Sewing the Shadows Together

by Alison Baillie

Can you ever get over the death of your sister? Or of your best friend? More than 30 years after 13-year-old Shona McIver was raped and murdered in Portobello, the seaside suburb of Edinburgh, the crime still casts a shadow over the lives of her brother Tom and her best friend Sarah. When modern DNA evidence shows that the wrong man was convicted of the crime, the case is reopened. So who did kill Shona? Sarah and Tom are caught up in the search for Shona’s murderer, and suspicions fall on family and friends. The foundations of Sarah’s perfect family life begin to crumble as she realises that nothing is as it appears. Dark secrets from the past are uncovered, and there is another death, before the identity of the real killer is finally revealed... Set in Edinburgh, the Outer Hebrides and South Africa, Sewing the Shadows Together is a thoroughly modern murder mystery that keeps the reader guessing to the end. Filled with characters who could easily be friends, family or people we work with, it asks the question: Do we ever really know the people closest to us?

• ISBN10: 1784623555
• ISBN13: 9781784623555
• Publish Date: 28 August 2015
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 26 May 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Troubador Publishing
• Imprint: Matador
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 376
• Language: English

Reviews

[Mystereity Reviews]

Superb book! Along with a great mystery with plenty of twists and turns, there was a story of love, loss and renewal. It even had a happy ending.


13 year old Shona is murdered and her shattered family moves to South Africa. Decades later, brother Tom returns to his home town to scatter his mother's ashes. He attends a class reunion and reunites with a childhood friend, Rory, and his wife Sarah, who was best friends with his dead sister.

After the reunion, they learn that the man convicted of killing Shona has been exonerated and freed after DNA evidence excludes him as the killer. But who is the real killer? And just how well do you think you know your family and friends?

This book was easy to sink into, with realistic characters and an intricate plot. I thought I knew who-dun-it from the beginning, but was proven wrong again and again. I thought the character actions (and reactions) were very real, from Sarah's grace in accepting all the changes and even her inner turmoil as her world fell apart. It as refreshing to see a strong female character portrayed so realistically, but in such a positive light.

Overall, an amazing book that will stay with me for quite some time, and one I will recommend to others.