First Published: 2011
The novel starts in July 2010 and a woman is panicking because she believes that a family, the Gilpatricks, will mean her death.
Then the action takes us back one week. We learn that the woman is Connie and she is married to Kit. When Kit is sleeping, she slips out of bed and goes to check a house which is on sale in Cambridge. She has been obsessed with this house for some reason for six months. As she takes a virtual tour of the house, she sees the image of a dead woman lying in a large pool of her own blood. Screaming, she goes to wake up Kit, and when he checks the computer, there is nothing.
Connie tells herself that she needs to talk to the police, and she knows Simon. Yet, Simon has married Charlie and is on his honeymoon. In the scenes with Charlie and Simon, things are not totally right. They have already slept together, but Charlie doesn’t feel free to initiate anything, and when they are in bed together, she feels as if he is not there with her at all. I feel sorry for Charlie, because despite her spunk and determination, she is quite weak as far as Simon is concerned. The now married couple are in Marbella, enjoying a wonderful villa. Their wedding was a discreet event with just Olivia and Gibbs as witnesses, and only Olivia knows where they are. Yet, Charlie is afraid that someone will interrupt their time together.
Since Simon is not available, Connie talks to Sam, who comes to see her. The woman tells her that she had Simon’s name through Alice, her homeopath, and Connie tells the story about the woman she saw on her computer, and Sam checks and there is nothing. Yet, he promises to look into the matter. After he goes, he calls Alice, the homeopath, and we discover that Alice is the woman in the first book whose baby she claimed had been changed for some other baby. Everybody knows that Simon was in love with her, and they saw each other for a while, but then they stopped seeing each other. When Sam and Alice meet, Sam realises that Alice wants to know about Simon, and she tries to give a letter to Simon, which Sam refuses to take.
Alice tells her that Connie has been her client for six months, and it seems that she treats her for emotional problems. Alice gave Connie Simon’s name and number because she claimed that he would take her claims seriously. Sam realises that before the other night Connie wanted the police for something, but Alice tells him that she can’t give him any details because of client’s confidentiality. It seems that Connie has discovered something about Kit, and that is connected to Cambridge and that house, outside which we know Connie has kept coming to stand for six months. And we know that Connie already contacted Charlie before the wedding.
I don’t like Alice reappearing. If Charlie’s confidence is shaky, I don’t want to think if Simon and Alice reconnect. I feel so sorry for Charlie. Does Simon love her? If so, why is he like that with her?
Apart from this, Gibbs and Olivia have had a one-night stand. Gibbs is sick and tired of the situation at home; Debbie is obsessed with getting pregnant, and he hates the pressure they are under because of her obsession. After the wedding, Olivia and he have drunk too much, and he makes a pass at her, and she welcomes it. Olivia feels torn because she wants to tell her sister, but she knows that calling her wouldn’t sit well with Simon and that would ruin Charlie’s honeymoon. Olivia is in a serious relationship with Dominic Lunds, and they are engaged to be married.
Interesting start. I am curious to know what this woman has been worried about for six months, and about the dead woman she saw on the computer.
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