I have to start by saying that I didn't even realize that the  main character was male, not female, during the first chapter or so. The minute I came to that realization I had a feeling that I may enjoy this book, but it wouldn't be an out of the park novel for me.

Nonetheless I charged forward. I loved getting to see this book through the main character's eyes (whose name I actually can't even remember at this point). Coming back home after years of being out of the country felt so strange, and I could understand how it must have  been for him. Meeting family and friends again, seeing how the town has changed, are all things I think we go through when we visit our old stomping grounds.

The story itself is pretty okay as well. There was a lot of the book that I thought didn't need to be there, and I found myself getting bored. However, the story itself was decent, and I really wanted to know who committed both murders that come to light within the book. I also loved the weird chemistry between Paige and our main character.

Overall this would make a good read while being stuck at the airport (with a mask on, socially distanced, of course). A solid C grade.

I've read a few Kerry Wilkinson books and find they're a decent read, but the premise seems to be the same - a character returns to their small town. It's a decent premise, but gets a little same-y.
This was a slow paced mystery with a good plot, but I felt it was a little convoluted, particularly at the start, I had no idea how anyone was linked with anyone else, nor any clue as to who the narrator was which felt as though the author was aiming for a clever trick that didn't really work.
I found the characters unlikable, although that may have been the intent it makes for uncomfortable reading.
I would seek out more of Wilkinson's novels to see if this was just a blip for me.
Thank you to NetGalley for the advance ebook in exchange for my honest review.

This is a new author for me. I thought The Blame was fantastic. I will definitely read more of his work. The Blame has everything you’d expect from a good thriller, fast pace, well written characters, lots of intrigue and suspense and of course, twists and turns and misdirection. I loved the friendship between the three central characters and how that pulls them together when tragedy strikes despite how many years have passed since they’ve been part of each other’s lives. This is the kind of thriller that leaves you with more questions than answers and the truth it not revealed until the final hour. Did Richard kill Mr Wilson and if so why? Did Richard kill Graham all those years ago and if so why? If Richard is innocent who is the killer and why are they framing him? I got pull in every time I picked up the book and didn’t want it to end. I had no idea who the killer was which is a good thing. This is a top-thriller.

Harry, Richard and Paige are childhood friends, sharing more than their share of secrets. Now after 20 years Harry returns from Canada to Macklebury, when Paige calls him with the news of Richard's arrest for a murder.

The town Harry left seems almost the same and now he and Paige re-visit the murder of their fellow student, whose body was discovered by Richard.

The book is too slow in the first half and I almost gave up on it. Didn't feel the thrill.
Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC

Having not read any Kerry Wilkinson previously, I am uncertain of how reflective of his story telling is of this stand-alone new release. It is a difficult book to categorise as it’s really about three school friends who come together after years apart due to one of them being charged with murder. The past features prominently as the mystery unfolds, but they are no longer the same people. Whilst repercussions reveal new truths and old injustices, the overall effect is somewhat lacklustre. The suspense and action never reach much of a highpoint, yet the narrative is interesting enough. Only a two-and-a-half-star rating. As an independent reviewer, my thanks to the author for a copy gratis prior to publication. All opinions expressed herein are freely given and totally my own.

First, I want to thank Kerry Wilkinson, Bookouture and NetGalley for providing me with this book so I may bring you this review.

Congratulations to Kerry Wilkinson for having The Blame be the 30th book he has written be published by Bookouture. No other author has achieved this success prior!!

Kerry based his story in Canada and listed various streets and landmarks. I spent a lot of time growing up in Canada for medical reasons but fell in love with the area. Reading all the places he mentioned I remembered many of the landmarks fondly. Thanks for taking me down memory lane.

Kerry makes a powerful statement that is so incredibly true and so meaningful. How there is something about a childhood best friend that never leaves a person.

The Blame deals with murder, bullying, cancer, being homophobic, gambling, taboo affair, etc.

I too would be in shock had I found out my best friend from childhood killed someone.
I wouldn’t know what to think!

Kerry had me cracking up laughing saying that Brothers and Sisters who call each other best friends are truly the weirdest people around. Siblings were never meant to be loving towards each other. They were meant to argue and torment.

