‘The Special Girls’ by Isabelle Grey

Published by Quercus,
6 April 2017. 
ISBN: 978-1-78648-095-8 (HB)

The body of a Doctor Tim Merrick is found in woods in the grounds of Wyford Hall and Detective Inspector Grace Fisher and her sergeant Blake Langley of the Investigation Team of Colchester are called in to investigate.

They interview a Ned Chesham who hires the hall every year as a holiday place for eight girls who suffer from anorexia. His actual clinic is based at St. Botolph's Hospital and that is where Grace and Blake go to see him.

They then discover that seventeen years ago Ned Chesham was accused of sexual assault by one of his patients, but the case was closed without him being charged.

Grace is instructed to look into the accusation just in case there is any connection to Tim's murder. However, once more there seems to be no real evidence and someone on high closes the investigation again. Grace though is sure that there is no smoke without fire and is determined to find if Tim's murder is linked to the past. The more she and Blake investigate the more they become sure Chesham was guilty but the big question is, has he assaulted any girls since then and if so how can they prove it? None of his past girls seem to want to talk about their time at Wyford Hall. Grace's suspicions grow when it is revealed that more than one of his past patients had committed suicide.

The problem is though how to prove it if it is true, and what can it have to do with Tim's death?

Grace and Blake seem to be thwarted at every turn by Scotland Yard and they become suspicious that someone on high wants the case quashed, the same as seventeen years ago.

The tension really builds up as Grace tries everything to get to the truth, leading to an unforeseen tragedy.

Brilliantly written, Isabelle Grey certainly knows how to write a gripping thriller, I could not put this book down. The action and intrigue never let up, it made my heart race!

Highly recommended for those who enjoy a real page turner.

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Reviewer: Tricia Chappell

Isabelle Grey was born within the sound of Bow Bells in London's East End, grew up in Manchester, lived for ten years on what was once a tidal island at the edge of the Romney Marsh She has published two previous psychological suspense novels. , Out of Sight and The Bad Mother, are also published in paperback, ebook and audio by Quercus. For several months The Bad Mother was Amazon's No.1 bestselling novel in psychological suspense and was in the top ten crime fiction bestsellers.
Good Girls Don't Die, the first in a series featuring Grace Fisher, a murder detective with the Essex Major investigation Team Isabelle also writes screenplays for television crime drama, including The Bill, Wycliffe, Rosemary & Thyme and Midsomer Murders'. With Jimmy McGovern, she co-wrote Tina's Story, the final episode in the Bafta and International Emmy award-winning BBC series Accused  which starred Anna Maxwell Martin, Robert Sheehan and John Bishop.
A former non-fiction author (writing as Isabelle Anscombe) and journalist for national newspapers and magazines such as 'Cosmopolitan', 'Country Living' and 'Psychologies', she has also taught screenwriting at Central Saint Martin's and the Arvon Foundation. She now lives and works in north London.

Tricia Chappell. I have a great love of books and reading, especially crime and thrillers. I play the occasional game of golf  (when I am not reading). My great love is cruising especially to far flung places, when there are long days at sea for plenty more reading! I am really enjoying reviewing books and have found lots of great new authors.