Date Night by Samantha Hayes
The Blurb:
Returning early from a disastrous date night with my husband, I know something is wrong the moment the wheels crunch the gravel drive of our home. Inside, the TV is on and a half-eaten meal waits on the table. My heart stops when I find our little girl is alone in the house and our babysitter, Sasha, is missing… Days later, when I’m arrested for Sasha’s murder and torn away from my perfect little family, I’ll wish I had told someone about the threatening note I received that morning. I’ll hate myself for not finding out who the gift hidden inside my husband’s wardrobe was for. I’ll scream from the rooftops that I’m innocent – but no one will listen. I will realise I was completely wrong about everything that happened that night… But will you believe me? Twisted and absolutely unputdownable, Date Night exposes what goes on behind the closed doors of a happy home and the dangerous truths we ignore to protect the ones we love. Perfect reading for anyone totally gripped by The Wife Between Us, Friend Request or Gone Girl.
About Samantha Hayes:
Samantha Hayes grew up in Warwickshire, left school at sixteen, avoided university and took jobs ranging from private detective to barmaid to fruit picker and factory worker. She lived on a kibbutz, and spent time living in Australia and the USA, before finally becoming a crime-writer.Her writing career began when she won a short story competition in 2003 and her fifteenth novel, DATE NIGHT is out now. Her novels are family-based psychological thrillers, with the emphasis being on 'real life fiction'. She focuses on current issues and sets out to make her readers ask, 'What if this happened to me or my family?' And you'll always find a BIG twist at the end of her novels! GOOD HOUSEKEEPING says "We’re big fans of Samantha Hayes. Her believable psychological thrillers are completely gripping..."To find out more, visit her website www.samanthahayes.co.ukOr connect with Samantha on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SamanthaHayesAuthorAnd she's on Twitter @samhayes and Instagram at samanthahayes.author
My Review:
The hallmark of a good thriller writer is the ability to concoct so many secrets and lies to fool the reader in readiness for the big reveal at the end. The ending could have knocked me over with a feather, which would have been quite easy as it happened, because I was already giddy from the multitude of twists and turns within the storyline. Libby and Sean Randell go out on a date night to try and patch things up after an anonymous well-wisher threw a spanner in the works of their marriage by leaving a note on Libby's windscreen that Sean is having an affair. The meal didn't quite go to plan, and they arrived home early to their daughter Alice, who was being looked after by an absent babysitter Sasha. Indeed, it seems that Sasha may have turned out to be permanently absent, having left all of her personal effects at the Randell home and she did not return home to her parents. The book switches between two ends of a time frame, 'Before' around the time that the incident occurred, and 'Now' when Libby was detained in police custody having been arrested on suspicion of murder, despite the absence of a body. There were plenty of suspects along the way, enough to have me believe that I had solved it and give myself a pat on the back while thinking 'what a good detective I am.' But I have to admit, this author had me. I was wrong. I had been lied to in a good way. I shall definitely be reading more Samantha Hayes.
