#BookReview | #TellMeYourSecret by Dorothy Koomson

Pieta has a secret
Jody has a secret
Will telling their secrets save or sacrifice each other…
– Tell Me Your Secret

[ About the Book ]

Pieta has a secret.
Ten years ago, Pieta was kidnapped by a man calling himself The Blindfolder who said he wouldn’t kill her if she kept her eyes closed for 48 hours. She never told anyone what happened to her, vowing to move on with her life. But when The Blindfolder starts hunting down his past victims, Pieta realises she may finally be forced to tell her deepest secret to stay alive . . .

Jody has a secret.
Fifteen years ago, policewoman Jody made a terrible mistake that resulted in a serial killer known as The Blindfolder escaping justice. When Jody discovers journalist Pieta survived an attack by him, she realises she may finally have found a way to catch him. But that would mean endangering at least two innocent people . . .

They kept quiet to protect themselves.
Will telling all save or sacrifice each other?

[ My Review ]

Tell Me Your Secret is the latest release, number fifteen, from global bestselling author Dorothy Koomson. It was published on January 9th with Headline and is described as ‘an emotional thriller…..a gripping page-turner full of twists and turns. An exploration of what it means to be a victim and a survivor in today’s world’

Jody Foster is a policewoman with the shadow of death following her for fifteen years. Unwittingly, she held information that could have captured a sadistic killer before the number of dead bodies increased. But Jody’s inaction has haunted her ever since. She has been tracking this individual for many years moving now from London to Brighton, closing in on this barbaric and evil killer as another horrific discovery is made in a local park.

Jody is sent to Brighton to lead the investigation, to tighten the net around this person. She is not local and she knows her presence at the station could cause issues but Jody, from the get-go, lays down her case, her methods of getting jobs done. Ruffling a few colleague’s feathers does not deter Jody in any way. This time she will capture this perverse murderer. This time Jody will see justice done before any more victims are chosen.

“When the police came to my flat,
I should have told.
When I found I couldn’t live in London,
I should have told.
When I came to Brighton and I was still
standing on the beach, trying to imagine
myself as the raging sea,
I should have told.
But once I’d made my decision,
I knew I could never tell“

Pieta Rawlings is a journalist living in Brighton with her young son. Pieta is the survivor of a vicious crime, one that has left her scarred in many ways, for life. But Pieta refuses to be a victim. Ten years on, she has rebuilt her life, moved to a new city and has created a protective bubble around herself with certain self-imposed limitations to ensure the safety of herself and her young son.

Pieta is quite a complex character. Clearly well-able and well-liked, she has certain quirks that are generally accepted by all who know her as Pieta harbours her shocking secret deep inside. When the body of a young woman is found brutally attacked, Pieta has flashbacks to her own past. Reliving those traumatic days, brings horrendous images to mind. Pieta will not let the horrors in, will not let those thoughts invade her mind, her life but it soon becomes clear that Pieta may have no other option.

The central plot to Tell Me Your Secret is a dark and twisted one. Pieta is a wonderful character. Her personality, her strength and determination shine through as she chooses to not be a victim. Unfortunately Jody Foster’s character just did not work for me. She was a policewoman in a very serious position of authority yet many of her actions felt quite amateurish and just not convincing. I felt the plot would have been executed much better with a much stronger protagonist.

This is my first Dorothy Koomson book and it’s possibly that this particular book was just not the right fit for me right now. I expect other books may have a more convincing plot-line that might appeal to me more!

Overall Tell Me Your Secret is an entertaining thriller with some very perverse and twisty themes and with a very corrupted and malevolent killer in its midst.

[ Bio ]

Dorothy Koomson is the award-winning author of 15 novels including the Sunday Times bestsellers My Best Friend’s Girl, The Ice Cream Girls and Goodnight, Beautiful.

Dorothy’s novels have been translated into over 30 languages, and a TV adaptation based on The Ice Cream Girls was shown on ITV1 in 2013. After briefly living in Australia, Dorothy now lives in Brighton. 

Website – https://www.dorothykoomson.co.uk/
Twitter – @DorothyKoomson