Author Nicci French is actually a nom de plume for a husband and wife writing team that have written a number of wonderful mystery novels as well as a successful series, The Freida Klein series, of which I have read a few of. While the series is great, I really enjoy their standalone mystery novels the best.
With that in mind, when this book came up for review, my calendar was already full for reviews but I couldn’t resist featuring this one since the French writing duo have written some pretty solid and interesting books and quality mysteries are always on my radar any time of year. I am planning on reading this one a little later this year and but in the mean time I am bringing you all a little bit about this book today!
One thing that caught my eye about this one (besides the quality writing team) was the child angle. I have a small child (he is 5) and it’s always fascinating to me how he sees the world and how he justifies it in his mind. I loved that this novel uses that in the mystery to create a sense of an unreliable narrator and the child’s perception as the catalyst for a larger and darker story. I am eager to see how that plays out in this novel. So if you are looking for a well written and experienced author, the Nicci French team is great and if you love mysteries be sure to check this one out!
Summary
In this new heart-pounding standalone from the internationally bestselling author, a single mother suspects her young daughter has witnessed a horrible crime when she draws a disturbing picture–but the deadly path to unravel the truth could cost her everything.
Maybe Tess is overprotective, but passing her daughter off to her ex and his new young wife fills her with a sense of dread. It’s not that Jason is a bad father–it just hurts to see him enjoying married life with someone else. Still, she owes it to her daughter Poppy to make this arrangement work.
But Poppy returns from the weekend tired and withdrawn. And when she shows Tess a crayon drawing–an image so simple and violent that Tess can hardly make sense of it—-Poppy can only explain with the words, “He did kill her.”
Something is horribly wrong. Tess is certain Poppy saw something–or something happened to her–that she’s too young to understand. Jason insists the weekend went off without a hitch. Doctors advise that Poppy may be reacting to her parents’ separation. And as the days go on, even Poppy’s disturbing memory seems to fade. But a mother knows her daughter, and Tess is determined to discover the truth. Her search will set off an explosive tempest of dark secrets and buried crimes–and more than one life may be at stake. (summary from Goodreads)
The Lit Bitch 