Digital Reads Reviews

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The book started off exciting, a woman was murdered, and the picture of a psychologist Dr. Pippa Durrant was placed on the body. That led to the start of the investigation by DS Joe Swain. The dead woman was Leanne, a million pounds lottery winner, and her family especially daughter Donna was absolutely shattered.

Pippa was suspected by the cops in the beginning, and with her photo being released to the press, she started losing her clients. She had to get into the investigation to clear her name, as along with being a forensic psychologist, she had training in reading micro-expression and graphology, so she was kind of a human lie detector. So that aspect was quite thrilling.

My first book by Miranda Rijks was suspenseful to begin with. I was intrigued by the killer who had so much anger as shown by the mutilated bodies. Pippa was said to be extremely intelligent, and I liked most parts of her characterization.

However, throughout the story, my niggles kept haunting me. There was something off about the reactions of both Donna and Pippa. Donna hated her mom as she refused to share the lottery money. But the way she was shown heartbroken left me scratching my head. She kept crying for her mother. Where did the love come from suddenly?

Pippa being suspected by the cops felt odd. They had no proof except the photograph on the corpse. Yet she became their prime suspect. Huh? What was that about? Also, most of her reactions didn’t match the actions. The spark of attraction between Pippa and Joe was great initially, but it became a bit weird. Joe laughed when she said her house was broken into and her dog taken. Even Joe’s investigation felt so unprofessional.

There was no logic in the reactions of all the characters in the book, but the basic whodunit was great. Wanting to know who the murderer was made me turn the pages till the end.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and publisher Inkubator Books, and this is my journey into its pages, straight from the heart!!

All my reviews can be found here

Is someone trying to frame psychologist Pippa Durrant for the brutal murder of a woman she’s never even met?

It certainly seems that way when Pippa’s photo is found on the body of murdered lottery winner, Leanne Smith.

Pippa soon finds herself a suspect at the centre of a huge media storm. But she has an invaluable skill set – she is a human polygraph, expertly trained to spot lies and deceit. Skills she will need to help her to solve the mystery of who killed Leanne before it destroys her career – and her life.

But every cloud has a silver lining and this one arrives in the shape of DS Joe Swain. Initially suspicious of Pippa, he comes to trust her and to value her lie detection skills. Soon it’s clear there’s a definite spark between them….

Then, when another body turns up, Pippa realises her reputation isn’t the only thing in danger. Can she identify the killer before she becomes the next victim?

Publication Date: 5th May 2019

Publisher: Inkubator Books

23 Responses

  1. training in reading micro-expression and graphology, so she was kind of a human lie detector…. this part is most interesting. Hmm… that would be a handy skill to have!

  2. Interesting thoughts, Shalini. I’ve seen this book on a few different lists and I’m undecided as to whether to read it or not. It’s not the book that is putting me off. It’s just that I have so many others to read! 💜📚

  3. I hate when the reaction is a contradiction to the normal emotional response of the person. Definitely unreliable narrators? Still, as always, a great review getting right to the heart of it!

  4. I enjoyed her previous title though it had a few issues that didn’t seem realistic. This one has an interesting premise and I am already curious about the photograph on the body. It sucks that some of the actions/events didn’t make much sense though.

    1. I am hoping to read the other book and compare it with this one. I just found reactions weird, slight editing would have helped, methinks

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