Gone for Good

Gone for Good – David Bell

(Penguin, £7.99)

A quarrel results in Elizabeth Hampton not speaking to her mother for weeks and events take a tragic turn when the police call to say she has been found dead. When she arrives at the scene, it transpires that she was murdered.

The rising energy of this superbly written murder mystery immediately picks up tempo. Elizabeth’s brother Ronnie is the prime suspect, but he has Down’s Syndrome, so she begins a relentless quest to dig further and prove his innocence. The story twists and turns and unfurls dark truths of her mother’s previous life before marrying her deceased father. Secrets that expose her mother’s hidden past leave Elizabeth feeling isolated by the knowledge that she never really knew her. As the plot thickens, revelations of her uncle’s past also deepen the suffering and throw Elizabeth into turmoil as she races to save her brother from prison.

This is a riveting read, with a very tight story that does not allow the reader to rest until the book is done – definitely not one to be missed.

Nikki Banks, EA, G4S