Did You See Melody?

Cara has run away from her husband and two kids to a hotel spa. She needs time to think: she’s pregnant and wants to keep it but her family feel the opposite.

When Cara checks in and goes up to her room she finds it’s already occupied with a middle aged man and a child. How strange… the receptionist feels terrible about it and Cara ends up being upgraded to a villa with a pool – what a result!

If Cara thought she was going to have a relaxing holiday, she couldn’t have been more wrong.

A mad woman keeps saying she’s spotted a girl named Melody who went missing years ago, curiosity gets the better of Cara and she begins to research the case… and then things start to click… the girl from her original room was Melody. But how?

This is a fantastic psychological thriller packed full of detective work, which kept me hooked until the very last sentence. When Cara is kidnapped, the plot picks up momentum as the detectives (both official and unofficial) race against the clock to find Cara and try to connect the dots on a case they thought was solved years ago.

I felt a real bond to the main character; Cara, there was depth to her personality which shined through the pages and, it became easier and easier to latch on to her ‘thought process’ and think alongside her, to how she might escape alive.

The plot is not always told from Cara’s perspective, there are viewpoints from Melody, Heidi, Bonnie, Tarin and the detectives – Sanders and Priddey. Bonnie and her colleague, Heidi are here to film the events that unfold; Bonnie has her own show which played a big part in Melody’s case when she first went missing. Bonnie was adamant that Melody’s parents murdered her and they’re now serving time in prison, but now it appears they may have been innocent all this time.

One final character observation – Tarin perfectly complimented Cara’s character! Tarin is a loud, sassy American who prides herself on being right in the middle of any drama, whilst Cara is a quiet, reserved Brit. The combination of the pair was amusing, but more importantly it showed the strength of friendship – Cara knew Tarin would be looking for her.

It doesn’t have that dark, twisted feel that you get with some psychological thrillers… but what it does offer is a strong notion towards family and friendship which has made me (in my head) slot it into the same category as I Found You.

Packed full of suspicion and mind games whilst having a natural light hearted vibe makes this a refreshing and gripping read. Well worth adding to those amazon wish lists!

Did You See Melody? by Sophie Hannah will be out in Hardback and eBook on 24th August.

Thanks to Louise Swannell at Hodder & Stoughton for providing me a copy, which I chose to review on my blog.

Until next time, Chloé x