Author: Lisa Jackson

Performed by Julia Whelan

Released by Brilliance Audio April 2014

Category: Crime/Thriller

'The most hated woman in Savannah, Georgia, is about to be set free. Twenty years ago, Blondell O’Henry was convicted of murdering her eldest daughter and wounding her two other children. The prosecution argued that beautiful, selfish Blondell wanted to be rid of them to be with her lover.'

I didn’t realise initially this was a series and hadn’t read the previous two books but there were enough repetitive references for me to get an idea of what happened. In this story Blondell O’Henry, who has served twenty years in prison for the murder of her daughter and the attempted murder of her two other children, is about to be set free. Her son has changed his testimony, claiming he was coerced.

Nikki Gillette, part-time reporter and author and O’Henry’s murdered daughter’s friend, wants the true story of events all those years ago and is prepared to go to almost any lengths to get it.

I liked the murder/mystery plot line but it was confused by trying to keep track of the number of unnecessary characters who were introduced into the story. There was nothing I found particularly likeable about the characters, maybe because I didn’t read the preceding stories, and it was a stretch to imagine why Nikki would return to the cabin alone after her first frightening visit.

The couple of sex scenes seemed out of place because there wasn’t any real interaction between Nikki and Reid and I didn’t get a sense of any strong romance or emotions even though they are about to get married. Nikki seemed more interested in getting Reid to tell her about the O’Henry case.

The book was saved from being a DNF by Julia Whelan’s narration.