The Little Friend

     The Little Friend by Donna Tartt

The prologue was a door opening, beckoning me into this fascinating story and within a few pages I was captivated. 

For me, The Little Friend has a dreamlike quality. The story progressed, in at times a slow dragging pace and at others raced so swiftly I could barely catch my breath.

Nine year old Robin Cleves is murdered, and with this tragedy our story begins. His sisters Allison and Harriet are but four years old and a baby at the time and they have no memory of that day. But for the adults things are very different and life becomes a before and after. 

This is not a whodunnit, Robins death is at the core of everything but this is Harriet's story. Harriet's feelings, emotions, troubles and thoughts. Harriet's misunderstandings, rebellions and adventures. Harriet's determination and courage. This is the story of how miscommunication, exaggeration and neglect, can bring about devastating consequences. 

Robin's death and the mystery surrounding it is tangible throughout, the consequences reaching far into the future, from Charlotte's breakdown to Harriet's emotional distance to her family and her need for knowledge, fact and the truth. 

The characters are rich in detail, personality and nature. From Grandma Edie and the aunts with their small town lives, to the Radcliffe's and their inevitable cycle of self destruction. 

Walking through the Cleve household I could feel the dust on my feet, the unbearable heat suffocating me, the piled up newspapers and clutter forcing me to try and remain calm as claustrophobia closed in on me. 

I loved every page of this book and would recommend it to anyone who loves a story with depth and detail, with sadness and despair, with heart and adventure, with soul. 



The Little Friend by Donna Tartt 
Published in 2002 by Bloomsbury publishing. 
isbn 9780747573647
I was given a copy of this book as a gift.

The Mermaids Singing

   The Mermaids Singing by Val McDermid

Dr Tony Hill is a clinical psychologist, a profiler and with a serial  killer at large he is called in by the police who are desperate to apprehend this violent offender. 

This book will shock you, it will have you looking over your shoulder and double checking you've locked your doors at night! 

Dr Hill is a damaged man, fallible, but focused, determined, and a genius. As the story twists and turns, as the violence escalates and the fear felt by the community and the police becomes palpable my faith in Tony and detective inspector Carol Jordan grew. 

Told from the point of view of the different characters, you see humanity at it's worse but also at it's very best. The torture scenes are graphic, brutal, and incredibly unsettling but necessary to portray the depth of evil displayed by this killer. 

There were times that I HAD to put the book down and step away, as I could feel the evil seeping through the pages ( well, it felt like it, I had shivers running down my spine ). Brilliantly written, I am excited to read the rest of the books in this incredible series. 

I give The Mermaid Singing five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 
(the fact that it disturbed me on such a deep level was proof of the incredible gift the author has in telling a story ) 
isbn 978-0-00-813476-1
This edition was published in 2015 by Harper Collins
Originally published by Harper Collins in 1995
I won a copy of this book in a goodreads giveway .