Hilly Barmby
Publication Date: 26/3/24
Publisher: Hobeck Books
SYNOPSIS
A glamorous French wedding
Arriving at the station with her boyfriend Davey MacGregor and his twin sisters, Ailsa and Juliette, Hetty, a thriller book addict, picks up on family tension. But that’s natural before a big wedding, isn’t it? Hetty feels out of her depth. The family are wealthy and well-educated, whereas she is a council house girl. Davey’s cousin Isabelle is to marry Jean-Jacques, a French right-wing politician, in the family chateau.
A fairy-tale event
Ailsa is hesitant about coming back to France. Eight years ago, something happened that nearly destroyed the family. But that was dealt with, wasn’t it? Hetty has secrets of her own that she doesn’t want known. Ailsa is drawn back into the past. What, exactly, did happen? The expensive wedding is everything it should be, except when the groom is taken ill. The revellers carry on, but something is seriously wrong.
Then things start to unravel
The relationships between the family members fracture and secrets from the past start coming to the surface, with murderous results… Who is telling the truth? Who is out for revenge?
MY REVIEW
This is the second of Hilly’s books I have read so I knew I was in for a gripping thriller.
The story revolves around a huge family secret.
We experience a French wedding with all of its traditions and we get to know two branches of a family.
We know something happened 8 years ago to tear the family apart but no-one will talk about it much to the despair of thriller reader Hetty. Hetty is the girlfriend of one of the family and has joined them for the wedding. She feels like she does not fit in to this rich family because of her background. Hetty has her own sad story which is gradually revealed.
The story is told from both Hetty and Ailsa’s points of view so we see two different sides as events occur.
The story flashes back and forth from the present to 2016 and builds up to the reveal of this big secret which is truly devastating.
The pace of the story is spot on and kept me turning the pages, with the reveals coming at just the right time and you don’t have to wait until the last chapter!
A fabulous thriller and I look forward to Hilly’s next novel.
Thank you Rebecca at Hobeck books for having me along on the blog tour.
Two Heads Are Better Than One 