G. J. Minett

Talk about nice guy getting into a situation way out of his depth and control all in the name of love!

Meet Billy Orr, as a teenager the love of his life was a girl called Aimi, whom he dating for a while when they were teenagers but their relationship came to an abrupt end when Aimi’s parents divorced and she was forced to move away from the area to live with her father leaving him heartbroken.

Now 11 years on he is a successful London website developer running a business with friends and show more Aimi, having moved back to the town they grew up in is now married to the son of an influential businessman, the kind of man you wouldn’t want to cross or as an enemy!

Billy returns to his home town to take care of his sister who sadly is terminally ill, inevitably he soon bumps into Aimi and even though he hasn’t seen her in years he’s never been able to forget her or how he felt about her.

Sounds like a fairly normal average story so far right?

Don’t let that fool you, soon events take you into a rather unusual direction!

Aimi seeks Billy out and opens up to him about her marital problems, her abusive husband, her desperation to escape from him and that she feels her only way out is to fake her own death.

Manipulating Billy’s feelings toward her, his natural good nature and his desire to help her he soon finds himself part and centre of her plan to fake her own death.

Although Billy agrees to help her execute her plan he soon realises that, despite the careful planning, her husband and his family are suspicious and are not the kind of family that will let this go.

After Aimi’s disappearance Billy soon starts to question if she had other reasons for wanting to fake her own death and disappear, and that their actions might be far more dangerous than he first thought and led him to believe. He soon realises that her disappearance involves more people than he was made aware of and more to her story than he knew throwing his own life into turmoil.

The entire book is full of twists and turns, subplots and is a story full of deceit with a very unexpected outcome. The ending certainly caught me by surprise which these days with the market flooded with this genre of novels is a credit to the author!

This is definitely on my highly recommended read’s list! show less

‘Lie in Wait’ is very different from Minett’s first novel – there’s an ongoing police investigation as the central murder here is contemporary rather than historical – but his writing still focuses first and foremost on characterisation.

-- What’s it about? --

Owen Hall is a vulnerable adult. Deprived of oxygen as a baby, bullied as a child and noticeable for his odd preoccupations as an adult, it’s not surprising that Owen has experienced some difficulties in his personal show more relationships. Being suspected of murder is a new insult, and he’s determined not to allow suspicion to elevate to accusation.

When a generally unlikeable man is murdered, it seems that a very clever murderer might just get away with it – as long as they can provide a likely suspect…

-- What’s it like? --

Complicated. Devious. Conversational.

Owen is an intriguing central character. His frequent misreading of situations and people leads to consequences that would naturally provoke readers’ sympathies – except that he gets it so wrong that he’s often intensely frustrating! (‘You can’t ask someone else to come and sit next to you at your husband’s funeral, can you? Even if it is what you want more than anything else.’)

Abi is another fascinating character. Whereas her husband is merely a charming, soulless bully, Abi is a mystery. What does she see in Callum? What exactly is her relationship with her male ‘friend’ at work? Is she using Owen? The joy of the plot development is that, up til the final quarter of the book, the possibilities remain open regarding who, exactly, is manipulating who.

In the meantime, there’s a lot of conversation, between Abi and Owen, Owen and the police, the police and a security guard, and…oh everyone! This is a world in which character is key and conversations are not just about revealing plot twists, but about speculation and learning how other people think.

-- What’s to like? --

I love Minett’s writing style. Owen’s chapters are dominated by punchy sentence fragments, emphasising his disconnection with the world and the people around him. Local gangster Ezra Cunningham is urbane, polite and vicious in his dialogue. Abi’s chapters are more reflective, emphasising her deep awareness of the perceptions she’s creating in the world. (‘[Her friend] broke off, apparently lost for words which, for a novelist, seemed anomalous enough to pass for a compliment.’)

When he does apply descriptive touches, they are often delightful: ‘she skipped breakfast and made do with a coffee so strong the spoon baulked at entering.’ and ‘Normally they all dreaded it when she was in charge because she had such a way of adding to the stress of the day, you could almost comb it out of your hair by the time you got home.’ There are so many more quotes I’d love to share, but I’m conscious that I don’t want to give away too many of the book’s treasures!

Speaking of treasures, the opening chapter – just like ‘The Hidden Legacy’ – is superb. Gripping, baffling, a little chilling. Who is Julie? What happened to her? Who is Willie? And what on earth could be in those photographs? All will be revealed, but it’s a truly perplexing puzzle at the outset and I defy any reader not to read a large chunk of the story in their first sitting!

-- Final thoughts --

My personal circumstances made reading about Owen’s experiences a little challenging. As elder sibling to two vulnerable adults, my heckles rose when Owen was manipulated by other characters and I found it impossible to leave behind my instinctive anger at his treatment. I think this severely affected my own response to the story and I was initially convinced that I didn’t like it. After a period of reflection, I’m struck by how cleverly Minett weaves the disparate threads of his plot together, and I think I would enjoy this a lot more on a second reading – provided I can leave protective big sister behind!

Initially I felt a little overwhelmed by the quick introduction of a number of characters, but the novel soon settles down, focusing primarily on a handful of key voices. Towards the end I was surprised by the shift in focus. I don’t want to spoil the plot so I can’t say anymore, but the direction change is perfectly in keeping with everything that went before and with the feel of the novel as a whole. After all, this is a novel that’s fundamentally about people and manipulation, not solving the crime.

Intriguing characters, a clever plot and another gripping opening. I shall look forward to book three! show less

Secrets. All families have them.

