Having had the pleasure to read C. Fitton’s first book, Her Dead Boyfriend, I was delighted to have received an advanced reader copy of her second book, The Body in the Reef from Kingsley Publishers.
Scott Wilson and his wife Rebecca are looking forward to a romantic outing on their newly restored boat, Seas the Day. Intending to spend the weekend on the water to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary, their plans change when their brother-in-law, Peter Harrison, invites himself and his wife, Emma, who is Rebecca’s sister, to join them.
Ever since Emma’s marriage to Peter, she’s been distant, and Rebecca hopes to rekindle the deep bond she once had with her younger sister. But Emma has a secret …
Fitton uses symbolism throughout her book, giving the reader a foreshadowing of the tragedy that will soon befall the two couples such as the cracked windshield on the way to the marina, and the renaming of the boat Scott inherited from his uncle from She Got the House to Seas the Day.
The story building is solid and the development of the personalities and their relationships with each other are complex and rich. The four main characters are flawed with pasts they would prefer to remain hidden – with some secrets more deadly than others. All carry a guilty conscience. None are innocent. And the thing they treasure most is what will be lost.
Fitton has an unmistakable style to her writing – nothing is as it seems and whenever you think you have a character figured out, another interesting layer peels away, revealing more nuances.
Like the first book, the story telling is intricate, culminating into an unexpected but fascinating finale.
I highly recommend this book for readers who enjoy nail-biting thrillers with plenty of twists and turns.