The author wrote a thriller that started with a bang and just kept going! The twists kept coming, so I couldn't put it down. I cannot wait to read more from this author!

This book is well written, but unfortunately the plot is based on pure nonsense, which makes it hard to enjoy.

An interesting read through the scenes and events that are created.
Living in the proximity of the scenes presented in the book was a bit of a surprise as I definitely wasn't expecting that
I’ve read it in one sitting and was indeed on the edge of my seat to find out what will happen next and how everything will wrap up. The suspense was present and well proportioned for my liking.
What I didn't like much: maybe the chapters were a bit short, short sentences as well even if keep it short and simple is advisable, I felt like I needed more because the female character is a psychologist and was expecting more elaborate thoughts. Also, I love having both pov and I don't mind any time or person but I found a bit off the repetition of the name of the male character for almost every paragraph in one chapter. Don’t get me wrong, I’m nowhere near an expert or anything, I enjoyed the book and all these are my honest opinions.
Overall it was a great story and I’m looking forward to more from this new to me author.

he book started off exciting, a woman was murdered, and the picture of a psychologist Dr. Pippa Durrant was placed on the body. That led to the start of the investigation by DS Joe Swain. The dead woman was Leanne, a million pounds lottery winner, and her family especially daughter Donna was absolutely shattered.

Pippa was suspected by the cops in the beginning, and with her photo being released to the press, she started losing her clients. She had to get into the investigation to clear her name, as along with being a forensic psychologist, she had training in reading micro-expression and graphology, so she was kind of a human lie detector. So that aspect was quite thrilling.

My first book by Miranda Rijks was suspenseful to begin with. I was intrigued by the killer who had so much anger as shown by the mutilated bodies. Pippa was said to be extremely intelligent, and I liked most parts of her characterization.

However, throughout the story, my niggles kept haunting me. There was something off about the reactions of both Donna and Pippa. Donna hated her mom as she refused to share the lottery money. But the way she was shown heartbroken left me scratching my head. She kept crying for her mother. Where did the love come from suddenly?

Pippa being suspected by the cops felt odd. They had no proof except the photograph on the corpse. Yet she became their prime suspect. Huh? What was that about? Also, most of her reactions didn't match the actions. The spark of attraction between Pippa and Joe was great initially, but it became a bit weird. Joe laughed when she said her house was broken into and her dog taken. Even Joe's investigation felt so unprofessional.

There was no logic in the reactions of all the characters in the book, but the basic whodunit was great. Wanting to know who the murderer was made me turn the pages till the end.

My second book by this author in the last few weeks. Miranda writes well, and you can visualize her characters in your head as you are reading her words. A complex story of rejection and betrayal where you can’t trust the narrators. Easy, breezy read.

I really enjoyed this story, it was gripping and the storyline really had me hooked from the first chapter. If you do get a chance to read the book I am sure you will agree that after the first few pages I couldn’t wait to see what would happen to Dr Pippa!

I thought that the characters were great, Dr Pippa was very well developed and I really liked her she was a genuine character and I really liked getting to know more about her as the book progressed. I found the book to be very well written and this author has certainly made herself one to watch now for me.

It is five stars from me for this one, I loved the characters, the plot was very strong and I loved how it held my attention right from the start to the fantastic ending! Can’t wait to read the next book in the series!

I voluntarily reviewed an advance reading copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. The mystery was well written and fascinating but the characters lacked the ability to connect with the reader.

There are some good parts to this story. The murder mystery element was interesting; I enjoyed figuring out the clues. The suspense just didn’t last long enough. By 32% it was pretty clear who had committed the crimes.

Fatal Fortune’s Pippa reminded me a little bit of Gwen Marcey, a character from my favorite Carrie Stuart Parks series. Her ability to psychoanalyze people fascinates me! I loved that part and wish there were more books with that type of character.

Otherwise, I’m sad to admit that Fatal Fortune was a bust for me. I couldn’t stand most of the other characters. They came across as self-absorbed and utterly forgettable. The repetitive words and details annoyed me, though it may have been the author’s intentional way of bringing continuity to an otherwise fragmented story. The only character I really liked was Mungo the dog.

