Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce
Blurb
Alison has it all. A doting husband, adorable daughter, and a career on the rise – she’s just been given her first murder case to defend. But all is never as it seems…
Just one more night. Then I’ll end it.
Alison drinks too much. She’s neglecting her family. And she’s having an affair with a colleague whose taste for pushing boundaries may be more than she can handle.
I did it. I killed him. I should be locked up.
Alison’s client doesn’t deny that she stabbed her husband – she wants to plead guilty. And yet something about her story is deeply amiss. Saving this woman may be the first step to Alison saving herself.
I’m watching you. I know what you’re doing.
But someone knows Alison’s secrets. Someone who wants to make her pay for what she’s done, and who won’t stop until she’s lost everything….
Review
This has been sat on one of my TBR trolleys (I have many) for a very long time. In fact I remember buying it on an Amazon deal during one of the many lockdowns but I never seemed to get around to reading it. Thankfully, along came the amazing 20 Books of Summer Challenge and this was the first book I read off my list.
The first thing I will say is that once I started this book I could not put it down. I just loved Tyce’s writing and for a debut novel I was pleasantly surprised by how excellently written this book was. However, there was main problem for me and that was that I hated the main character! I just could not get on with the character of Alison and yes I know she was written that way but gosh she drove me mad! Thankfully, I didn’t let this put me off and carried on reading.
Alison was not the only character I did not like. I really did not like her husband who just felt off from the start. In fact most of the characters in this book I disliked but I loved the storyline and that is what kept me reading and not giving up with this book.
As we are reading about Alison’s chaotic life we also meet Madeleine who Alison is defending. Madeleine is accused of murder and as we learn more about the case we see many parallels between Alison and Madeleine’s lives and situations.
This book made me quite uncomfortable at times but it didn’t put me off and gave me a great deal to think about. It’s also a book that I think will stay with me for a long time and that shows just what a great author Tyce is. This book was a difficult book to rate for me because I loved the way it was written and the storyline but I just could not get on with the characters so in the end I decided to give it 3 out of 5 Dragons. I am really looking forward to reading Tyne’s other books soon and hopefully they won’t sit on my TBR pile for quite so long this time.
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Purchase Link
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About the author
Harriet Tyce (1972) is a Scottish barrister and novelist, the author of Blood Orange, The Lies you Told and It ends at midnight.
