Author(s): Liz Nugent

Staff Picks- Read our reviews | Thriller

The internationally bestselling author of the "dark, captivating psychological thriller" (People) Lying in Wait returns with a wickedly dark, twisted, and brilliantly observed new novel about an enigmatic woman confronting her unknown past.   Reclusive Sally Diamond causes outrage by trying to incinerate her dead father. Now she's the center of attention, not only from the hungry media and police detectives, but also a sinister voice from a past she does not remember. As she begins to discover the horrors of her early childhood, Sally steps into the world for the first time, making new friends, big decisions, and learning that people don't always mean what they say.   But who is the man observing Sally from the other side of the world, and why does he call her Mary? And why does her new neighbor seem to be obsessed with her? Sally's trust issues are about to be severely challenged...

• Reviewed by Prue

Not one person will ever regret reading this story! A bold claim but it’s not often that I have to stay up most of the night to finish a book but this story did it. I just HAD to know how it all turned out at the end!

The story will appeal to so many readers partly because it does not fit any particular genre – it has a bit of crime, mystery, humour, romance all wrapped up in a great, big, satisfying literary sandwich with so many layers and it left me with the question of how our upbringing and early childhood experiences shape our behaviours for the rest of our lives and can we change those behaviours as an adult?

There is no doubt that Sally Diamond is indeed STRANGE. The story begins with Sally taking her father’s instruction with what to do with him after his death literally – he tells her that he just “wants to be put out with the bin bags” oh dear, she doesn’t realise that this is just something that people say when they don’t want a fuss and she can’t understand how she gets into trouble for just following his instruction.

The story then continues with many twists and turns, with characters revealing themselves layer by layer, and then a big surprise - in the middle of the story the setting changes from Ireland to Rotorua and is very descriptive of the region. You can tell that the author must have spent time here, with some locals even mentioned by name. I loved this tale because of its depth of characters – not just Sally but the supporting cast and I just could not put it down. It is beautifully written, easy to read and very suspenseful – the reader is never quite sure what Sally is going to do or say next. One of 2023’s “must reads”.