The Secretary by Renée Knight

The Secretary 
By Renée Knight
Published by Doubleday (February 2019)

Publisher's description

Look around you. Who holds the most power in the room? Is it the one who speaks loudest, who looks the part, who has the most money, who commands the most respect?

Or perhaps it’s someone like Christine Butcher: a meek, overlooked figure, who silently bears witness as information is shared and secrets are whispered. Someone who quietly, perhaps even unwittingly, gathers together knowledge of the people she’s there to serve – the ones who don’t notice her, the ones who consider themselves to be important.

There’s a fine line between loyalty and obsession. And when someone like Christine Butcher is pushed to her limit, she might just become the most dangerous person in the room...

My verdict
The Secretary is chilling and twisty. One of those psychological thrillers that really gets right under your skin.

This is a story of the revenge, power and betrayal - and that it's often the quiet ones you have to watch. Christine, a seemingly mild-mannered secretary, is the 'star of the show' - she knows everything there is to know about her employer, including secrets that have been brushed under the carpet, and would do anything to protect the family name.

The plot is realistic, in an everyday setting that mirrors current world affairs, with the destruction of essential documents in high-profile court cases. The drama escalates slowly, creeping up on the reader, and is clever, dark and compelling, with believable and often hateful characters.

I struggle with a lot of psychological thrillers at the moment, but The Secretary had me hooked all the way through.