The Only Suspect by Louise Candlish

 

Alex and his wife live a quite, normal life in a secluded suburb of London. When a local group campaign to turn a stretch of overgrown land into a nature trail Alex begins to worry that the life he has built for himself will begin to unravel as long buried secrets are revealed.

Author Louise Candlish is a skilled writer who has the knack of slowly drawing you into a story, gradually revealing pertinent pieces of information so that you think you've solved the puzzle, only to then be proven incredibly wrong.

In The Only Suspect we initially focus on Alex, wondering why he is so worried about the nature trail. The story then jumps back to 1995 and we are introduced to Rick, a young man who meets an enigmatic woman, Marina. Rick slowly fall in love with Marina, despite the fact she's married. Holding Rick at arms length Marina admits that her husband is very controlling. Rick is prepared to do anything to help Marina escape her unhappy marriage.

Back in the present Alex begins to behave strangely, things aren't helped when his wife allows a friend to move in after becoming homeless. You then begin to wonder how the two stories are connected, particularly when we learn that Alex changed his name a number of years ago. This really does add an air of mystery as you keep trying to figure out which character from 1995 he is.

The 1995 elements of the story grip you far more than those set in the present. Rick is a knight in shining armour, desperate to save the damsel in distress, even if he ends up putting himself in danger. However, it's that constant sense of never quite being able to see the complete picture that is unsettling. One moment you think you've figured out what is happening, the next you are doubting and take off on a new tangent.

While the conclusion isn't a shock, I still wasn't convinced there wasn't going to be another twist until I actually read it.

The Only Suspect by Louise Candlish will be published on 2nd February 2023 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster UK for a review copy.