If you could choose, would you want to know your family secrets? Or would you rather seal any hints in a box you never open? This is Ellen's dilemma.

-- What's it about? --

Mother of two, recently divorced Ellen Sutherland is stunned when she's left a valuable Cotswold cottage in a will. Who was Eudora Nash? Why would someone Ellen has never heard of choose to leave her anything, let alone her home? Ellen's family background has always contained some blanks, show more things her mother refused to discuss; now her mother is living in a nursing home and suffering from dementia, and Ellen has a chance to find out the secrets that have been hidden from her all her life. But does she really want to know? After all, once you know something, you can't unknow it.

But Ellen isn't our only protagonist. In 1966 John Michael Adams walked into a school playground and set fire to two teenage girls. One died. The media decided he was evil personified and hounded him relentlessly (think of the treatment meted out to Thompson and Venables). One journalist in particular thinks he can play God, but there are consequences he didn't anticipate when he tried to open old wounds years after the event.

-- What's it like? --

Quietly engrossing. There's a dramatic opening chapter, in which we witness John Michael Adams' shocking act, without being privvy to his motivation. The closing moments of this chapter are stunning - it's not surprising to learn that it won a competition - and this act hangs over the entire book in much the same way it hangs over the lives of the characters involved: ever present and in constant danger of stifling all hope of better things.

Minett writes in some detail about moments that don't necessarily contribute to the plot and, while I quite liked these little domestic flourishes, I can think of some readers who would lose patience. If that's you, you might not like the gently evolving denouement either. I did, and felt the whole book was a snuggle-up-with-a-cup-of-tea-and-some-biscuits-and-a-blanket type affair.

From chapter two onwards we primarily follow Ellen's perspective, which, given her steady and thoughtful character, creates quite a sedate pace for a book billed as a domestic thriller. Don't mistake me; this is subtly, quietly gripping, and I read the whole book in a matter of days, often staying up far too late to read 'just one more chapter', it just doesn't 'fit' in my mind with other so-called domestic thrillers (I'm thinking primarily of 'Gone Girl' and 'Before I go to Sleep'). This is possibly because the danger Ellen courts is external - essentially, it's the attention of the media and narrow-minded neighbours - and internal - her own peace of mind, sense of self and ordered existence - rather than 'domestic' (after all, she's already ditched the useless hubby, and he's more likely to forget to water her plants than set her up for murder). Furthermore, rather than the huge sudden shock twists you might find in that genre, almost everything here is well signposted or very guessable and so you discover the connections slightly ahead of Ellen, allowing you to focus on her response rather than your own.

-- What's to like? --

I really enjoyed following events from Ellen's perspective. She's a clever, in control woman who sees through tricksters and manipulates them just enough to gain the information she needs. Her relationships with her children, best friend and co-workers are all convincingly realised and developed with what I thought was just the right amount of detail.

The central concepts are fascinating: would you want to know all your family's secrets? How do you respond to a man who murdered a child when he was a child himself? In the latter case, Minett gradually feeds the reader information that encourages us to recognise the pressures acting on JMA as a young teenager, but there's no way to escape that initial, terrible act. How, then, do you ever move forwards?

I cannot emphasise how much I appreciated the fact that there's no romantic angle here. Instead of attempting to shoehorn a fledgling romance into what is primarily a journey of self-discovery, Minett is content to show us Ellen interacting with her children, her ex-husband (and no, she isn't still pining over him) and her best friend. I love that this is a portrayal of a genuinely independent modern woman and wish there were more authors willing to resist the lure of bunging a bonus romance into any book featuring a single woman.

-- Final thoughts --

This is a great story of a personal journey featuring an intelligent, capable and likeable protagonist. There's drama that keeps you gripped but it's never over-the-top or ridiculous, the story centres on intriguing and difficult questions without generalising or sermonising, and the ending leaves plenty to think about. Don't be swayed by the domestic thriller label into expecting a heroine who'll suddenly start breaking into houses or risk being murdered by her nearest and dearest; do read it if you like the idea of secrets gradually revealed (the comparison to Lianne Moriarty is apt) and lives irrevocably changed; it's beautifully handled and enjoyable to read.

Thanks to the publishers for providing me with a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. show less

This is the first book by G.J. Minett that I have read and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it - I'll certainly be looking out for more from this author. It's a very strong thriller that feels like a game of chess with all the pieces on the board, just waiting for someone to make the first move. At times I didn't know what the devil was going on and why this or that person was in the story but it all comes together in a magnificent a-ha moment at the end.

Owen Hall hasn't had a great show more life; he doesn't really know how to relate to people. He suffered a terrible event as a youngster and you wonder how much this affected his ability to deal with people. At school he was bullied by Callum Green and only Abi ever showed him any kind of friendship. Now Abi is married to Callum and Owen crosses paths with them once again.

The story starts with Owen stopping at a petrol station so his female passenger can go to the loo. When she doesn't come back, Owen can't understand what has happened and the petrol station attendant calls the police. Now that the police have Owen in their sights they realise that he fits the bill perfectly as a suspect in a recent murder.

In a game of cat and mouse, all of the traps are set to catch the murderer and it's an absolutely brilliant game that is played in Lie In Wait. I was so sure that I knew what had happened but I had completely walked past all of the clues, such is the clever style of G.J. Minett's writing. Looking back now, I should have been asking questions, but my attention was always drawn on to something else. Well played, sir!

I loved the unravelling and gradual reveal of Owen's history and perhaps only now, a few days after I have read it, do I realise how very good Lie in Wait actually is.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion. show less