The Suspect

Fiona Barton’s debut novel, The Widow, was an instant bestseller and its successor The Child was the must-read 2018 pick of the Richard and Judy book club. Now comes her third novel, The Suspect, which is surely heading in the same direction.

It’s the third case for Kate Waters, journalist – the author’s own former career – and DI Bob Sparkes is also once again on the case. But this is a case with a difference. This time Kate has a personal interest in it as well as professional.

She and her husband Steve have not heard from their son Jake for seven months. A former student, he has headed out to Thailand. And then comes the call. But it’s a few words only and then he cuts the line off.

When two British girls who have travelled to Thailand are reported by their families as missing, Sparkes is given the job and Kate Waters hears about the story. Alex O’Connor and Rosie Shaw have set off on what should have been an exciting adventure, but after landing in Bangkok their plans go immediately wrong when they can’t find their booked hotel. Instead they book into the depressing dosshouse Mama’s Paradise Bar and Guesthouse. And then their troubles start. They are not close friends and have different aims for this trip, Alex to explore the wonders of Thailand and Rosie to have a good time in the bars of Bangkok. A recipe for disaster...and disaster happens.

I enjoyed this thriller very much. Its structure involves the girls’ own story through Alex’s viewpoint emerging side-by-side with the agonies of the two families involved, the police hunt and Kate’s own desperate search both for the truth, and for her son Jake. The result brings the reader closer to all parties, especially the victims themselves.

Well written and fast-paced, this is a thriller not to miss.