Wednesday 16 May 2018

He Said / She Said by Erin Kelly

Reviewer : Gillian Hamer, author of The Charter, Closure, Complicit, Crimson Shore, False Lights & Sacred Lake. (www.gillianhamer.com)


What we thought : There’s nothing better than discovering exciting new authors whose work you soon become addicted to – and that is certainly the case with Erin Kelly.

He Said / She Said takes the reader on a complex journey starting at a lunar eclipse festival in Cornwall through to eighteen years down the line when everyone involved has lived with the shadow of that weekend for the rest of their lives. But what is the truth?

When Laura, our lead protagonist, witnesses a sexual attack and intervenes, resulting in a gruelling court case, her comfortable life seems over for good. She becomes involved in a dependency-style friendship with Beth, the victim of the assault, and when her actions turn bizarre and then dangerous, Laura and husband Kit, change their names and move home. But Laura suffers several years of anxiety and PTSD, and when the story begins in the current day, with her pregnant with twins, it’s only now her life feels normal again.

But the shadow of the past is never far away, and when Kit travels to the Pharaoh Islands in search of his latest eclipse siting, pregnant Laura is left alone feeling more anxious than ever. And when Beth turn up on her doorstep, spilling secrets Laura could never have imagined, the reader is gripped to see where this twisting tale will end.

The switches in POV and periods here make this quite a challenging read, but for me it is worth it. The characters are crystal clear, the pace works really well, and some of the court scene dialogue was brilliantly written. I’ve already downloaded another book by this author and I hope it is as gripping a read as this one.


You’ll enjoy this if you like : Clare MacKintosh, B.A. Paris, Louise Doughty.


Avoid if you don’t like : Not knowing what is round the next corner.


Ideal accompaniments : Pear cider and a Ploughman’s lunch.


Genre : Thriller.


Available on Amazon





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