I found the articles of what happened that night Richard killed his head of class very interesting.

Note to self look for Ben and Jerry’s Salted Caramel Brownie next time I go to the store! Salted Caramels are my weakness!

In two separate situations the revelations of Wilson and Paige totally shocked me. I didn’t see either of those coming. My mind was blown.

WOW!! Now that was one jaw dropping shocking climatic ending that came out of nowhere! It was vivid, graphic and detailed and just WOW! What a way to end a story!!

A truly addictive read!

Harry is living in Canada when he gets a call from his best friend in childhood in England, informing him his other close friend has been arrested on a murder charge. Harry immediately goes back to England to join forces with her to help clear his name. However, this also brings to the forefront an unsolved murder from 20 years ago, where he discovered the body of a classmate in an unsolved crime and where he kept a vital secret. Who can he trust now? Will blame fall on him as he digs up the past?

I read this in virtually one sitting bar food as the easy reading style had me totally addicted, and I needed to know what had happened. A great story that is very well told, and it’s clear to see Harry’s struggle as he tries to reform relationships with people that life has changed. At times this had me guessing what might happen, as well as fearing what might happen next. A real emotional roller coaster and a great, but sad, ending.

I have to say one of the most engrossing stories I have read in recent times. What a journey and I strongly recommend it. Not read other books by this author but I will definitely be correcting this. I would like to say thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing a copy of this book to me for an open and honest review.
I also want to say thank you to the author for such a great all-engrossing story. 5 stars!

THE BLAME; A DARK MURDER MYSTERY
If you enjoy slow burning thrillers, you may fancy reading The Blame, the new novel from Kerry Wilkinson. Only published on 16th February 2021, this is a read that interweaves the legacy of childhood friendships and small town dynamics with long held secrets and murder.

It is the story of Harry, Paige and Richard who thought they would be friends forever. But then one day on their way home from school, Harry and Richard take a shortcut and discover a dead body. Graham, a boy in their year has been murdered.

Almost twenty years on with Graham’s murder still unsolved, Harry is now living in Toronto, thousands of miles away from his small hometown of Macklebury. Out of the blue he receives a phone call from Paige telling him that Richard has been accused of the recent murder of one of their old teachers.

Even though he doesn’t really know Richard as he used to, Harry returns home to Macklebury to ‘support’ his old friend.

For me The Blame is an interesting read, especially the exploration of the small town dynamics. Even though in my view as a reader we never really get to know Harry, for me the claustrophobia he feels in returning to Macklebury is visceral. I feel that this was cleverly portrayed and I really empathised with Harry about this.

However I would have been keen to explore Harry, Paige and the other characters more throughout the narrative. As a reader there is a lot that we never found out. For me this was a tad frustrating.

I quite enjoyed this book and read it over two days. I also never worked out the ‘who dunnit element’ and was suprised by the ending – it was a twist that worked well. As I say The Blame is a slow burner, but if I’m honest, for me it was a bit too slow at times.

3.5 stars

The Blame by Kerry Wilkinson is a psychological thriller.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Bookouture, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis:   (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)

Harry has been living in Toronto for many years, but when Paige asks him to return to England because their friend  Richard has been arrested and accused of murder, Harry boards the next flight. Harry, Paige and Richard have been friends since childhood, and although Harry has had little to do with either of them for many years, it seems the right thing to do.  He and his wife are recently separated, and getting away is probably for the best anyway.

But Harry returns to a small town he barely recognizes, and friends he barely knows, much less understands.  Paige is insistent that Richard is innocent, and it is up to them to find the truth.  But Paige has changed, and Harry wonders if she has more secrets that she isn't sharing.  Richard, too, is not telling him everything.  For a small town, there are a lot of secrets.

It is bad enough that Richard is being charged with murder, but now there is talk about the body that Harry and Richard found when they were teenagers.  People are saying Richard killed him too.

Harry is struggling to figure out who to believe.


My Opinions:   

The book is about family, and life-long friendships, and change.  It is more of an emotional book than a thriller.  I'm not sure that any of the characters led particularly happy lives,  and in one way that was depressing.  The characters were very believable, but none of them were very appealing.

