Member Reviews
Whoa! The Woman at No, 13 was soooo good!! I could not put it down! Great writing, thrilling story line and a ton of suspects that will keep you guessing. Twist after twist to keep you glued to this book. Highly recommend!
Dark and claustrophobic, this psychological thriller will appeal to noir readers. The premise and the plot are well thoughts out.
TRIGGER WARNING FOR DISCUSSION OF ABORTION.
I also want to preface this review by saying there is A LOT of discussion surrounding politics, the Catholic Church and their traditionalist views, the IRA, the troubles in Ireland and Brexit.
Woooooow, this book was a wild ride wasn't it! I think by the time I reached the words "the end" I had come a complete full circle!
I was not prepared for this book to make me feel the way that I did about it. From the blurb I had an idea of how this book would go and when I finished reading it I felt it couldn't have been further from that description we are given. However, that doesn't mean it wasn't an excellent book to read.
Also, I had expected the book to written from a completely different POV to that which it was written, and to start with it bugged me a little bit. But as we got deeper into the story I felt it added real value to have it written from Jannis's POV, it allowed us to see Kate (our main character of the story) from a less skewed POV that we would have had if Kate narrated the whole story.
And because Jannis narrated the story and tbh he was a little bit of a scaredy cat it really helped the author to build a super intense atmosphere. Although I shouldn't say Jannis was acting a bit too scared because at points this book really did get to me and made me feel quite unnerved!
The one thing that did let this book down a little bit was the plot. I felt it got quite lost at points and personally, I thought the author was trying to use the book more to discuss the troubles in Ireland and be political (which is absolutely fine, I had no issues with the topics at hand) but it felt too far away from the blurb. The blurb became quite misleading one you started reading.
However, the writing of this book was undeniably a high point and really elevated the book. The quality of the writing together with the authors ability to build an incredible and tense atmosphere truly made the words stand out on the page and imbed themselves into my head.
Overall, I did enjoy The Woman At No13 and I felt that it was very well written and had some interesting themes brought up for reading and discussion. The only letdown for me was that it felt like the blurb misled us with the plot, and whilst I would have read it anyway if the blurb was different I felt disappointed by the difference in them.
I was hoping for a good whodunnit murder with a little bit of suspense thrown in and instead I got politics, the Catholic Church, the IRA, the troubles in Ireland and Brexit.
The Woman at No. 13
A doctor is jailed for a crime she didn't commit.
A town is enraged.
Angry men with guns.
A priest caught in the middle.
Threatening notes.
Who will reveal the truth?
A doctor has to protect her patient's confidentiality. But, when a town finds out the circumstances of a young woman's murder, they all turn against the doctor. Everything the doctor has done becomes scrutinized after she is jailed for the murder.
When she calls her friend to get her from jail, they had no idea of what was to come.
Threats, attacks, and another friend, the priest, is caught in the middle. When the situation becomes even more dangerous, is anyone in the town safe?
The Woman at No. 13 is my first book by C. K. Williams. I enjoyed the book, but it wasn't as much of a page turner as expected. But, great main characters, great story line, and very well-written. Highly recommended! Four stars.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing The Woman at No. 13 for me to read and review.
Set in the border country between Northern Ireland and Eire, this is the story of a murdered girl, religion and exploring sexuality and friendships. It is written from different viewpoints and at times is quite theatrical . The plot moves quite quickly though and suspense builds up. There a few twists and turns along the way, some expected, others less so. On the whole I enjoyed the read.
The characters are OK, not fleshed out in any great detail, but this book is more about emotions and beliefs than anything else
Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review
I have to say this was a confusing book to read and to review. It is a quick read with some eccentric characters that you don’t really get to know or understand. It does have a great plot line but it is written in such a way that I honestly don’t know if I really like it. If that sounds confusing, it is!
A young woman is brutally murderer in a small village in Ireland. When a doctor is brought in for questioning she calls an old friend to come to her. What ensues is the unravelling of not only the murder but insights into their very confusing lives.
It’s not a bad book, it’s just bloody confusing.
I struggled a bit with this book. The writing was quite good and the book had some twists and turns but it moved slowly for me. I was intrigued by the title but felt the story didn't live up to the title.
Kate O’Leary. a respected GP lives in rural Ireland. One of her patients, a young girl, shares a secret with her and then is found dead and her bloody clothes are in Kate’s home.
I recommend giving it a try, it may be for you.
Oh this book had some fun twists! I liked the LGBT characters as well. I thought it was a well written plot and had a great story line that had me engaged from the start. I can't wait to read more form this author!
Well this book was certainly different to what I expected and wow in places really dark! I haven't read a huge amount set in Northern Ireland so hadn't really considered the political side that this could bring - a small community where secrets are rife but one important one leads to a death. This had shades of hot fuzz in it, a community coming together to blast out the outsiders who don’t belong. Secret graveyard mysteries and a main character unsure of who they can trust from the community they thought they were part of.
