Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
By Gail Honeyman
Published by HarperCollins (25 January 2018)
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley

Publisher's description

Eleanor Oliphant has learned how to survive – but not how to live

Eleanor Oliphant leads a simple life. She wears the same clothes to work every day, eats the same meal deal for lunch every day and buys the same two bottles of vodka to drink every weekend.

Eleanor Oliphant is happy. Nothing is missing from her carefully timetabled life. Except, sometimes, everything.

One simple act of kindness is about to shatter the walls Eleanor has built around herself. Now she must learn how to navigate the world that everyone else seems to take for granted – while searching for the courage to face the dark corners she’s avoided all her life.

Change can be good. Change can be bad. But surely any change is better than… fine?

My verdict
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine took me on a emotional journey, through joy, hope, sadness and despair. The writing is gorgeous and highly readable, and the story is sensitive and compassionate. This is the type of book that I will read again, to savour the descriptions and the dialogue.

Eleanor is socially awkward and full of innocence with a simple, and very black-and-white, view of life, people and the world around her. It took me a little while to get inside her head, but then I couldn't let go. I fell in love with her character's quirky nature and sharp observations, and then with the book itself.

Though the book isn't a crime novel or a psychological thriller, there's still an element of mystery within its pages. Eleanor can't remember something about her past, having locked it away in a corner of her mind, somewhere safe where it can't hurt her. So underneath all that naivety, some dark shadowy secrets are desperate to come out, and over time Eleanor realises that maybe she's not completely fine after all.

This is a book about loneliness, love and laughter. About feeling different, overcoming obstacles and finding somewhere you belong. And about how simple acts of kindness can have a powerful impact on people's lives - those who perform them and those who receive them.

Highly recommended.

BEST OF CRIME with Kate Medina

Welcome to my latest BEST OF CRIME feature, looking at crime writers' top picks, from their favourite author and fictional detective to their best writing tip. 

Today I'm delighted to welcome 

KATE MEDINA

to share her BEST OF CRIME ... 

... AUTHORS

I grew up reading Agatha Christie as I’m sure did many other crime writers and I am still awed by her plotting skills, her ability to build suspense and her ingenuity.  I have rarely been able to guess the ending of an Agatha Christie novel.  Of the more recent crime novelists, my favourite has to be Jo Nesbo as his novels are such page-turners and, for me, a great crime novel is one that you just can’t put down.  His plots are fabulous, his characters fantastically well drawn and he has an enviable ability to generate fear.  I remember reading The Snowman, while alone in the house and literally being too frightened to move from the sofa until my husband got back from his night out at about 1 a.m.! 

... FILMS/MOVIES

The film that has disturbed my psyche for the longest has to be Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.  One night my sister, who was supposed to be babysitting me, put it on when her boyfriend came around and I watched it, terrified, from behind a sofa cushion.  I must have been about twelve and she was fifteen.  I wouldn’t shower with the curtain closed for literally twenty-years after seeing that film.  It is the ultimate psychological chiller.   

... TV DRAMAS

My favourite TV crime dramas of recent years have been the Scandi dramas, The Bridge and The Killing.  The plots are fabulous, but the thing that really hooked me with both series were the characters, which had incredible depth and were so well drawn.

I will happily while away a couple of hours watching Silent Witness as it always has good plots.  I also love stand alone psychological crime dramas such as the recent, The Replacement, which was gripping, except for the ending which was bizarre and rather unsatisfying.  A good crime novel or series must have a good ending, otherwise it feels like an anti-climax. 

... FICTIONAL KILLERS

My top fictional killer has four legs.  I used to read a lot of Arthur Conan Doyle’s, Sherlock Holmes when I was growing up and The Hound of the Baskervilles was the killer I found by far the most frightening and memorable.   

... FICTIONAL DETECTIVES

Women are often portrayed as victims in crime literature and so I love Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander, because she is such a kick-arse woman.  When I came to create my series character, Jessie Flynn, I also wanted to create a character who celebrates the huge number of strong, funny, clever, independent women that I know. 

... MURDER WEAPONS

I have always been fascinated by the ‘whys’ of human behaviour – what motivates people to behave as they do – and the psychological motivations for murder interest me far more than the mechanics of the actual murder.  Having said that, I think that being buried alive must be a truly horrid way to die.  Offhand, I can’t think of a novelist who has used this method, but I’m sure that a few have. 

    

... DEATH SCENES

Being a psychologist, my preferred death scene would be for someone to be so tormented that they commit suicide.  

  

... BLOGS/WEBSITES

I try to avoid the Internet as much as possible when I’m writing as surfing seems to Hoover up time like no other activity!  I have three young children, so I tend to use every spare minute that they’re at school to write.  When I have time off, I like to spend it outside, walking the dogs, gardening, cycling or just enjoying nature.   

... WRITING TIPS

Time spent plotting is never wasted.  I am an avid plotter and will spend a good two or three months plotting my novels and fleshing out the characters in great detail before I write a word, and so my top tip for anyone who is interested in writing a crime novel is to spend quality time plotting.  An intricately carved, twisty-turny story that keeps me guessing until the end is, for me, a critical feature of a great crime novel. 

