ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – Betray Her by Caroline England
It’s my stop on the blog tour for Betray Her by Caroline England and I’m sharing my review with you today. My thanks to Beth Wright of Piatkus for sending me a copy of the book for review purposes.
Best friends forever.
That’s the pact you made.
You’d do anything for her.
And you have.
She’s always had it all.
If you could take it for yourself . . . would you?
Betray Her is a twisty story of a friendship between two women which had me gripped as I read it.
The two women are Jo and Kate. They met at boarding school at the tender age of 8. Unlike the pleasant japes of children’s stories, school life for these girls was not easy to deal with. I was horrified by some of what went on (I’m guessing there’s a lot of truth in the writing though) and am extremely glad I never went to boarding school!
The repercussions of this early friendship are felt down the years. The two women stay best friends for the next 30 years and yet……I kept wondering to myself whether all was as it should be or was this really a toxic friendship?
Betray Her is not a fast paced thriller. It’s a domestic noir with a gradual build up of tension and a realisation that there is much bubbling away under the surface. There are several strands to be pulled together including dealing with grief, childlessness, alcohol problems, sexual misdemeanours and more.
I couldn’t say I took to either of the women. I found Jo quite selfish and Kate manipulative. I liked how the author made them polar opposites in terms of background and I particularly enjoyed the fact that Jo was from Barnsley, and my home city of Sheffield made a couple of appearances, along with the beautiful Peak District.
I found this book to be a well plotted story of jealousy, rivalry, desire and secrets. Whilst I sometimes found myself losing the thread of the story a bit, I was soon back on track and racing towards what turned out to be an explosive and exciting ending. I enjoyed it a lot.
Born in Sheffield, Caroline studied Law at the University of Manchester and stayed over the border. Caroline was a divorce and professional indemnity lawyer. She turned to writing when she deserted the law to bring up her three lovely daughters. Caroline has had short stories and poems published in a variety of literary publications and anthologies.
Caroline writes domestic psychological thrillers. Her debut novel, BENEATH THE SKIN, known also as THE WIFE’S SECRET in eBook, was published by Avon HarperCollins in October 2017. Her second novel, MY HUSBAND’S LIES, followed in May 2018 and became a Kindle top ten bestseller. Her latest novel, BETRAY HER, published by Piatkus of Little, Brown Book Group, is now available as an eBook, audiobook and the UK paperback will be published in July 2020.
Caroline has two dark, twisty short story collections available on Amazon, both in eBook and paperback, WATCHING HORSEPATS FEED THE ROSES and HANGED BY THE NECK.
Caroline also writes under the pen name Caro Land. Her first Natalie Bach legal suspense, CONVICTIONS, was published by Bloodhound Books in January 2020. The follow up, CONFESSIONS, will publish in June 2020.
