Book Review: The Suspect by Fiona Barton

Book: The Suspect

Author: Fiona Barton

Pages: 381

Read on: Kindle

Read in: 3 hours

Plot Summary: When two eighteen-year-old girls go missing on their gap year in Thailand, their families are thrust into the international spotlight: desperate, bereft and frantic with worry. 

Journalist Kate Waters always does everything she can to be first to the story, first with the exclusive, first to discover the truth – and this time is no exception. But she can’t help but think of her own son, who she hasn’t seen in two years, since he left home to go travelling. This time it’s personal.

And as the case of the missing girls unfolds, they will all find that even this far away, danger can lie closer to home than you might think. 

Things I Liked:

1. The premise of this book is very interesting and gut wrenching. As a parent, there is, possibly, nothing worse than your child going missing! So, imagine your young daughter going missing during her gap year in Thailand! Miles and miles away in every which way from your life in small-town England! So scary! 

2.  The story unfolds from three different perspectives- that of Kate Waters (the reporter), Lesley O'Connor (the mother) and Alex O'Connor (one of the girls who goes missing in Bangkok). Through each of these perspectives, we get to see a different side of the same situation- the reporter hustling, building a rapport with the victims' families to get her story, the parents- their anguish and agony and, finally, we see events unfolding in Thailand from the moment Alex and Rosie get there. 

3. The story is very fast-paced and the events unfold in rapid succession. There is never a dull moment in this book. There are new developments galore and the story of the missing girls shifts from being one thing to being another. 

4. If you've been following Barton's other books (The Widow and The Child), you will like getting to re-visit with some familiar characters such as DI Sparkes and even Kate Waters, our trusty investigative journalist, which is always a nice thing. 

5. The mystery behind the missing girls builds up nicely and is also resolved quite satisfactorily. 

6. I like that there was no time wasted in regards to the fate of the girls, we find out pretty soon what became of them and we don't spend a massive chunk of time wondering and worrying about them. I like books that don't prolong the agony. 

7. I also really enjoyed the setting of this book, Thailand- where most of the action takes place. I liked that we were taken to the seedier side of Bangkok. The grimy hotels, the dirt rooms and the people that inhabit this world, really added to the story. 

Things I Didn't Like: 

1. I know that there has to be a certain suspension of disbelief when it comes to fiction and psychological thrillers. But still...there were some things that happened in this book that were just too convenient for my liking. Some people and some connections were far too convenient to be believable! It sort of ruined the book for me! 

2. At the end of the book, Kate makes a certain decision about the actions of a certain character, which I am not too thrilled about. It went against what Kate has stood for the past two books. Don't want to discuss it here because it is a huge spoiler! But, if you read the book, you will know what I am talking about! 

Rating: 3.5/ 5