4 January 2024.
ISBN: 978-1-52990980-7 (HB)
The scene is a noisy office Christmas party. Indoors, the karaoke is in full swing, and the boss is giving his Elvis impression. Up on the rooftop terrace, away from the forced jollity, a woman sits on the edge, about to jump, and another woman is trying to talk her down. She succeeds, and the following night the same women return, in search of a missing earring. They separate – and suddenly there’s a thump, a commotion in the street below, and a body on the pavement. And one of the women is arrested for murder.
That’s the dramatic opening to this tense thriller. The police find that nothing seems to add up, and duty solicitor Sarah Kellerman is sure there’s more going on than meets the eye. The investigation stalls, but Sarah remains involved – and the story that unfolds is not at all what she expects.
Sarah Kellerman has been centre stage in Ruth Mancini’s previous novels, but this time she takes a back seat, and adopts a sympathetic advisory role as befits a duty solicitor. The action focuses on Tate Kinsella, jobbing actress when she can get the work, office temp most of the time. There’s also Helen, the woman who almost jumps, and a collection of other people; but to describe, or even name, any of them would give away spoilers, and that’s the last thing I’m going to do. Suffice to say that every single character springs off the page; Mancini knows exactly how to create that mix of traits that make them feel as real as your next-door neighbour.
The work Tate does as a temp has the ring of truth too – the routine drudge jobs no one else in the huge office wants, occasionally leavened by something more demanding when someone notices she has a brain. Not that anyone notices her much; temping isn’t a way to make friends or build a career. Her family don’t help; they’re all rich and successful through their own efforts and see no reason to reach out a hand when she needs one.
Against this meticulously drawn background is a plot
so complex it will make your head spin. But when it reaches its climax and
justice is well and truly served, you’ll probably want to cheer. If you’re a
woman, you certainly will. And that’s all I’m going to give away. Except – when
you start to read this intriguing book, set aside a few hours, because you
won’t want to put it down.
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Reviewer: Lynne Patrick
Ruth Mancini was born in South-West London and, after graduating, started her career as a marketing executive for a publisher before undertaking a post-graduate diploma in law and retraining as a solicitor. Ruth has spent the past twenty years in and out of courts and police stations, representing those accused of crimes. She still practises as a lawyer for a large criminal law firm with offices in London, conducting advocacy in the courts and defending people arrested at the police station. She also reviews the trial files across the firm and juggles her legal work with writing crime and psychological fiction. Her debut crime thriller In The Blood is a Sunday Times Crime Club pick and a top ten Amazon bestseller. She now lives in Oxford with her husband and two children. Her eldest child is severely autistic and learning disabled and her In The Blood protagonist, lawyer Sarah Kellerman, is also raising a similarly disabled child whilst working full-time. Ruth is also the author of domestic suspense novels The Lies You Tell and His Perfect Lies.
She can
be found on Twitter @RuthMancini1
Facebook at www.facebook.com/ruth.mancini.author
Lynne Patrick has been a writer ever since she could pick up a pen, and has enjoyed success with short stories, reviews and feature journalism, but never, alas, with a novel. She crossed to the dark side to become a publisher for a few years, and is proud to have launched several careers which are now burgeoning. She lives on the edge of rural Derbyshire in a house groaning with books, about half of them crime fiction.
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