THIS third book by former journalist Fiona Barton is a real page-turner because not only is it a riveting mystery but it also makes us wonder what it would be like to be in journalist Kate Waters’ shoes when the main suspect of the murder of two girls is her estranged son Jake.
Kate is a character that has been featured in Barton’s previous book The Widow and The Child.
When two parents reported to the police that their 18-year-old girls Alex and Rosie have gone missing while on a trip to Thailand, the media picks up the story and Kate uses her skills to get close to the families involved.
The girls’ bodies are then discovered in the aftermath of a hostel fire, and Kate travels with the distraught parents to Bangkok to try and get answers.
Instead, the journalist ends up getting a bigger shock when the main suspect is her son Jake, who has cut all ties with his parents after suddenly dropping out of college and announcing that he is going to save the turtles in Phuket, Thailand.
Kate had much earlier received a strange cryptic call from Jake who then quickly hung up.
Now she finds herself not only in the media spotlight but also trying to find out what really happened to the two girls and how her son is involved.
The story unfolds through the viewpoint of several characters in the book such as the detectives investigating the case, Kate herself, the dead girls’ parents and even Alex.
The book’s cover depicts a burnt notebook with the words: “What if it is someone you knew?”
This is essentially what Barton is inviting readers to imagine in The Suspect – what would it be like if the unthinkable happens close to home?
