Stevie‘s review of The Suspect (Kate Waters, Book 3) by Fiona Barton
Contemporary Crime Thriller published by Berkley 22 Jan 19
As I’ve mentioned before, Fiona Barton’s Kate Waters stories (and they are now officially a series) have simple titles that don’t give much away. The blurb is intriguing, but doesn’t give enough clues as to how twisty this investigation is going to turn out to be for Kate and her long-term police contact DI Bob Sparkes, or the huge impact their respective family issues will have on the case – and vice versa.
Two years on from the events of the previous book, Kate Waters is writing personal interest and celebrity gossip fluff pieces while she waits for the next big story to come her way. Her older son, Jake, is still off travelling after dropping out of his degree two years earlier, and she hears from him only very rarely. Meanwhile, DI Bob Sparkes has problems at home: his wife has been diagnosed with a recurrence of her cancer, and this time they know it’s terminal. When a report comes in regarding two teenage girls who have failed to phone home while on a gap year trip to Thailand, Bob passes the information over to Kate, knowing that she will be able to start investigating before he receives the required authorisation.
By the time the missing persons case turns into one of the scenarios those involved have been dreading, Kate has befriended the parents of one girl and the mother of the other – her ex-husband is a nasty piece of work – and is on hand to accompany them to Thailand, along with Bob Sparkes and his team, as well as other members of the press also flying out there. It soon becomes clear that Jake had met the girls, and might have witnessed what happened to them, but when Kate reaches the place he was reported to have been found, he’s already vanished again. As the investigation continues, with little help from the local police force, Jake’s status changes from witness to suspect, at least in the eyes of the press, and even Kate worries about the nature of his involvement. Of course, nothing is ever so simple as there being one hero and one villain.
I loved the storytelling aspect of this story, giving us the viewpoints of those involved in the investigation, Kate, Bob, and the girls’ parents, as well as showing us what happened to the girls in the days leading up to their disappearance from the point of view of one in particular. There were red herrings aplenty and some tough choices for both Kate and Bob regarding whether they should prioritise work or family – and I do like that both our main protagonists have stable, mostly happy marriages that survive, in spite of the time they spend away from home.
All in all, a gripping read with a thought-provoking ending. I’m keen to know what kind of case Kate will find herself investigating next.
Grade: A
Summary:
When two eighteen-year-old girls go missing in Thailand, their families are thrust into the international spotlight: desperate, bereft, and frantic with worry. What were the girls up to before they disappeared?
Journalist Kate Waters always does everything she can to be first to the story, first with the exclusive, first to discover the truth—and this time is no exception. But she can’t help but think of her own son, whom she hasn’t seen in two years, since he left home to go travelling.
As the case of the missing girls unfolds, they will all find that even this far away, danger can lie closer to home than you might think…
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