The actual plot was really good, yet it seemed very slow.  There was no excitement, no thrill, yet there was some suspense.

I still thought this was a good book.  I just wish I could have liked one of the characters.  I thought it ended well.

Harry, at a crossroads in his own life, returns home to England after a childhood friend is accused of murder. This whole part seemed really odd. He couldn't do anything to help his friend and hadn't been back in over a decade. I never felt the separation from his wife was sufficient impetus. So to start off, it all felt a bit off kilter. This book didn't pull me in the way I think it should have. Otherwise, the story was interesting and came together nicely. Though since it was told only from Harry's point of view, some of the character background was limited. I could have used more of that. I guess it comes down to it being a good read but I want just a bit more.

Harry lives in Toronto, recently separated from his wife, Laine. He gets a call from his childhood friend, Paige, who still lives their hometown in the UK. She tells him that their friend and her brother-in-law, Richard, has been arrested for murder. Richard’s brother, Oliver, is Paige’s estranged husband. Paige and Harry lived next door to one another all their lives and were very close friends. So, when Paige asks Harry to come back to help their friend, Richard, he agrees.

When they were young children, Richard and Harry happened upon the body of their mutual friend, Graham, who had been murdered. The murderer was never found but some people thought Richard may have killed him. Now that he has been arrested for murder, people are convinced that he also killed Graham.

Thus, Harry and Paige put on their sleuth hats to try and figure out what really happened so they can prove Richard’s innocence.

The story takes place just before Christmas and the weather is bitter. The descriptions of it made me want to grab a sweater. We see the grittiness of the town that has seemed to crumble since Harry left 20 years ago. So many homeless people line the streets and doorways of shops that don’t appear to do much business. These conditions are articulated very well by the author. Even with all of this, I cannot say that I really enjoyed the story. This is the fourth book I have read by this author and I have enjoyed two of them. Unfortunately, this one falls in with the other not enjoyed one. But, if readers like a good mystery and enjoy trying to put two and two together to figure it out, I’m sure they will enjoy this book.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This psychological thriller by Kerry Wilkinson features three people who were friends 20 years ago. Back then, Paige, Richard and Harry thought they would be friends forever, but one day, Richard and Harry decide to take a short cut home from school, something they ordinarily do on the nicer days. This particular day, however, turns out to be far from ordinary as they discover the dead body of another school pal, Graham Boyes in the undergrowth on a disused railway line. 2o years on, in Toronto, Canada, Harry takes a phone call from a frantic Paige advising him that Richard has been arrested for the murder of their former head-of-year, Keith Wilson. Richard and Wilson were seen arguing outside a hotel which was the venue of a school reunion event. Harry returns to his hometown of Macklebury to help Paige prove Richard's innocence, but doubts start to surface especially when the police bring up the death of Graham Boyes.

Told from Harry's point of view, I loved how the story was constructed and Kerry Wilkinson displayed remarkable character development skills whether or not you loved or loathed the characters. Harry returned to the place he grew up, somewhere he thought he still had a deep-rooted connection with and found his family lacking in their welcome of him. His feelings of no longer fitting in, and where everything, yet nothing has changed was masterfully captured and conveyed. There was a palpable claustrophobic vibe to the story and whilst Wilson's murder was the current investigation, the focus shifted towards Graham's as the community of Macklebury voiced their concerns and shared their opinions.

The Blame was an extremely compelling mystery-thriller that saw me whipping through the pages faster and faster. I enjoyed the air of mystery surrounding both deaths as I questioned who was the guilty party. The last part of the story was action-packed and satisfying.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Bookouture via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

The Blame is a story about a town in the UK named Macklebury. It’s a story about three lifelong friends. It’s about knowing those friends and being there when you need them. Paige calls Harry to tell him that Richard has been arrested for murder. Harry jumps on a plane right away to support Richard. Harry finds that twenty years away from Macklebury has changed Paige and Richard. Paige isn’t who he remembers. Harry is left with more questions than answers.

The blame moves quickly it’s a fast story with a great storyline. It’s a suspenseful mystery that I thought I had figured out but the ending surprised me. Thank you to @bookouture and @netgalley for my advanced copy.