I hesitated to read Fatal Fortune since this author’s last book didn’t rate high with me, but decided to give it another shot. Unfortunately, this author’s writing style just doesn’t resonate with me. I’ll skip the next one.

Having not encountered Miranda Rijks's fiction before I had no idea about what expect, but I thought that it was a good opportunity to see what she's all about with this being the first thriller in a brand new series featuring psychologist Dr Pippa Durrant, a specialist in lie detection. I liked the idea that there was apparently a little bit of everything included and apparently something for everyone - romance, mystery, suspense and what some readers will likely term as thrills.

However, I was rather taken aback by just how far-fetched and immature both the plot and characters were. Now I am not one of those people who demands my fiction to be realistic as I appreciate that often improbable incidents can add great excitement to a story provided you can suspend your disbelief and just go with it. But, here, I simply couldn't enjoy it. I think it was a case of too many issues and finishing it was such a tedious slog. I also, sadly, found the characters excruciatingly annoying.

Having a deep interest in psychology and the expertise involved in criminal profiling I was looking forward to some of the talk about the topic by Dr Durrant but unfortunately, the frenetic pace meant that the plot moved at such an unrelenting pace so you were given no time to let any interesting information sink in. I also found that I had correctly guessed how the story would go by the 20% mark.

The second instalment, Fatal Flowers, due to be published on 25 May 2019 is highly unlikely to make it onto my Kindle given that there are so many fantastic thriller writers out there penning superb novels. I'm afraid I would rather play a little safer by opting for one of them. Many thanks to Inkubator Books/Weapenry Co-Op for an ARC.

What a great first chapter in a new series. The dynamic between the battle-hardened policeman and the world-weary psychologist has a perfect balance of professionalism and likability. Pippa has had her share of shock and grief in her life which I strongly suspect might come into play in future stories...I hope so.

Thanks to Netgalley and Inkubator for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars.

This book centers around Pippa, a psychologist, whose picture ends on up on the murdered body of a woman who recently won the lottery. She becomes a suspect, sort of, and gets involved with the case.

I thought this book started out well with an interesting premise, but I thought the fact that Pippa was a suspect was odd. It didn't make sense to me and that kind of threw me off from that point on. I thought the characters, Pippa and Donna, the daughter of the murdered woman, were very reactive and behaved in an irrational manner often, which is the same way I felt about the main character in this author's previous book. The end was somewhat of a surprise and that got the rating up to 3.5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Inkubator Books for the eARC.
This is the second book I've read by Miranda Rijks and have unfortunately decided not to read any more of her books. The characters are over the top emotionally and seem to make disastrous decisions time after time. The pace is frantic, it didn't make me want to continue, it just irritated me. I ended up flipping through the book to find out 'whodunit', and I had guessed correctly. This book has terrific reviews, so I'm definitely in the minority, which makes me feel bad...sorry!

This is the first in the Dr Pippa Durrant series, and it was really lovely to come in at the beginning of this new collection.
Pippa, although a little morose, was a likeable character. She has been through something really terrible in her past, and I’m really hoping that gets explored more in future books. Her history was outlined in this book to whet our appetites. She does make some questionable decisions; however, I think because of her past this has hindered her from thinking logically during this current trying time.
The book is a little bit of a mix between crime fiction and psychological thriller, but the balance worked well. I thought I had figured out who the killer was and even though I sort of guessed correctly, there was still a brilliant twist that I just didn’t see coming. There is enough suspense to really grip you and to make sure you keep turning the pages; it is very well-written.
I liked the chemistry between Pippa and Ds Joe Swain, it was very subtle, and again I hope this gets explored more in future books. It certainly lightened the feel of the book somewhat which was a pleasant relief to the intensity of the murders and the suspense surrounding them.
This is the second Miranda Rijks book that I have read, and I have to say I’m very impressed. I very much look forward to reading more about Dr Pippa Durrant!

I don't want to ruin this book for everyone who still has to read it, but believe me when I say that you are in for a thrilling read!
The story is really well written and I could not put it away. Can highly recommend!

