Jaffareadstoo is delighted to host today's stop on The Dead Ex Blog Tour
Penguin 21 June 2018 My thanks to the publishers a for my copy of this book and the invitation to be part of the blog tour |
What's it all about..
HE CHEATED. HE LIED. HE DIED.
Vicki's husband David once
promised to love her in sickness and in health. But after a brutal attack left
her suffering with epilepsy, he ran away with his mistress.
So when Vicki gets a call one day
to say that he's missing, her first thought is 'good riddance'. But then the
police find evidence suggesting that David is dead. And they think Vicki had
something to do with it.
Here's what I thought about it..
In The Dead Ex three
protagonists, Vicki, Scarlet and Helen weave their story over a period of several
years. In 2018, Vicki, an aromatherapist, is being targeted by the police about
the disappearance of her ex-husband, David. In 2007, Scarlet, is struggling
with a dysfunctional mother who is beset by her own specific problems. In 2018, Helen uses
her considerable skills to get exactly what she wants from life. These interconnected stories,
told in separate strands, and with clever psychological insight, form the basis
of an emotional and complex story. With considerable
skill, this talented author, has pieced together a story which is entirely absorbing and with a distinct air of menace which is so well controlled that you find yourself holding your
breath as the complicated plot get underway.
As with all clever psychological suspense stories there is much to take in and lots to concentrate on with characters who are not always very likeable, and yet, I found that my sympathies fluctuated greatly between Vicki, Scarlet and Helen. Some I liked more than others, and one in particular, I actively disliked, but such is the skill of the author that she makes even the unlikable absolutely compelling.
The mystery at the heart of the
story is well developed, and whilst I can't say too much about that for fear of spoilers, there are definitely more than enough twists and turns to
keep you guessing, and several times I thought that I had the measure of the plot, only
to have it veer off in a completely unexpected direction.
Jane Corry is fast becoming one
of my absolute go to authors for well written and emotionally deep psychological drama
and for sure, The Dead Ex is up there with the best of this genre.
Jane Corry is a former magazine
journalist who spent three years working as the writer-in-residence of a high
security prison for men. She had never been inside a jail before and this often
hair-raising experience helped inspire her Sunday Times bestselling psychological
thrillers, Blood Sisters and My Husband's Wife.
Jane is a regular life story
judge for the Koestler Awards given to prisoners for art and writing. Until
recently, Jane was a tutor in creative writing at Oxford University, and she
now runs writing workshops in her local area of Devon and speaks at literary
festivals all over the world. She has three grown up children and writes the
'Diary of a First-Time Grandmother' column for the Daily Telegraph.
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