For many years Kate has worked as a local doctor in a small town in Northern Ireland. Her life falls apart when a young woman is murdered and bloody clothes belonging to the woman are found at Kate’s house.
Kate is under suspicion of murder, and she calls an old friend Jannis who lives in Germany to come and help clear her of the accusation of murder.
A murder mystery full of creepy action, lots of secrets covering topics of abortion and identity.
This book was sent to me by Netgalley for review electronically. The premise of the book is of the mystery crime genre like television programs or movies about murderer s. It was graphic and gory. Too much for me but others might be ok with it…I could not get past the language.
Thank you to Harper Collins and Net Galley for the chance to read and review this book. The opinions expressed are my own.
I have to confess I did not finish this book. In fact, it was not for me. The story was choppy and did not make a lot of sense to me-poor flow. Also, did not like the topics discussed and the language. I guess I should have looked closer before I requested this book. Maybe some will like it, but it wasn't for me.
This is dark and totally twisted and I loved it. When a teenager is found brutally murdered the local doctor who found her becomes the number one suspect and as the town turns against her and she starts to fear for her life Kate and her best friend Jan must work out what’s going on before it’s too late.
The Woman At No.13 by C.K. Williams
There were so many issues going on in this one book I felt that I was
being bounced around from one political topic to another with a storyline woven to tie them all together.
I have to admit to reading this book piecemeal which did not help with the flow of the storyline and being able to keep all the scenarios straight.
I did finish the book minus the usual enjoyment of discovery that is typical at the end of a mystery.
When Kate calls her best friend Jannis, it is not because she wants him to visit because she misses him. Nope, he will leave Germany and head to Northern Ireland since Kate is being accused of murder. What! She is a respected doctor but when one of her patients is brutally killed, Kate is arrested. After all, if she didn't do it, why are the victim's bloody clothes found in her house?
Hmm. It appears that Kate and Jannis will need to put on their amateur sleuth hats if they want to find the real killer. Kate lives in a ridiculously small town where nobody's business is private and most if not all the residents hold strong religious beliefs. I am not going to say more, but if you have ever lived in this type of place, you will know what I mean. A behavior that may seem very wrong to anyone else, is accepted in this community. I was surprised by the whodunit and why, but I grew up in a small town where the strangest things were acceptable.
It is an interesting mystery but for me, this one just touched on subjects that I would rather forget. In this case, I think it was just me and had nothing to do with the author’s writing.
Northern Irish settings do not feature very often in contemporary mystery fiction, so I was delighted to be granted an ARC of C.K. Williams’ novel to review for NetGalley. The following represents my honest and unbiased review.
The novel’s protagonist, Kate O’Leary, lives in a small Northern Irish community and is highly respected until the blood of a murdered local teenager is found in her home. Arrested for the murder of the teenager, who was one of her patients, increasingly desperate Kate calls on the support of a longstanding friend from Germany and both try to uncover the identity of the actual murderer. Fast paced and punchy, this book depicted a village full of political and interpersonal tension and touched on many societal topics of abortion laws, the effects of Brexit, and struggles for equal opportunities and diversity. Other reviewers have suggested that the author has tried to cram too many of these topics into this novel in an effort to provide a contextual background for the novel’s actual storyline, and I would agree. At times, the novel could have been more tighly edited, but on the whole, it was a riveting read and a good introduction to an author not yet as well-known as others in the domestic noir genre. Thank you to NetGalley and to the publishers for the free ARC I received that allowed me to review this book.
Ahhh! What a mind blowing twist! Perfect way to spend an evening reading in to the wee hours of the morning - couldn't put this one down! A highly satisfying psychological thriller. Thanks to CK Williams and publisher for the ARC.
She told you her secret. Now she’s dead and it’s your fault… interesting start to the story--i've not ready this author before. Not a huge fan but i'm sure it's just me. thank you netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for a review.
I liked the fast pace of this book. The chapters were short and kept me reading to see what would happen next. I do think that it became more about social issues in Northern Ireland, but I was still surprised by the ending and it kept me guessing the whole time. I received a free copy of this book from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
Kate is a country doctor who lives in a house with the address “Number 13”, otherwise, the title of this book has no significance whatsoever. Kate’s friend, Jannus is the main narrator and he travels to Northern Ireland from Germany to be with Kate after she is accused of a brutal murder. No spoilers here but Kate and Jannus work to find the real murderer over the next week assisted by the local priest, Father Daniel. There is plenty of action putting all three main characters in danger and the story moves quickly. I did enjoy the author’s use of police interviews, diary entries and short one-word and one-sentence chapters to break the story up - cleverly done. However, the story fell flat for me for the most part. I have no issue with well-written LGBTQ themes but it seemed like there was an excess of characters trying to figure out their sexuality in a short period of time and in a book with so few characters. Also, this may be nit-pickey but the house on the cover of the book is nothing like Kate’s cottage is described. Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter for the opportunity to read and review this book.