I
hope you don’t find him. And if you do, I hope he’s dead and that he suffered…
Real-estate mogul Martin Cresswell-Smith is the best thing that has ever
happened to Ellie. After her daughter’s devastating death, a divorce, and an
emotional breakdown, he’s helped her move as far as possible from the grief,
the rage, and the monsters of her past. Ellie imagines her new home with Martin
in an Australian coastal town will be like living a fairy tale. But behind
closed doors is another story—one that ends in Martin’s brutal murder. And
Ellie seems almost relieved…
Naturally, everyone thinks Mrs. Cresswell-Smith is guilty.
Senior Constable Lozza Bianchi has reasonable doubt. She sees evidence of a twisted
psychological battle and a couple who seemed to bring out the worst in each
other—adultery, abuse, betrayal, and revenge. If anything Ellie says can be
believed, that is. As the case takes twist after spiraling twist, Lozza can’t
shake the gut instinct that she’s being manipulated. That Ellie is hiding
something. That there are secrets yet to surface. Lozza has no idea.
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Sarah – ☆☆☆☆☆
This is a creepy and disturbing psychological thriller. Told in multiple
voices, across two continents and at three points in time, readers must piece
together the events leading up to the grisly murder of a wealthy international
businessman. It’s a complicated, contradictory puzzle and I couldn’t put it
down.
At the heart of the story is Ellie, a Canadian heiress with a troubled history
who marries the victim and moves to Australia to be with him. Ellie’s voice is
frustratingly inconsistent. Ellie can be vulnerable, she can be mean, and she
can be calculating. But none of these things necessarily make her a murderer.
With Ellie, readers have to grapple with a main character who may or may not be
innocent but definitely isn’t a reliable or likeable narrator.
To complicate things further, readers know that the murder victim, Ellie’s
husband Martin, isn’t what he seems from their very first encounters. If Ellie
isn’t terribly likeable, it is far too easy for readers to start to hate Martin
very quickly.
Interestingly, in this book, beyond Martin and one scene with Ellie’s father,
this is a story about women. In Australia, the police detective Lozza, the
bartender Rabz, and the neighbour Willow all become entangled in Ellie and
Martin’s life. Lozza is as compromised a narrator as Ellie and readers are
forced to untangle facts from bias, emotion, and personal interpretation as
they start to piece together an understanding of the true nature of the
relationships between the women in Jarrawarra.
It is always difficult to review psychological thrillers without spoilers. I
will say that there were several times that I was properly surprised by plot
twists and the suspense at the end is brilliant. The pacing is excellent and
the skill with which the author weaves the layered narratives together is
admirable. This is a beautifully crafted book and a thoroughly enjoyable read.
Avid Reader – ☆☆☆☆
M/F Mystery
Triggers: Click HERE to see Avid Reader’s review on Goodreads for trigger
warnings.
This book didn’t grab me right away. While I normally need a mystery to really
suck me in quickly, I let this one slowly draw me in.
Martin Cresswell-Smith is a handsome man who goes after what he wants. He is
charismatic, wealthy, successful, and two-faced. You don’t truly see the other
side of Martin until he reveals himself to Ellie.
Ellie has been looking for love her whole life. With an absentee father, a
husband who wasn’t paying enough attention to her, and a life that has fallen
in to shambles, Ellie self-medicates. Despite the tragedies in her life, Ellie
wants to move forward, wants to be happy. When she meets Martin, she thinks
that her life might just be turning around.
What follows is a back and forth of past and present. You get to see Martin and
Ellie’s relationship from inside and outside, the new community they live in
from different perspectives, and you get to try and puzzle out what Constable
Lozza Bianchi is seeing.
Bianchi is a great character who brings another level of depth to the story. I
really enjoyed watching her try and figure out the mystery. She was a strong
personality, but she was also compassionate and very real.
This book gives you twists and turns throughout, and you’ll be wondering what’s
going on until the end. I really enjoyed this once I got into the story. I
admit that the back and forth was sometimes hard to follow, but the overall
story was well developed.
Veronica – ☆☆☆
In the Deep is a psychological thriller and one where the story is told
in both the present and the past. Importantly, it is always clear which time we
are in and we know from the outset that the wife is on trial for the murder of
her husband. Ultimately though, the majority of the story is told in the past.
Early on we spend a lot of time with our main character, Ellie. We learn about
her life, her past, and how she meets her now dead husband, Martin. I have to
say at this point in the story I was starting to lose interest. I didn’t find
Ellie a particularly appealing character and Martin was clearly dodgy. But
then, briefly, a new player entered the story and I knew things were far more
complicated than they seemed, so I was curious enough to push on.
While I found the start of the story slow, when the couple moves to Australia
things really take a dark turn. The tension builds and there is plenty of
action that got my heart pumping, which I really enjoyed and it kept me turning
the pages. There is a scene with Martin and Ellie out on his boat that is
actually a bit scary and so well done.
Often reading stories in this genre you don’t know who to trust or who is
telling the truth. In this story, however, I found it obvious at times who was
deceiving who and who was likely involved, we just didn’t know all the details.
When the big twist came, it was like a quick reveal and the story was hurriedly
concluded. The ending was way too rushed and we were given an information dump
at the end to wrap it up. It felt like we spent so much time in the beginning
on boring parts of the story and at the end we were rushed right through some
juicy bits.
In the Deep had some good parts and some not so good things, but overall
I enjoyed it. Three stars from me.
LORETH
ANNE WHITE is an Amazon Charts and Washington Post bestselling author of
thrillers, mysteries, and suspense. With well over 2 million books sold around
the world, she is a three-time RITA finalist, an overall Daphne du Maurier
Award winner, Arthur Ellis finalist, and winner of multiple industry awards.
A recovering journalist who has worked in both South Africa and Canada, she now
calls Canada home. She resides in the Pacific Northwest, dividing time between
Victoria on Vancouver Island, the ski resort of Whistler in the Coast Mountains,
and a rustic lakeside cabin in the Cariboo. When she’s not writing or dreaming
up plots, you will find her on the lakes, in the ocean, or on the trails with
her dog where she tries—unsuccessfully—to avoid bears.
Connect with
Loreth
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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided
a free copy of In the Deep by Loreth Anne White to read and review.
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