4 out of 4 stars
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Concealment by Rose Edmunds is a satisfying, enjoying read from start to finish. This psychological thriller kept me guessing throughout and I give it 4 out of 4 stars.
Amy is a weirdo, hiding in the offices of Pearson Malone, acting normal. The usual challenges like trying not to let the disdain she feels for her boss, Smithies, drip through every interaction; fighting for the promotion of her protege, Lisa; and pretending that perfect princess Isabelle Edwards does’t get right up her nose are intercut with her having to pretend that she doesn’t see and hear her teenage alter-ego, young Amy.
When Isabelle Edwards is murdered, Amy is embarrassed to provide an alibi for Issy’s boyfriend, Ryan. In an out of character move, she’d had an one-night stand with him, the very night of the murder. Even more embarrassing for her is the fact that she used to be married to his brother, Greg. The police are convinced Ryan is to blame and Pearson Malone are quite happy to throw Ryan under the bus. When he kills himself, Amy feels compelled to look further into the circumstances surrounding Isabelle’s death.
Prior to her death, Isabelle had been working on an account for JJ Resources and something doesn’t quite add up. The links between JJ Resources and Pearson Malone’s boss seem to be closer and more tangled than is comfortable. And then, on top of everything else, Amy’s closely kept secret about her family comes to light at the worst possible time. Unsure who to trust and what to do, young Amy becomes her only ally. And what does that say about her, that she can only trust a hallucination of her younger self?
Nothing is quite as it seems in this page-turner. Despite some hard-core accounting terms and issues that I never really got my head around, the plot is compelling and I was intrigued and continuously surprised by the turns within the book.
Well-edited, I didn’t spot any grammatical errors or typos. They may well be there, but I was so fascinated in the book that I must have skipped over them. There were no obvious plot holes and even when Amy’s behaviour is irrational, it is easy to understand exactly why she is acting the way she is.
If you like pacy thrillers or crime novels, with flawed and unique characters, this is a must-read. The characters are well-drawn and are capable of provoking strong feelings. Smithies, in particular, evokes the kind of irritated depth of feeling usually reserved for real-life bosses that seem to exist solely to annoy you. I cannot recommend this book more highly. Put it on your to-read shelf now.
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Concealment
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