A Double Life

April 16, 2018
London doctor Claire Alden, the 34-year-old narrator of this engrossing psychological thriller from Edgar-winner Berry (Under the Harrow), remains obsessed with finding answers decades after the horrific night when her nanny was slaughtered in her family’s Belgravia townhouse and her mother, Faye, was left near death. The crime’s prime suspect, Claire’s titled father, Colin Spenser, vanished without a trace. Claire, who leads an almost hermitlike existence, can’t stop her sleuthing. She tails some of her father’s posh friends in a desperate hunt for clues to his whereabouts as well as why they hated her working-class mother so much that they would shield a murderer. Claire combs through her own memories and Faye’s extensive diary entries and other research to vividly imagine her parents’ relationship, then subsequently manages to befriend, unrecognized, the daughter of one of Colin’s closest chums in the hope of discovering further leads. The action builds to a shocking but satisfying conclusion. Berry tells this shattering story with surprising grace. Agent: Emily Forland, Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents.

Claire is living under an assumed identity in contemporary London. Narrator Fiona Hardingham helps bring her to life as she investigates the story of her father, who disappeared following the murder of her nanny and the attempted murder of her mother 30 years earlier. Hardingham's strong characterizations of the audiobook's many characters help keep the listener on track, particularly when during the story's time shifts, which fill in the backstory. In particular, Hardingham's cut-glass English accent conjures up images of the privileged as they close ranks to protect themselves and their status. The well-paced narration helps keep the suspense building, even during descriptive detail. K.J.P. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine