Today’s book review is of Jane Corry’s new novel, I Died on a Tuesday. Read on to find out what I thought…
Title: I Died on a Tuesday
Author: Jane Corry
Publisher: Penguin
Synopsis:
THERE’S THE STORY EVERYONE BELIEVES . . .
The victim: Eighteen-year-old Janie leaving home for a new life.
The criminal: World-famous rock star, Robbie, who harbours a shocking secret.
The protector: Witness support officer, Vanessa, desperate to right the wrongs of her past.
They tried to bury that fateful day.
Now it’s back to haunt them.. . . AND THEN THERE’S THE TRUTH.
My review:
I Died on a Tuesday is told from the perspectives of various characters all linked in some way to the death of a young girl many years ago, covering different periods. We have the young girl Janie, pop star Robbie Manning, and a witness support officer Vanessa.
When Robbie is arrested for the hit and run of Janie many years later, the world is shocked. But he seems to be hiding something – did he really do it? Meanwhile, Vanessa gets a surprise visit from someone she didn’t know existed but is very close to her heart – but are they everything they seem?
I liked the element of mystery throughout the novel, as we slowly piece together what actually happened, jumping backwards and forwards in time. Some of the characters (and coincidences) were a bit unbelievable, and I did wonder at some of the characters’ naivety.
The characters were well developed and I wasn’t sure who I could trust. The mystery kept me intrigued despite the writing style, which is lots of short, dramatic sentences – I didn’t love the way it was written (I never noticed this as much in other books by this author) but this style, along with the short chapters, did make the book quick and easy to read.
There were a lot of twists and drama, and a fair number of characters to get used to, but the story was intriguing and I found it interesting reading about Vanessa’s role as a witness support officer – a role I had never really thought about before now!
Many thanks to the publisher, Penguin, for providing a copy of this book on which I chose to write an honest review.
I Died on a Tuesday is out in the UK on 20 June.