‘The Perfect Place’ by Amanda Cassidy.

Published by Canelo,
1 August 2024.
ISBN: 978-1-80436-808-4 (HB)

Elle Littlewood, a beautiful, successful online influencer, is about to marry the rich and handsome Will who adores her.  In other words, she seems to have it all. However, Elle’s online producer and marketing expert, Sue, recognises that times are changing. She thinks they need to broaden their horizons and persuades Elle to tackle the makeover of an old French Chateau.

Elle falls for the Chateau and purchases it cheaply under a French law that allows the owner, Leonard, to continue living there until he dies. Leonard is old and sick, so that does not appear to be too great a problem.  Elle sets about giving the chateau sufficient of a makeover to satisfy TV viewers without paying much attention to questions like, what had happened to Leonard’s wife - she had disappeared suddenly years previously - and what had become of his mistress. And who is Pierre, a gardener-cum-handy-man, who helps out and clearly adores Leonard?

Slowly, Elle’s idyllic world begins to unravel.   Adverse comments from trolls and haters appear about her online, and the number of her followers drops disastrously. Will is hiding something dramatically important from her and Sue, who has problems of her own, is jealous and plans to reveal details from the past that Elle is desperate to conceal. When a bloody, battered body is found in the chateau questions arises as to what Elle and those connected to her or to the Chateau’s past would do to preserve the status quo.

Negotiating one’s way through The Perfect Place is a little like taking a journey in a dark and twisty tunnel that is littered with a never-ending supply of unexpected hurdles. But it is a journey that is well worth completing.
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Reviewer Angela Crowther.

Amanda Cassidy is a freelance journalist, commissioning editor, former Sky News reporter and author. She has been shortlisted for the Irish Journalist of the Year Awards, the Headline Media writing awards and more recently the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger for her debut, Breaking.

Angela Crowther is a retired scientist.  She has published many scientific papers but, as yet, no crime fiction.  In her spare time Angela belongs to a Handbell Ringing group, goes country dancing and enjoys listening to music, particularly the operas of Verdi and Wagner.