Publisher :
Summary
Mark Billingham
Every Monday evening, six people gather in a smart North London house to talk about shame. A respected doctor, a well-heeled housewife, a young male prostitute . . . they could not be more different. All they have in common is a history of addiction. But when one of the group is murdered, it quickly becomes apparent that someone else in that circle is responsible. The investigation is hampered by the strict confidentiality that binds these individuals and their therapist together, which makes things difficult for Detective Inspector Nicola Tanner, a woman who can appreciate the desire to keep personal matters private. If she is to find the killer, she will need to use less obvious means. The question is: What could be shameful enough to cost someone their life? And how do you find the truth when secrets, lies, and denial are second nature to all of your suspects?
Review
I picked up this book at the airport on the way to sunny Tenerife. After enjoying his book In the Dark i was keen to pick up another one of his works. This was another stand alone book and the summary did catch my interest further.
The aspect of addiction as the main background of the story was new to me and interesting. Perhaps it would be of even more interest to others who can relate or who just enjoy studying it. Learned quite a bit about addiction and therapy despite it being a fiction book.
The book changes from the then to the now however it wasn’t hard to follow at all which can happen with some books. Main thing that I enjoyed was the characters, each so extremely different and well written. The books splits the chapters to each character so you keep switching between being in all their shoes but at the same time doesn’t get confusing as some books can.
The ending was a little bit of a let down, not in the way that you saw it coming but more so that it seemed too long at this stage to find out who done it. It also didn’t feel wrapped up, this was the intent I’m guessing however not really something I like too much.
Conclusion
Good read. Interesting plot and interesting characters. I would definitely recommend this book be in on a sun lounger or not. 4 out of 5 stars for me.
