Her Secret Past by Kerry Watts
Jean Angus pours the last of the lukewarm tea into her chipped cup, shivering as she looks outside into the dark night. Her eyes are drawn to a slow movement not far from her cosy farmhouse. She’s not expecting visitors. And as the back door opens with a bang, she doesn’t even have time to shout for help.
On a dark winter night, the bodies of Malcolm and Jean Angus lie cold and still in a pool of blood in their kitchen. Detective Jessie Blake is called in to find out what happened to the reclusive pair.
Searching the couple’s property, Jessie learns about a vicious dispute with a nearby land owner, Rachel Ferguson, and when Jessie looks into Rachel further, she doesn’t expect what comes up. Rachel isn’t the person everyone thinks she is and a previous murder conviction just made her Jessie’s prime suspect.
The small Perthshire town begins to gossip about the double murder and Jessie’s own past comes back to haunt her, when her abusive ex-husband begins to interfere in her new life. As the town starts a witch hunt against Rachel, Jessie is under pressure to find out what really happened in the farmhouse that night. Because if it isn’t Rachel, then who is the murderer living among them, waiting to kill again?
If you like LJ Ross, Val McDermid and Helen H. Durrant, you’ll love this addictive new crime thriller from Kerry Watts. Her Secret Past will have you hooked from the start!
About the author
Kerry Watts was born and grew up in Perth where she still lives today. The daughter of a Rangers mad window cleaner and Daniel O'Donnell loving dinner lady. She began writing over twenty years ago after reading Isla Dewar's book Giving up on Ordinary and decided she wanted to do that. Becoming a best selling author is a dream come true.
Authors who inspire her are anyone capable of creating a character who lives inside her head long after she has closed the book. Her favourite fictional character's are Dexter Morgan, created by Jeff Lindsay as well as Hannibal Lechtercreated by Thomas Harris. She doesn't have a favourite genre as a reader. Kerry will read anything. Written by anyone. If the blurb has a good feel about it she's hooked.
When she's not writing she loves to spend time following her other passions - dogs, particularly rescue mutts and horse racing. The sight of a thoroughbred race horse at full stretch has been known to move her to tears, not just lump in the throat stuff but full on blubbing. And for that she is unashamed.
She also had a small role in a film called The Rocket Post but decided acting wasn't for her. She would rather create a character than play one. All of her books are brought to you through the super powers of Tetley tea.
Review
This is the third book in the Jessie Blake series, however, this the only one I have read. But you can definitely pick it up without having read the previous ones! I will be going back and reading the other two books in the series though as a thoroughly enjoyed this one! It sense of brooding malice and pace kept me racing through the pages until the end and I devoured it in a couple of sittings!
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I liked the characters of Jessie and Dylan as the police officers but it was Gordon and Alice/Rachel that I found intriguing. You could feel the chilling aspects of his personality coming through the pages - especially in the first scene with the sandwich! Alice/Rachel, I am still conflicted about whether I liked her and I think that is the point as they are narrative wise two people. However, conflicted feelings is good as it means the character is strong enough to actually make you think about these issues etc. I did like that fact that Jessie’s past came back to haunt in her as it helped develop her character and the narrative in general! I definitely do want to read more about Jessie’s life and I would any new books that were coming in the series.
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The book was tense from the get-go and didn't really let up the pace till about towards the end. The end showdown was brilliant. There were good surprises throughout the book. The dual timelines were put to good effect - it would have been interesting to see Davids point of view from the earlier timeline as well. I do like when I find a new tartan noir series to dive into and I will also be putting them onto the site if I can!
Let me know if you read this one!
Giveaway to Win the Kindle copies of the 3 Detective Jessie Blake books (Open INT)
The books are: Heartlands, Her Missing Child & Her Secret Past by Kerry Watts.
*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
