I enjoyed this book. Did not realize it was #3 in a series but it was easy enough to pick up on all the characters.

I really like Kate Waters and her approach to her work and family. Hard to wrap my head around her traveling to another country for a story and then become a part of it, but so goes works of fiction.
I liked how the author progressed with the story with the slow reveal of the events of the day of the fire.
Looking forward to another Kate Waters title.

Wow! couldn't put this one down. The events are told from four prospectives: teenage daughter in Bangkok, the detective in England, the mother, the reporter. The anguish, the scariness, what happened, who did it will keep you up.

Fiona Barton still has the touch in this latest Kate Waters mystery. We become a little more acquainted in Kate’s personal life while she is investigating a story of how two girls go missing during a trip to Thailand. During a series of plot twists, Kate becomes part of the journalist’s fodder and experiences what it is like from the other side – knocks on your door day and night, having to hide from the press, and looking over your shoulder all the time.

One of Barton’s hallmarks is that some of her characters are unreliable narrators. Sometimes you don’t find out who is unreliable until you have finished half the story, other times it is painfully obvious. THE SUSPECT is a tale that shifts your perspective on the reliability of a character multiple times. Are the good guys really good? Are you supposed to read between the lines of one girl’s email to her best friend, or is she just sharing her innermost thoughts?

Set in the UK with flashbacks of the girls’ trip to Bangkok, the story unfolds as Kate ingratiates herself with the girls’ parents and tries to uncover what happened to them. Once certain details come to light, Kate is removed from the case and becomes a pariah. The author leads you down a path that makes you certain you know the truth…then swiftly changes the course of your journey.

More sensual tension simmers between Kate and Detective Bob Sparkes, despite the fact that his wife is expected to die from cancer within a few months. His character is wonderfully written, full of conflict, regret and fatigue.

The parents of the missing girls are all rage and accusation, blaming each other even as they cling to the small hope that their daughters are still alive. They turn on each other like vipers, then close ranks against the journalists who seek to create a story out of their pain.

The seedy atmosphere of Bangkok’s underworld is a perfect setting. If I were a parent, I would never want my daughter taking a trip there, regardless of how many friends she had with her. Some other reviews note that there is really nothing good mentioned about Thailand; I feel that is to make the story a bit darker and have the actions of the characters appear insidious.

I’d be interested to see if Barton includes some of the characters from this book in a future one. This was definitely an enjoyable read.

This is a slow moving suspense novel. I liked it. While I figured out the mystery early on, I was still interested in the story and the characters.
Fiona Barton is a very good writer, I always enjoy her work.

I’ve really enjoyed Fiona Barton’s narrative style and her third book does not disappoint. I love following the story through the various thoughts and words of the main characters. It really puts you in the moment. In this era of “fake news”, I feel that Barton’s portrayal of the media in her main character, Kate Waters, is a breath of fresh air, I look forward to the next story!

When Alex and Rosie go missing in Thailand, their families are immediately concerned and worried. Journalist Kate Waters picks up the story and quickly makes a connection with the family. Over a week after the girls are missing, their bodies are found in the remains of a hostel that has burned down. When Kate's son is connected to the girls and the fire, she is taken off the case and is determined to track down her son and prove his innocence.

I'm not entirely sure what to think of this book. Alex and Rosie had an interesting story, but they came across as caricatures rather than real people. Neither Kate nor the main detective felt real either. At times the story seemed excessively drawn out. I would have liked more from the girls, rather than the story being hyper focused on the aftermath. Despite these criticisms, the story held by interest. Overall 3 out of 5 stars

The Suspect officially is released on Tuesday, January 22nd, so go ahead and place your pre-order for this thriller now! Thank you Netgalley for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review!

This is a story about Kate Waters, a newspaper journalist, who comes across the story of 2 local girls missing on a trip in Thailand. The parents are worried wrecks and are trying everything they can to reach the girls. They agree to talk to Kate and she starts to write about them in the paper and then the day no one was looking forward to comes. The girls are found. They’re dead.

This suddenly becomes the hot story and Kate is on her way to Thailand to investigate. She has created a bond with the parents and she is the only one they like talking to. Kate has been a journalist for years and has all kinds of connections and is doing all she can to help these parents find closure, while writing the best story she can. They find out the girls died in a fire that the Thai officials deemed an accident. Things seem off and Kate starts to investigate more only to be hit with a shock herself.

Kate has a few skeletons of her own in her closet. One of those skeletons is that her son has been living in Thailand himself for the past 2 years after he dropped out of college. The police say there was a witness to the fire and he is being treated at the hospital. Kate rushes over to try and talk to the witness but arrives too late, he has already left. The nurse eventually breaks down and tells Kate the name of the patient. It’s her son.

Kate now has a rocky relationship with the families when they discover her own son was at the scene of the crime and has vanished. Kate is dismissed from the story and goes on her own investigation to see what her son, if anything, had to do with the fire and possible murder of these 2 girls.

Kate is an absolute detective when it comes to her investigating. The newspaper wants her to rest and take time off to wrap her head around what is happening, however, she needs to find her son. While she is no longer writing stories about the girls, she is in investigation mode full force, using her journalist ties to get to the bottom of the mystery.