This novel is full of suspense and twists and turns as you try to read and discover what is happening to Pippa's life. After a strange phone call one morning when her brother calls to check in on her PIppa sees her picture in the news with coverage of her death. But Pippa is alive and her name/picture switched with a murdered lottery winner named Donna. Why were the pictures switched, who was Donna and did someone kill her to obtain her winning lottery money? The budding relationship between Pippa and detective Joe Swain is adds interest to the story. This is the first book in the series about Pippa.

Fatal Fortune characters lacked direction and were placed it the story to only move it forward without any reason for their actions or lack of action. The plot moved along but had very little focus. The synopsis has readers excited for this story that ends up losing readers with its lack of focus and direction.



Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy of Miranda Rijks Fatal Fortune.

I don't insist that a book's characters be likeable. I only ask that they be believable. If that's not the case, then any number of a writer's other talents are wasted.

This is the second Miranda Rijks book I've read, and I had the same experience here with Fatal Fortune that I did with I Want You Gone. In both books, there was one flurry after another of frenetic activity in search of the answer to an urgent question: The main character must find out who wants to ruin, and possibly end, her life.

In Fatal Fortune, that character is Pippa Durrant, a psychologist with a private practice. There are some clever plot devices, such as the title-referenced win of an obscenely high lottery jackpot, and the central issue of mistaken identity. But the pace and a few unique literary tricks couldn't bring me back from my constant mental refrain: EVERY ONE of these characters acts so impetuously, with no rhyme, reason or logic other than the requirement to move the plot forward a notch.

It was easier to swallow an unceasing stream of rash, flaky behavior in the previous book (with the main-character real estate agent) and in this book (with the young mother and her dysfunctional parents). I dug in my heels, however, when a seasoned detective and an experienced mental health professional -- both of whom should have their protocols and boundaries trained in so deeply as to be almost reflex -- each do one inexplicably impulsive thing after another, apparently just to serve as a segue to the next scene.

Thanks to NetGalley for giving me a second try at this new-to-me writer.

A good solid mystery but I just couldn't relate to the characters, had a hard time finishing the book. Probably won't read the next one. I received an e-book from NetGalley in return for an unbiased review.

The reader certainly jumps in at the deep end of this gripping, psychological thriller. There are three narratives running concurrently - the smallest being intervals of "thoughts from the murderer" in the first person, the second from the point of view of the heroine psychiatrist, Pippa, drawn into the murderous plot apparently inadvertently, also in the first person, and the narrative of Donna and her family, in the third person. Plus, of course, the police procedural "stuff" but this is not the main thrust of the book at all. There are twists and turns as to how the characters interact and the feelings of the characters themselves are well portrayed. Donna's desperate missing of her murdered mother and consequent problems in her own family, The reader feels for her. Pippa trying to work out how she has become so linked with the murder victim, as well as her own family history. and the associated media trolls' words. You feel her frustration and anger, and hesitancy in belief of herself. The plot races along, descriptions of place are good and, for once, I got to the end without being aggravated by the lack of descriptions of the main characters involved.! The story was sufficiently engrossing for this not to matter. It also seems that some first person narrative amongst third person is de rigeur these days and sometimes that feels contrived. Not so in this book. An engrossing read.Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Inkubator Books, for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was a great book that was fun to read and hard to put down! There are many characters woven into the story and you have the perspective of not just the main character, but also some people that you probably don't even trust. Any one of them could be the killer! The main character is Pippa Durrant, psychologist who used to work in tandem with the police but gave that up several years back when her college age daughter disappeared from South Africa. Her husband had left her soon after, along with her son who took off to parts unknown, leaving her lonely and better suited to private practice.

Now though, she has been thrust into a new murder investigation because her photograph was found on the dead body. She has no idea why, as she doesn't have a clue who the victim is or how they could be linked to one another. Of course, because of this photo, everyone in town and online begins to question her innocence and she starts losing her private clients left and right. She maintains a wary connection with the detective in charge of the case, who initially appears not quite trusting of Pippa. As they grow closer, she asks to assist in the case because she is specially trained to detect deception through scientific methods like micro movements and speech patterns. The passages describing these techniques are fascinating. I've read up on the same topics before and was delighted at the role they played in the story.

The twists and turns that the narrative takes will definitely keep you on the edge of your seat. My only complaint is that the story has ended and there is no more to read! I look forward to the next book in this series, because this just has to become a new series!