“It was such a pretty hand. Milky white. Long-fingered. Elegant.
It was a shame he’d probably have to break every bone.”-Sara Shepard, The Amateurs: Follow Me
Hi everyone! When I’m not busy with my nose buried in a book, I love checking out Netflix for a little switching-off-my-brain-time, and one of my favourite shows is Pretty Little Liars. I haven’t actually read the series of books, or anything by the author, Sara Shepard before, so when Hot Key Books had a copy of the new book in her latest series up for review, I jumped at the chance to read it!
Here’s the blurb:
I know you know what I did.
And I know you want to find me.
I’m not done with you, either.
It’s only been months since the Amateurs solved the mystery of who killed Aerin Kelly’s sister Helena – but they know have a new case. Social media star Chelsea Dawson has vanished from a party without a trace, and Seneca realises that the petite, blonde young woman is a dead ringer for Aerin’s sister.
Will the Amateurs take up the invitation from none other than their prime suspect to go to the very place of Chelsea’s disappearance? Do they have it in them to solve another crime and to avenge Helena’s death?
A twisted path is opening up before Seneca and her friends – one crafted by a brilliant killer. The question is: will the Amateurs play his game?
I hadn’t read the first book in this series (I’d mistakenly thought this was the first book for some reason. Oops!) But there was a handy recap in the beginning chapters of the book that went over what had happened in the previous book and who the characters were.
I really enjoyed that there was a full cast of characters in this book – although it could be a little confusing at first, it reminded me of PLL in that aspect, and I’m excited to see how all of their characters will develop across this series. The only issue I had is that I would have liked to have seen more of some of them – but as the book is only 275 pages (UK paperback), I understand that that would have been hard to do and will probably happen over the space of several books instead.
There was also some romance which was a fun sub-plot that I enjoyed a lot!
And onto the mystery – this book was unusual in that we already know who committed the crime from the start. We don’t know the true identity of the mysterious guy who’s behind it all, but it was intriguing to have the Amateurs chasing after someone specific, whose identity is a secret. Intriguing and a little creepy at times. I thought it worked really well! And again, I’m really interested to see where this will go next… And how it will all play out!
I thought I knew where the plot was headed, but the conclusion of the mystery was more unexpected than I would have thought of. I enjoyed the twisty bits and would recommend picking up this series if you’re a fan of Sara Shepard or YA mysteries, although perhaps start from the first book!
Overall, this was a fast-paced, addictive read that I flew through in one sitting. I’m giving it 3.5/5 stars and I definitely want to pick up the next book!
Thanks for reading everyone! Has anyone else read any books by Sara Shepard? Which would you recommend? Who else is a fan of mysteries?
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