Her Last Holiday by CL Taylor reminded me a little of Liane Moriarty’s Nine Perfect Strangers, although this is more of a thriller. It does however feature a wellness retreat run by an interesting duo, and plays host to some quirky guests.
This is the third book I’ve read by Cally (CL) Taylor and yet another enjoyable read with a couple of surprise twists at the end.
I read Cally (CL) Taylor’s Sleep last year and enjoyed the Agatha Christie-esque whodunnit.
In that book Taylor offered us several narrators and she does the same in her newest release, Strangers.
I loved the way Taylor introduces each of the three lead characters as we slowly and steadily build a relationship with each. She offers up a circular plot structure; so we start at (or near) the end before going back in time as the story unfolds from the viewpoints of the three leads in the previous week.
I’d had a bit of a reading break when I picked up my iPad to read an advance copy of Forget Me Not by Claire Allan. And of course, instinct kicked in and I had to keep turning page after page (well, electronic page after page) until I’d finished the book.
It was the kind of read that – at about three-quarters of the way through – I thought an earlier prediction re the whodunit had been right – but then Allan introduces a twist I didn’t see coming.
Avon Books advertised this on a book reviewing platform without revealing any detail many months ago. A sucker for both devious marketing plots and psychological thrillers I leapt in and received an electronic copy of the book billed Can You Keep A Secret… and I wasn’t sure if that was a question of we reviewers or the title.
Of course as it wasn’t due to be published until November, by the time I got around to reading it, it now had a name (Cuckoo, though it’s also listed as A Stranger in Our Home in some places – the latter not exactly making sense to me, but whatevs…).
I hadn’t realised this was part of a series when I requested it and though there were things I’d obviously missed in the first three books, it didn’t impact at all on my enjoyment of the fourth in the Scottish police series. In fact, it made me keen to read the previous installations… even though I guess I know some of what must eventuate; but I loved the characters and am confident enough in Fields’ ability to spin a good yarn that I’m keen to spend more time with her creations.