Book Review 

Dead Rich by G.W. Shaw
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This thriller is a Tour de Force in my view. It is rare for me to be so hooked by a book that I genuinely cannot put it down. Many a night I read way past my 'bed-time' so keen to find out what happened next.

Set largely on a luxury boat, it's about a 'has-been' rockstar, who has spent most of his life winging it. The chance to spend a few days with his new lover at sea in supreme opulence is too good to refuse. It very quickly turns horribly wrong. Somewhat redolent of Harlan Coben in tone (who I love), I thoroughly enjoyed this roller-coaster ride. The narrative style is fast-paced and slick [not particularly gory or sweary], throwing the reader into unexpected scenes of jeopardy at every turn - at sea and back on dry land, when everything looks hunky-dory. It's immediately visual and I hope it might get optioned for the screen at some stage, as it would work very well (expensive to make, however 😘).

Shaw also writes as 'William Shaw' - which is how I first came across him. I'm making my way through his catalogue, as the crime/mystery novels under that name are full of atmosphere and so far have involved remote coastal and seascapes which I love. I highly recommend this author's body of work.

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Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Utterly superb. I saw the film decades ago - and thanks to my 'mid-life memory', I'd completely forgotten how it turned out. What a blessing! It's such a shocker - time after time as revelations about the never-seen Rebecca come to light.

So interesting too that the second Mrs de Winter is never given a first name - this simple device lends the entire book a sense of shadowy uncertainty.

Perhaps this is one of the earliest psychological thrillers (1938) - although that genre designation wasn't really in common use in bookshops and libraries at the time.

A must-read for any author who writes suspense about hidden motives and misguided assumptions. Let me re-phrase that - a must-read for any reader!

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