Next of Kin

by Sue Welfare

[Leah]

This book was so good! Sue Welfare is a fantastic Chick Lit author, with many wonderful novels to her name, so it's nice to see her dive into a new world, with the release of her first ever psychological thriller. This was so well done - we know early on that something bad has happened, as Sarah finds herself in a police interview room recounting her tale. Someone is quite obviously dead, and the as the novel unfolds we discover just what happened to Sarah's life.

This was a psychological novel and a half. I had no idea where the novel was going - it all seemed so simple in the beginning as Sarah and her brother Ryan find themselves with a new lodger Woody, who seemed so sweet and lovely, until it all went pear-shaped.

I can't give too much away, because the thrill of psychological thrillers is discovering things as the book unfolds, not reading a person's review and having most of the plot completely spoiled, am I right? So the joy in this book was not knowing anything about it going in, and having Sarah recount it as the police station was maddening but awesome. Yes, I was DESPERATE to know what happened, but on the other hand, seeing it unravel piece by piece kept me hooked from beginning to end.

This was such a good read. Sue has knocked it out of the park with Next of Kin, I was hooked from the start to the finish, and I was actually so sympathetic to Sarah, because she was obviously having a really tough time. For what it's worth, I will never, ever contemplate having a lodger, ever. It has put me off FOR LIFE.