THE VANISHING ACT by Sarah Ward

 4* Not what it seems, with good dovetailing of past and present to create a good, slightly uneasy, creepy mystery.


As an introduction to this author, this was a decent choice. Admittedly I was in a bit of a book drought and went by the blurb, not expecting anything too deep or taxing, but got a good tale that had intrigue and mystery, with events and characters from the past and present coming together seamlessly.

Characters, unfortunately, didn't make a huge impact on me - I think the mention of the DI's son's illness, coupled with his stroppy, selfish attitude distracted me, and made me wonder why he was in the tale (there's a good insertion, as I later found), and made me view her as a detached, not-really-present mother.

Not having read the previous books, I wasn't sure why she was living in a rundown caravan and without a proper job. I'm not sure that i saw her as entirely believable. But, the tale itself, with the creepy house with history and hiding places, faux paranormal events, the creepy woods, the character who I wasn't quite sure had 'the sight' or not, and people who weren't quite as upstanding as they seemed to be, made for an interesting and 'I didn't see that coming' tale. I'd read more of the series, despite not having read the previous tales, and I hope that the DI and her son improve their relationship because of how she came through for him here (because of his stupidity getting him into a mess).

ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Canelo for my reading pleasure. 

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