Title: Both of You
Author: Adele Parks
Published: June 2nd 2021
Publisher: HQ Fiction – GB
Pages: 352
Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Thriller, Suspense
RRP: $29.99
Rating: 4 stars
Leigh Fletcher: happily married stepmum to two gorgeous boys goes missing on Monday. Her husband Mark says he knows nothing of her whereabouts. She simply went to work and just never came home. Their family is shattered.
Kai Janssen: married to wealthy Dutch businessman, Daan, vanishes the same week. Kai left their luxurious penthouse and glamorous world without a backward glance. She seemingly evaporated into thin air. Daan is distraught.
DC Clements knows that people disappear all the time – far too frequently. Most run away from things, some run towards, others are taken but find their way back. A sad few never return. These two women are from very different worlds, their disappearances are unlikely to be connected. And yet, at a gut level, the DC believes they might be.
How could these women walk away from their families, husbands and homes willingly? Clements is determined to unearth the truth, no matter how shocking and devastating it may be.
The Sunday Times Number One bestseller Adele Parks returns with her most provocative, compelling book to date: Both Of You.
Review:
‘I belong to them both.
They both belong to me.’
Pry into a complex web of secrets, lies and shocking revelations in Both of You. This latest domestic drama from Adele Parks unveils a story littered with family conflicts, marital issues, betrayal and deceit. Both of You is a juicy domestic thriller that will have you hooked from page one until the parting word.
Both of You follows two happily married women and their shocking disappearances. The first, Leigh Fletcher, is a married woman with two stepchildren. When Leigh vanishes without a trace, her husband is extremely alarmed and broken. He has no idea where his wife may have gone. The second wife to disappear with no indication of her whereabouts is Kai Janssen, a woman happily married to her Dutch husband. Alarm bells ring when Kai leaves no clues as to her whereabouts. Kai’s husband is beside himself with worry, where could his wife be? When Detective Clements is assigned to the case, hope fades as this seasoned detective knows that the likelihood of finding these women alive is very slim. As DC Clements tries to draws on some connections and leads it appears that there may be a link between these two very different women. Can Clements discover the truth and locate these women?
Adele Parks is an author who needs no introduction. This British novelist has a whole host of varied fiction novels to her name and Both of You is her next blockbuster release. This latest read from Adele Parks is consuming, intriguing and addictive. I found it very hard to pull myself away from the clutches of Both of You, it was a seductive title.
I really liked the setup of this new novel from Adele Parks. The disappearance of two happily married women, who both vanish without a trace offered a great opening hook. I enjoyed being teased and pulled in different directions as I developed my own theories around these two seemingly unrelated cases. Through this multiple perspective narrative, we glean more about the choices made by the both missing women, along with the dogged detective assigned to the case. This provides an essential overview and balanced perspective range, which in turn assists this complicated story. I really enjoyed swapping between the different viewpoints and heads of the three key cast members. I think Parks did an excellent job of inhabiting the voices of each of her key leads, along with the support cast.
The tension is this novel is set to a very high volume, my ears were literally ringing and I squirmed around in my seat as the secrets, shocks, twists and reveals bubbled to the surface. Both of You is a book that made me think about public appearances, private worlds, marital issues and personal image. This is book that allows you to critically interrogate constructions of the self, family, marriage, desire, obsession and wants/needs. We travel down quite a dark tunnel at times, but Both of You is a rewarding domestic drama.
A sleek tale and a clear example of an upscale read in the domestic mystery field, Both of You is another champion story from Adele Parks.
Both of You by Adele Parks was published on 2nd June 2021 by HQ Fiction – GB. Details on how to purchase the book can be found here.
To learn more about the author of Both of You, Adele Parks, visit here.
*I wish to thank Harlequin Australia for providing me with a free copy of this book for review purposes.
