Oh how I wish I could slap an extra star on the end of this, but while I LOVED the plot, the twists (as didn't-see-that-coming as everyone says), the themes and the suspense Mackintosh maintains throughout, I didn't find it an easy read. In fact, I nearly didn't read it at all as twice I picked it up but abandanoned it before the third chapter because I found it a little uninteresting, procedural and well, cliche. I suspect my distaste for things feeling a little over-explained and over-described on occasion is because these kind of crime/thriller novels are not my usual cup of tea, and I should probably not expect prose that makes my insides light up, or original dialogue or characterisations.

All this said, I cannot express how hooked I was on the story from about halfway in (you'll know why when you get there) and how I wasn't disappointed by the ending either. Since reading the book I also learned that the author drew on personal loss to also tackle some of the themes in the book and have a lot of respect and admiration for her doing so. I look forward to reading the author's next book very much.