... WRITING SNACKS
I have writing drinks rather than writing snacks: full-fat milk lattes in the morning and Sauvignon Blanc in the evening, neither of which do positive things for my waist line.

About KATE MEDINA

Kate Medina has always been fascinated by the ‘whys’ of human behaviour, an interest that drove her to study Psychology at university and later to start a crime series featuring clinical psychologist, Dr Jessie Flynn. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University and her debut novel White Crocodile received widespread critical acclaim, as did Fire Damage, the first book in the Jessie Flynn series.

Before turning to writing full time, Kate spent five years in the Territorial Army and has lectured at the London Business School and the London School of Economics. She lives in London with her husband and three children. 

Find Kate Medina on her website, FB page and on Twitter - @KateTMedina

About SCARED TO DEATH

Publisher's description

A baby is abandoned in the middle of the night at Royal Surrey County Hospital. DI Bobby ‘Marilyn’ Simmons suspects the father is planning to take his own life following the violent suicide of his eldest son Danny a year earlier. The race is on to find him.

Captain Ben Callan is investigating a suspicious death. Just sixteen years old, Stephen Foster has been stabbed in the neck with a screwdriver. Someone tried to save his life – but who? And why haven’t they come forward?

When psychologist Dr Jessie Flynn is called in to consult on both cases, she sees connections between the deaths of Danny and Stephen. And when she starts counselling a third traumatized young man, Jessie fears he faces the same fate...

Scared to Death is being published by HarperCollins on 4 May 2017.

Look out for more BEST OF CRIME features coming soon.

Click here to read more BEST OF CRIME features.

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Let the Dead Speak by Jane Casey

Let the Dead Speak
By Jane Casey
Published by Harper Collins (9 March 2017)
ISBN: 978-0008148980

Publisher's description

A murder without a body

Eighteen-year-old Chloe Emery returns to her West London home one day to find the house covered in blood and Kate, her mother, gone. There may not be a body, but everything else points to murder.

A girl too scared to talk

Maeve Kerrigan is young, ambitious and determined to prove she’s up to her new role as detective sergeant. She suspects Chloe is holding something back, but best friend Bethany Norris won’t let Maeve get close. What exactly is Bethany protecting Chloe from?

A detective with everything to prove

As the team dig deeper into the residents of Valerian Road, no one is above suspicion. All Maeve needs is one person to talk, but that’s not going to happen. Because even in a case of murder, some secrets are too terrible to share…

My verdict
Let the Dead Speak is a police procedural but, since it's narrated in first person, I found that it also reads as a psychological thriller - a perfect combination.

This is the seventh book in the Maeve Kerrigan series. I've read the first two books and the sixth, but not yet the ones in the middle. In fact, I read the sixth book as a standalone last year, and then started to catch up with the rest of the series. I just couldn't want any longer to read Let the Dead Speak, which is why I jumped ahead again. I do believe this book would work well as a standalone though.

In Let the Dead Speak, a woman has disappeared from her home, leaving just a trail of blood - a lot of blood. Maeve Kerrigan has now been promoted to Detective Sergeant, and feels she has to prove her worth in her new role. As she investigates a murder without a body, she discovers a lot of suspects among the woman's neighbours. Her search for the truth reveals dark secrets and a whole host of lies.

Jane Casey has a brilliant way of writing books that flow seamlessly. She maintains a fast pace with a good mix of tension, action and intrigue. This is a really easy read. I don't mean the plot is a simple one - it's complex and multilayered, with subtle, and not so subtle, twists, turn, surprises and red herrings. But the writing, as always, is excellent and a pleasure to read, with plenty of humour to lighten up the dark plot. The characters are varied and believable, and this great characterisation drives the story forward. I particularly love Maeve's relationship with Derwent (in fact, I particularly love Derwent...).

Jane Casey's books get better and better! I can't praise this book highly enough. I loved it and didn't want it to end.

I received an Advance Reader Copy.

Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough

Behind Her Eyes
By Sarah Pinborough
Published by Harper Collins (26 January 2017)
ISBN: 978-0008131968

Publisher's description

David and Adele seem like the ideal pair. He's a successful psychiatrist, she is his picture-perfect wife who adores him. But why is he so controlling? And why is she keeping things hidden?

As Louise, David's new secretary, is drawn into their world, she uncovers more puzzling questions than answers. The only thing that is crystal clear is that something in this marriage is very, very wrong. But Louise can't guess how wrong – and how far someone might go to protect their marriage's secrets.

My verdict
Behind Her Eyes is SO hard to review as I don't want to give anything away. All I will say is that this is a very dark, disturbing and addictive read, with a hint of 'something very different'...

This psychological thriller feels a bit creepy from the start, focusing on a not-so-conventional marriage with secrets. Sarah Pinborough draws you in with a well-engineered plot, believable characters and lots of unease. And then, just as you think you have it worked out, she gets you with a killer ending - one that slams you into stunned silence followed by lots of swearing.

The hashtag for this book is #WTFthatending. I challenge anyone to guess the ending of this book! Certainly a book to remember.

I received an Advance Reader Copy.