This was a solid 4-star read for me. I found the book to go a little slow in the middle, but I was interested enough to keep reading. The story line is well planned out and keeps your interest. I had to know where her son was and why he was hiding. I enjoyed the story being told from the girls, as well as the journalist. It paints a picture at how they ended up dead. I did not expect the ending to turn out the way it did, I was absolutely blind sighted.

***THIS WILL BE FEATURED ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 17TH AT BOOKINTHEBAG.WORDPRESS.COM AT 5:00AM PACIFIC TIME***
***THIS WILL ALSO BE FEATURED AT WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM/MRSDMVH ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 17TH***

This is the third Fiona Barton novel I’ve read and they have all been outstanding psychological thrillers. Kate Waters is a reporter working on a story about two girls missing in Thailand. We see how she manipulates her way into the families to get her story. When her own son is implicated in their disappearance, she becomes the mother on the other side of the situation dealing with aggressive reporters. Highly recommended

Every parent's worst nightmare. Every time my children travel abroad, I think of situations like this, so reading this book was a bit of a struggle. The need to keep in mind that it is a book of fiction.
Two girls overseas, one wants to travel, one wants to live a life her mother will not allow. One boy lost, alone and afraid to tell his parents to avoid the proverbial, "I told you so". How their lives collide and how it all ends and how far a mother will go to protect her son.

I was intrigued by the concept of two young women traveling to a different country. Liked how I kept getting surprised by how the plot would twist. Will recommend to people.

The author or takes us into dark gritty Thailand, where two teenage girls are found dead in a fire . The story is told through multiple viewpoints and is well written.

Fiona Barton’s books have been getting better and better! The Widow and The Child were awesome, now she’s back with The Suspect. I rarely give five stars on Goodreads and save the five-star reviews for books that really blow me away and this one did.

Fiona Barton weaves a great story here that kept me guessing and turning the pages. I absolutely loved this novel! It’s her best one yet. The way she constructed the story, the different angles and points of view were genius. I like the setting of Thailand, the characters…everything about this book hit every note.

SYNOPSIS:

When two eighteen-year-old girls go missing in Thailand, their families are thrust into the international spotlight: desperate, bereft, and frantic with worry. What were the girls up to before they disappeared?

Journalist Kate Waters always does everything she can to be first to the story, first with the exclusive, first to discover the truth—and this time is no exception. But she can’t help but think of her own son, whom she hasn’t seen in two years, since he left home to go traveling.

As the case of the missing girls unfolds, they will all find that even this far away, danger can lie closer to home than you might think…

Pre-order this now so you don’t miss it!

January 2019

Fiona Barton is back with another case for crime reporter Kate Waters to investigate. Told in multiple points of view, this ones follows the case of two teenage girls that go missing while travelling in Thailand. As Kate own son has been travelling in the same area for two years, with only sporadic contact, this one feels personal to her. It is another great book from this successful author and I one I will be recommending to others.

Highly recommend this book. A compelling suspense storyline, with intriguing family dynamics interwoven in the story.

This is a very good suspense story. Kate Waters, an ambitious newspaper reporter, goes to Thailand to cover a story about two missing girls. The case compels her, not just because she feels a strong connection to the girls’ frantic parents, but because her own son Jake is somewhere in Thailand – but where? She hasn’t been heard from him. Her personal pain pulls her to make the trip and investigate, only to discover that what happened to the missing girls is entwined with her son’s story in ways she could never have imagined.

Told from several POVs, this story brings to life any parent’s worst nightmare. There is tragedy, with the mothers as a focal point. Sometimes the pace is slow, but the writing and pacing follow a steady build. All in all I enjoyed this book. Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC to read and review.

Ridiculously read-able!!!! I could not put it down. Not really because the plot was unique but because it so compelling, it felt like it was ripped out of the headlines! You read stories, unfortunately, about this type of thing all too frequently so that added to the appeal of the book. I have read almost all of Fiona Barton’s books, and this was definitely a decent read. Nothing spectacular though.

Kate Waters is an ace reporter, hit an the trail of a couple of missing teenagers in Thailand. Things go terribly wrong when she unearths evidence that puts her squarely at the center of the story.

I am a huge fan of Fiona Barton. Her intrepid reporter, Kate, captured my total attention in her previous efforts, THE WIDOW and THE CHILD. The best part of this book is that the entire novel is totally unexpected!

Rather than solving a crime in England involving others; Kate is forced to go to Thailand, where what seems like covering a story about 2 missing English girls turns into her own personal nightmare.

It is her own sone Jake who is THE SUSPECT. With the help of her assistant, and her friend D.I, Sparkes, she is able to unwind the knots surrounding this outrageous crime.

Barton does a great job with all the secondary characters, as well as moving the reader into the dreadful surroundings of grimy, gritty Thailand.

I admit to enjoying every minute of this page turner.

This is my first time reading this author, and I really enjoyed both the plot and style of writing.

Kate is a reporter and covering the story of 2 young women that have gone missing in Thailand. I have a journalism background myself, so I connected with Kate but also appreciated that the story was told from different points of views . The transition between narration worked really well in this story, and I was hooked early on.

Definitely recommend this book, and I will be looking for more by Fiona Barton.