A Review By Keith Smith

I must admit I had not read any Sophie Hannah before, and to begin with I was very very impressed with the strength and style of her writing. But then suddenly about a third of the way through, something didn’t quite gel. An article written by one of the protagonists didn’t seem at all right for the publication it supposedly was written for. And then things started going from bad to worse…the plot became unnecessarily convoluted. The police procedures didn’t ring true. The characters remained undeveloped. Instead of building on a very strong theme..women maybe wrongly imprisoned for smothering their children because of dubious expert evidence, the writing and plot became flabby. From being gripped, I suddenly didn’t care what happened.

My verdict? Huge potential unrealised. I much prefer the psychological thrillers of husband and wife team Nicci French. But an author worth persevering with.