Nuala Ellwood

Day of the Accident by Nuala Ellwood is a 2018 Penguin publication.

When Maggie awakes from a coma, she is told she was in an accident, that her beloved daughter Elspeth did not survive, and her husband, Sean, is MIA. To come to terms with all that has happened, Maggie feels it is imperative to find Sean because she simply can't shake the feeling that her daughter is not dead…

This is a very dark, brooding novel, thick with unease and grief. Maggie’s memory gaps, the hint of a terrible thing in her past that might have come back to haunt her, and the probability that someone is at the very least messing with her mind, keeps one glued to the pages. It’s a twisty story, with a couple of big shocks there towards the end. The story is just a bit too melancholy for my taste, but it does leave you with a hint of hope for the future in the end.

Overall, Ellwood is an author I hope to read more often. I like her style and she sure know how to weave a riveting and mesmerizing tale of suspense.… (more)

This book has 384 pages. The fact that I sped through it in less than half a day should let you know it is a totally involving thriller, with a family dysfunctional enough to put the fear of god into even a dedicated Coronation St watcher. Add a strong female journalist, suffering from PTSD after covering news in Aleppo and the story gets good confusing and I couldn’t put it down until the last mystery was solved. An excellent excellent read, if slightly over the top in places- but a good ride all along. Highly recommended!… (more)

I've loved all of Nuala Ellwood's previous books and The Perfect Life is no exception. It's incredibly fast-paced and I raced through it.

This is the story of Vanessa, a woman with a great job and a nice life. She meets Connor and he just seems to make her life even better, perhaps even complete. There's a lot of back story to Vanessa though, a traumatic childhood which has affected her throughout her life and she's used to pretending, losing herself in a dream world. When she sees a property on an app that she likes the look of she decides to go and see it but makes up a different persona for herself. This eventually leads to a dead man in one of the houses she goes to see. Did she kill him?

It's actually quite a complex story when I think about it, one that is very twisty and just when I thought I knew where it was going the author took me in a completely different and unexpected direction which was a real surprise to me. This is such a cleverly plotted read and I thought the author did a brilliant job at keeping up the suspense. I found it really hard to put down. It's easy to read yet has some strong themes of childhood loss, grief, gaslighting and murder.

The Perfect Life is a book with two timelines, very close together yet everything has changed between them. I loved going back and forth between the two as the story unfolded before my eyes. A thrilling and chilling psychological thriller - I loved it!… (more)

I found this book a bit difficult to get into, normally I'm hooked within a few pages or a chapter but I was almost half way through the book before I felt the need to keep reading it. It turned out to be a good book with a twist I didn't see coming! I ended up enjoying the book and thought it ended well and it does transport you through the lives. I wasn't too keen on the going backwards and forwards between then and now in the character's life but it did need to happen and is probably what made the book what it was. Not one of my favourite books but it was a good read.… (more)