The Moment She Left. Susan Lewis

Published: Random House UK
Date: 28th July 2016
Format: e-ARC
Pages:
Genre: Fiction
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Rating:
                    

Some are darker than others; many are shameful. One is even deadly.

Andee is an ex-detective whose marriage is breaking up. So when a young female student disappears without trace, she throws herself into the search.

Meanwhile, the town’s beloved Rowzee Cayne has just discovered that she is terminally ill, and doesn’t want to burden her family and friends with the news.

Andee and Rowzee don't know it yet, but their journeys are going to help them uncover a secret. One that is going to affect them more than they could ever imagine.

Susan Lewis has spun a rather convoluted tale in The Moment She Left, there are so many threads to it, yet by the end they are woven in and make a complete picture.

Jessica is the young woman who has gone missing in London two years previous to the main story. She has left behind a broken hearted mother and father and twin brother Matt. It adds insult to injury as this family has already fled to Kesterley-on-Sea after Blake the dad was falsely accused of a crime he did not commit.

Andee  the ex detective is called in to help find out what might have happened to Jessica as the police have scaled back. In her own life she has decided she wants to divorce her husband who is really a pain in the butt.  Andee starts to ask questions that begin to open up the case again.

Rowzee the sixty five year old is battling a disease that is going to rob her of her life. So we follow her difficult journey as she wrestles with what she wants to do. She is delightful, yet wants to ensure all those around her are happy and will go to any length to ensure things will happen for them. She wants 'her dying wishes' to hold weight and a little power! Rowzee has a sister Pamela and a brother Graeme, and their is nothing  Rowzee would like more than to match them up to someone to love them before she goes.

Other people in the community and further afield wend their way into the story. In the end they are all linked in ways that could not be foreseen. Will Jessica ever be found? Will she be alive? Were the circumstances of her disappearance sinister or just part of going about her daily life?

A story of loss and hope, guilt and depression. But also one of a community that pulls together and people who care.

No Child of Mine Susan Lewis

No Child of Mine
Susan Lewis
Published: Random House
Date: 2012
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Julia Franklin
Length: 16hrs 58 min
Genre: Women's Fiction
Source: Own book
Rating:
             

Alex Lake’s day job is all about helping people, especially children. She cares about them passionately and does everything in her power to rescue them from those who mean them harm.

When the case of three-year-old Ottilie Wade comes to her attention, Alex finds herself completely unable to detach from the child the way she should. She feels an overpowering need to make a real difference in little Ottilie’s life, but no one is prepared to believe that Ottilie is in danger.

In the end, Alex makes a decision that has consequences for her, her family and Ottilie – consequences that no one, least of all Alex, could have foreseen.

Oh my! What a novel! This is the first time I have read Susan Lewis, so I wasn't so sure whether I would like it. However one very telling review on Goodreads from a reader I really respect - Laurel-Rain,  had given it 5 stars so that was a good start!

It's a long book, so it took me a few weeks to listen to it. It is set in a small town in England. The narration was excellent and held my attention all the way through. The only very picky thing I have to comment on was the accent of a certain character who came to visit Alex. Sorry - but that is not a New Zealand accent! 

But what of the content? Well it engaged me all the way through. Alex is a social worker, and a very good one. She cares about the children she works with. She puts in long hours and it is often heart breaking and difficult. She has to contend with situations where sometimes her life is at risk. She herself had a very distressing beginning to her young life and so knows first hand being left orphaned.

She has a few minor enemies, nothing outstanding, but enough to niggle and cause damage in small but significant ways. As well as working she is into drama and enjoys directing the local club. She is in a relationship with Jason as the book opens, but even as the book opens that looks a little shaky.

Alex trusts her instincts, and she follows up a phone call about Ottilie Wade and senses that all is not well with the child. The mother is very strange and the father is domineering and seemingly holding down a very respectable job as a deputy head at a local school. The more Alex knows of him the more she suspects. She soon is keeping a close eye on Ottilie, but things move slowly and social workers have to play by the book.

When one terrible night things go pear-shaped in a big way, the press go after Alex in a big way, blaming her for what has happened. As they do! They are out to sensationalise it all and Alex has to hide away at the rectory hoping it will quieten down soon. And she has put herself in a very compromising place.  Go Alex! 

I will certainly be listening to or reading the follow up book to this one, although with a little break in between!