Twisty and fairly interesting but I enjoyed her Irish spy book more than this one ( )

The story begins with Claire, a medical doctor living in London. Claire isn’t her true name as it’s been changed for her protection. About 25 years ago her father Colin attempted to murder her mother Faye.

Twenty plus years ago upper crust English gentleman Colin meets working class woman Faye whilst on dates with other people. They leave the restaurant together and seem to hit it off. Faye finds Colin is just a regular fellow and has no idea of his wealth or upbringing.

One evening Colin takes Faye to a friend's house for a dinner party. This is the first time she meets James and Rose. From her description it’s like arriving on a masterpiece theater or national trust property. In spite of the fact his friends are from a different social and class level than she has ever been involved in, they seem to except her and she has a good time.

Eventually Colin grows tired of Faye and leaves their home and their two children. One night, allegedly, he returns to their home armed with a pipe and beats the nanny to death then tries to murder Faye. Colin flat out disappears afterwards. His car with blood covered searts is found abandoned near a cliff but no one can find him.

Afterwards Faye takes Claire and her infant son Robbie to Scotland to start a new life. There are hundreds of domestic violence cases and murders reported annually in the U.K. but as Colin was a Lord and policically connected, this particular murder and assault case stays in the news. People blog about the details and wonder where Faye and her children went. Did he do it or was it a burglar? Naturally the family needed to disappear and start over.

So that was the backstory woven in but the focus is on how Claire and her brother Robbie handle their lives with so much tragedy in their backgrounds. It seems to obsess Claire especially as she is contacted by police every few years with a "sighting of her father" and it dredges everything up again. The settings are London, Scotland and Coatia.

I loved Flynn Berry's novel Northern Spy so I thought I'd try another of her books. I liked it better but I am now going to read her first novel Under the Harrow next. ( )

A Double Life had a fast-paced and cleverly put together plot with a well-developed protagonist in Clare. I particularly liked the manner in which Clare's trauma from the crime committed while she was a youngster was presented. Not overdone, the effect of that crime on her life showed up in sometimes sublte ways; yet, as one could only imagine, repeatedly in her inner thoughts. Very realistic in my view was the way Clare went about solving that long-ago crime. The suspense builds to a unique and unpredictable conclusion, which seemed refreshing. ( )

I listened to this book while doing some major house cleaning and I don’t know if that affected feeling on the book, but I struggled to really get into the characters. It was a very good story, especially knowing it was based on a real case, but I did not feel like I really knew the characters. 3.5 ( )

Claire is obsessed with finding her father, a man accused by her mother of murder nearly 20 years ago. The story is told by Claire, who also reminisces about her parents and their relationship in the early years. Claire’s mother was not born to privilege, but her father was wealthy, educated at Eton, and had powerful friends. I wish there had been more in the story about their early life and the friendships so I could understand more about their relationship.
After the murder, Claire’s father disappears. Her family’s life is ruined, they must take on new identities to escape the gossip and fallout from the crime. But, Claire needs answers, and she will stop at nothing to determine if her father, aided by his wealthy friends, committed murder and covered it up, allowing him to escape and live life elsewhere as a free man. Along the way, she finds secrets about her father and his wealthy friends, and discovers what she will do to uncover the truth.
This is a very quick read, and I liked it OK.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. ( )