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However the very worst part is the finale. Set in a place where I used to work, it was so implausible I screamed at the screen. Pearse’s Belle Series debuted in 2011 with the publication of Belle. It was followed by The Promise, where main character Belle is desperate to do anything to make her life better. The third book in the series came out in 2014 and is titled Survivor. In the meantime Super Conrad and Nina have moved into the street. He saves the day. A lot. He solves crime. She dyes her hair, which is kinda the same thing. Does Belle have the courage within herself to try and escape? Will she have any allies out there in her quest for freedom? Read this exciting book from wonderful author Lesley Pearse to find out!
On the day Nina and Conrad Best move into their new home in picture-perfect Willow Close a body is discovered.
I can't even believe it was written by a woman. Full of misogyny, fat shaming and obsessive descriptions of body shape and wardrobe, with stereotypical characters. Women are only good for cooking, cleaning, leading on men and supervising children, whilst men are the Superheroes, especially Conrad. Saint Conrad rescues everyone and dispenses pearls of wisdom, even cutting the grass and scaling a fence after being discharged from hospital with burns. This book felt quite lazy in that it relied on stereotypes and you could see the flaws in each character even before they were painstakingly pointed out. I particularly disliked the fat-shaming. I guessed who the killer was early on and was really hoping that I’d be proved wrong. It would have been a much bigger twist if the most wonderful man in existence (I won’t name him as it’s a spoiler but if you’ve read it, you know who I mean) had somehow found his dark side and was the real murderer! He was a most irritating character who was completely unrealistic. The rest of the book looks at each household and their reaction to Chloe’s death and the other secrets that the police investigations uncover. This should have been good. That whole idea of secrets below the presentable surface has a lot of potential. One tragedy uncovers a lot of previously hidden darkness in the neighbours, who knows what goes in behind close doors etc etc (see Tall Bones by Anna Bailey as a recent example of this done well). We then meet everyone else who lives in the cul-de-sac, plus Jim Marshall the investigating DI. I assume the plot is then meant to tantalise and intrigue, making the reader believe any of the residents could have been the killer, but sadly I was left cold, uninterested and frankly aghast at the outdated and offensive views of women, marriage, body shape, jobs and general attitudes.
The suspects is a mystery thriller surrounding the murder of a young, teenage girl on a close-knit street. As the investigation progresses, it begins to surface that not all is as it seems in this jolly community. As the truth begins to unfold in the lives of those you thought you knew, and as two nee residents move in, you are taken on a whirlwind of a ride, full of twists and turns, until finally the truth comes to light!
Suspects
As the police carry out interviews with each resident, it becomes clear that every neighbour has a secret to hide and some will go to extreme lengths to prevent exposure. The Narrator was fab, using different accents and tones for each character so they were easily distinguishable from each other. As they read, I found it easy to follow and enjoyed the atmosphere they created with their reading. However, the delivery of this is excruciatingly bad. The story is told largely in large sections of unbelievable exposition, such as Nina recalling when her husband told her about his mother’s and his imperious, neglectful stepfather, and his time at boarding school, over several paragraphs as she thinks about why he finds crimes against children distressing. The whole book is like, horribly clunky telling instead of showing, which leaves the characters very one dimensional. There’s no nuance or discovery. It leaves the situation that while the reader is told repeatedly that Conrad is wonderful and caring and insightful, his actual actions and comments come over as sinister and coercive. [Spoiler: that doesn’t turn out to be a plot twist.] I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Penguin and I am leaving this review voluntarily
In this exciting and historical city, Belle gradually begins to come into her own. Now of age, she gradually learns how to operate skill fully within her life as a courtesan and even adapts to enjoy it. However, she is always thinking of the home she left behind. Even though she is the golden girl for right now of the prostitution world in this bustling southern city, she knows that she only has so long to dominate this cage before it turns into a prison once more that holds her forever.Pretty much they all have dodgy stuff going on. Many unhappy marriages (which seems to be because they all married after barely knowing each other). This is a book to talk about, to drill down into the story and really think about it * Devon Life *
If we are all honest we all love to have a bit of a nosey into other people’s lives, wonder what goes on behind closed doors and it is this curiosity that underpinns the plot of this book. The chapters take the reader day by day from July 18 2009 the day of Chloe Church’s murder and continues through the investigation. There are many different voices in this book, from Nina and Connor’s who have just moved into Willow Close, to Detective Inspector Jim Marshall in charge of the investigation, through to the neighbours, Maureen and Rob who found the body, the devestated parents, and those who have plenty of secrets to hide. Whilst there is the tension and suspense of the murder investigation, and seeing the characters lives implode, there are also many humerous moments as a contrast. Lesley Pearse takes the mundane of ordinary life in suburbia and turns it into something sinister, something that could happen where you live, making it more realistic, and making the readers voyeurs.
Publication Order of Ellie Books
But she finds out about that and death too when one of the girls is murdered and she is witness to it. Belle is taken from her home and sold into prostitution in Paris by the killer. Now her entire world is not her own and when she is to go to New Orleans halfway across the planet, she is going to blossom from a young girl into a young woman that is more in control of her fate than ever. The Police come across as farcical and inept. The characters are two dimensional. There is a preoccupation with writing about everyone's weight and appearance and there are bizarre leaps in thought processes which leave the reader incredulous. The dialogue is stilted and there is way too much explanation rather than hints and establishing connections through what is not written. In fact it is more like a manual or set of instructions and I NEVER read those. The residents of Willow Close are far from what they initially seem and strange, even dark, things happen behind their closed doors. Then her husband enlists in the Army and is sent to the battlefields. Belle starts to realize slowly that her entire life is on the verge of falling apart. But she is resilient and will not stand by and watch it happen. Belle volunteers to help treat the wounded and ends up working abroad as an ambulance driver for the Red Cross In France.
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