Ella is beyond excited. But as Claire takes an important phone call from her demanding ex-husband, leaving Sophie in charge of Ella, something unthinkable happens. And as Claire rushes into the ice-cold sea towards the small, limp figure of her daughter, she realizes that Sophie was watching the whole time. But why would Sophie want to hurt Claire’s precious daughter? Was trusting her new sister with Ella the biggest mistake of Claire’s life?

If you enjoyed The Girl on the Train, My Lovely Wife and Lucinda Berry’s The Perfect Child, you’ll love this heart-stopping psychological thriller from bestselling author Sheryl Browne.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

‘Don’t forget your helmet, Jimmy,’ she called after him. ‘Wouldn’t want you damaging your one brain cell, would we?’

 

Was it her fault she’d had nobody interested enough in her to show her the basics in the kitchen? Her gran’s idea of haute cuisine was to pour curry sauce on her chips.

  

My Review:

 

Secrets, lies, betrayals, infidelity, mistrust, cons, revenge plots, chilling mind games, and a ton of prickly and complicated family drama were heavily featured in this twisty brain itching tale. The characters were untrustworthy, more than a bit frustrating, and not all that likable, but I pitied the poor husband, too bad he couldn’t seem to get his tongue to work and I periodically wanted to give him a swat to the back of the head to knock it loose.

 

My own wild theories were mostly, well, partly correct. I would doubt the veracity of anyone claiming they had it all figured out, as there is just no possible way to have unraveled or predicted all those deviously tangled and perplexing plotlines without psychic abilities.   This was my first visit into the devilishly clever mind of Sheryl Browne and I enjoyed her wily written and intriguing tale while feverishly bumping around in her oddly compelling characters’ zigzagging reasoning. More, please!