Finn’s life seems pretty perfect.  He has money, a house in the country and a beautiful and caring fiancé.  Things probably couldn’t get much better, especially when you think that ten years previously he had been suspected of murdering his then-girlfriend, Layla, while they on vacation.

No body was found though and the evidence there was, was circumstantial.  Slowly, he rebuilt his life till he found himself where he was now – happy, or as happy as he thinks he can be, and waiting to get married.

Then he comes home to find his fiancé, Ellen, in a strange mood.  She’s found a small Russian doll on the wall outside their house.  A doll that looks remarkably like the one she always thought her sister, Layla, stole from her when they were children.  Yes, the same Layla that Finn was dating.  Do you get the feeling that things might be about to get complicated?

You wouldn’t be wrong.  What follows is a tale that twists, turns and doubles-back on itself until you aren’t sure where the truth lies.  It could have been terribly confusing but B. A. Paris does a brilliant job of keeping things tight, not letting the lies (and there are so many!) go too far or get too far away from the story itself.

It helped that I loved the characters, enjoying their quirks and even forgiving Finn his wealth (which is something that has started to drive me a bit potty in books – how many lying rich men are there out there?).  They were nice and complex and confusing.  

Mostly though, I loved the twist at the end, which I didn’t see coming.  This is the third book by B. A. Paris I have read, the third time she has managed to keep me completely engrossed in a story from the first page to the last, and the third time I’ve been surprised by the twist in the tale.  You really can’t ask for more than that in a book!  Highly recommended.

About the book…

A young British couple are driving through France on holiday when they stop for gas. He runs in to pay, she stays in the car. When he returns her car door has been left open, but she’s not inside. No one ever sees her again.

Ten years later he’s engaged to be married; he’s happy, and his past is only a tiny part his life now. Until he comes home from work and finds his new wife-to-be is sitting on their sofa. She’s turning something over in her fingers, holding it up to the light. Something that would have no worth to anyone else, something only he and she would know about because his wife is the sister of his missing first love.

As more and more questions are raised, their marriage becomes strained. Has his first love somehow come back to him after all this time? Or is the person who took her playing games with his mind?

Publisher: HQ
Publication date: 8th March, 2018
Number of pages: 344
Genre: Domestic thriller, psychological thriller
Rating: 5 out of 5

Note: I received this book in return for a fair and honest review.  All thoughts, feelings and opinions are my own.