Malignant by Anita Waller

The Blurb

What if someone set you limits? Claudia and Heather have been friends and neighbours for many years and both women decide it is the right time for them to leave their husbands. Together they get a flat but their peace is short lived when Claudia is diagnosed with a terminal illness. Being a good friend, Heather takes on caring for Claudia but a lethal meeting with James, Claudia’s ex-husband, results in someone dying. As life for Claudia and Heather begins to unravel, the answer to their problems becomes clear… it’s murder.

About Anita Waller

I live in Sheffield, UK. I am retired and have recently fulfilled my lifelong ambition of becoming a published author with Bloodhound Books. I am married (almost 50 years to Dave) with three children and seven grandchildren. I am a patchwork and quilting tutor as well as a writer. My first book was Beautiful and my second, a sequel to Beautiful, is called Angel.

My Review

I'm a big Waller fan and she didn't let me know this time. Anita Waller knows how to deliver suspense in bucket fulls. Again, I've said this before and I daresay this will not be the last time, but Anita always delivers at least one central character that you are really going to care about and will hook you right into the plot. As the title might suggest it's a sad tale about someone who has terminal cancer. Claudia leaves her husband following six years of suffering domestic violence in silence. Her friend and neighbour Heather also leaves her alcoholic husband and together they set up home in a flat above a bakery which belongs to Michelle and understanding landlady who is no stranger to domestic violence herself. The future was beginning to look brighter when Claudia is diagnosed with terminal cancer, but other people are going to die before her. There are some unexpected twists at the end, which I didn't see coming.