Book review: Something He Did by SK Lynch
Something He Did by SK Lynch came at an interesting time in my life and gave me pause. Again and again. It’s centred around an incident (car accident involving a brief moment of road rage… well, rage masking a whole heap of other emotions) which changes the lives of those involved… with neither party knowing its effect on the other.
My mother has been in hospital for almost six weeks following a fall. It’s been stressful as she now needs to leave her home of 62 years and go into an aged care facility. Long story short… the stress has manifested in me via alternating anger or weepy tears. I’m becoming angry at the drop of a hat. I’ve sworn and treated people horribly, only to apologise later. I’m incredibly wound up, but it’s no excuse.
(Apologies for the long blurb… akin to someone telling their life story in a recipe blog before sharing the actual recipe!)
About this book
Something He Did by SK Lynch
Published by Ultimo Press
on 29/09/2026
Source: Ultimo Press
Genres: Crime Fiction, Thriller / Suspense
ISBN: 1761154869
Pages: 352
Goodreads
In the gridlocked heart of Melbourne, a split-second of road rage changes everything. For one driver, the crash is a bizarre stroke of luck that sets their life on an upward trajectory they never thought possible. For the other, it is the first domino to fall in a terrifying downward spiral.
Detective Sergeant Claudia Russo doesn’t care about the insurance claims – she’s focussed on the search for a missing eighteen-year-old girl. But the girl’s father, a man defined by entitlement and influence, is playing a dangerous game. He’s more afraid of his own double life being exposed than he is of his daughter never coming home. Claudia has secrets she’s grieving a tragic loss of her own and losing control of an on-the-job romance that threatens to unravel everything she has worked so hard for.
My thoughts
As I wasn’t in a great headspace I read a third of this book and then picked it up the following night and could not remember most of the details. It’s a tricky (though also clever) read as it moves about in time and narrators so does require a little focus.
There are four-five streams of narration. Claudia is a prickly but hard-working cop. We’re introduced to her on the day (Day 480) that the daughter of an ex-Kiwi rugby player goes missing. We meet both Amber and Jake on Day 1… the reformed drug addict and ex-footballer involved in a minor accident with serious consequences. Amber is going to court, attempting access visits with her daughter and trying to support her mother in the midst of chemotherapy. Jake is frustrated by his partner… made worse because his wife and girls in NZ know nothing of his girlfriend and their son in Melbourne.* At the time of his accident he’s rushing to a meeting where he knows he’ll be forced to kowtow to his boss as Jake’s fame and brand plummet.
That moment impacts everything that comes next… positively and negatively. We spend time with both Jake and Amber during that time, before meeting Jake again on Day 480 when he reports his daughter Brooke missing. We’ve met the 18 year old who’s acting out big-time so – to give his wife a break – Jake brings her to Australia for a visit… aiming to keep his two worlds/lives separate. It has to be said, Jake’s behaviour makes him easy to dislike, but by putting us in his head, there’s perhaps more empathy than I would have otherwise had.
Claudia is reluctant to look into Brooke’s disappearance, assuming she’s simply off having fun, but Jake pulls strings and Claudia and her colleague (and lover) Ivan are forced to work the case.
Our final narrator is the kidnapper. Their story is written in second person, though I later realised it was first person and they were in fact, talking to themself, reflecting on their actions.
Lynch plots this brilliantly. It’s easy to get absorbed in unfolding events. It’s both devastating and bittersweet for those who can be lulled into assuming characters’ journeys are positive ones. I certainly did not guess who the kidnapper was or understand their motivation. But I appreciated they recognised the aforementioned positive life journey of one of the players meaning that all ends well(ish) but karma is still served.
Something He Did by SK Lynch was published by Ultimo Press.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher for review purposes.
* I did think it a bit unrealistic that (in these days of social media) someone could keep an entire life (girlfriend and son) secret