This book has a lot of twists! Harry is living in Canada when he receives a call from Paige telling them that a childhood friend had been arrested for murder. Harry returns to the UK to help prove his friend”s innocence. Harry and Paige take a walk down memory lane to find out if a tragedy from the past is linked to the current murder. The trip is sometimes happy, sometimes sad. People change. Then they change again. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Blame is the latest Kerry Wilkinson thriller and returns to two decades ago when three friends were merely classmates, hanging out, growing up and then seemingly bonded together by a tragedy that befalls them. It revolves around school friends Paige, Harry and Richard who were so inseparable that they were seen more as siblings than mates as one was very rarely seen without the other two in tow. It opens on a Sunday morning in Toronto, Canada, and Harry Curtis is waiting in line for a spot of breakfast when he receives a call. It's from Paige Whiteside, married to Richard Whiteside's older brother, Oliver, who is frantic and informs Harry that Richard has been arrested for the murder of their former head-of-year, teacher Keith Wilson. She asks him to return to their old town and less than a day later Harry is back in Macklebury. Richard had been seen outside of a teacher's reunion at The Pines Hotel arguing with Wilson shortly before he was murdered. But as Paige and Harry dig deeper to try and prove Richard's innocence they begin to question it themselves and the police bring up the death of one of their peers eighteen years earlier. Harry and Richard had discovered the body of Graham Boyes after taking a different route home from school that day.

Ever since their innocence has been questioned by many, including rumours running rife on the Macklebury Facebook community page. Can they prove Richard's innocence or will they learn more about each other that fills them with doubt? What exactly happened that day all those years ago and who brutally killed Mr Wilson? This is a riveting and addictive drama that explores whether we can really, truly know who our friends are and what they would and wouldn't do; it had me reading through until dawn as I simply couldn't put it down. I was absolutely captivated and engrossed by this book and it had a deeper emotional side to it rather than just being an unfeeling thriller as some often are. Paige, Harry and Richard are interesting and engaging characters who are developed superbly and have a lot to prove to both themselves and the wider community. Well written, and with enough going down to keep you ravaging the pages, I found the dialogue realistic and the interaction between characters believable. Twisty and unpredictable, compulsive and exciting, this is a must-read for those into unique thrillers filled with drama, intensity and more action than you can shake a stick at. Highly recommended.

Absolutely unputdownable. A stunning, enthralling, brilliant book. This author always delivers, each book thrilling and transporting. And with this one he has excelled himself, raised the bad of perfection. Just wow! Do read this one.

I'm a big fan of this author and I have loved all his books. This one wasn't his best work. The pacing is incredibly slow. I couldn't get invested in the characters. I figured out the killer from the past very early on but not the why. This one was missing the tension I've come to expect from a Kerry Wilkinson book. I hate to say it but I got so bored I skipped ahead 10 chapters. And I honestly don't feel like I missed anything, I wasn't lost.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

I have been binging on rather a lot of crime thrillers over the last year or so and have found that many follow a rather predictable pattern - this one was rather different though, as the story was told through the eyes of the defendant’s friends. It quickly became apparent that this group of friends were going to be intertwined with the recent murder of their former teacher, and a fellow pupil, twenty years previously.

‘Richard, me and our friend Paige spent almost all our time together then... If the three of us weren’t doing something together, then two of us would be.’

Whilst Harry, the narrator, is himself rather nondescript, as is Richard, the defendant, I did like the character of Paige. She is much more complex than her two friends, and set up a series of red herrings linked to her rather complicated life. I found it rather odd that we hear so little from Richard in this book, and this meant that the two sleuthing friends went a little Nancy Drew in places, especially in the beginning.

There were some good twists in this towards the end, and although the rather small collection of named characters doesn’t leave much room for guessing who the murderer(s) might be, I was unable to guess their motives, although all of the clues had been there all along, which is something that I really like in a crime novel.

Overall, this was an entertaining read and I’d read others by the same author. It’s not too taxing, but I’d certainly put her on my holiday reading list when we can finally fly away somewhere again.

The Blame is the first book I have read by Kerry Wilkinson and I absolutely loved it.
The story tells of 3 people who have been friends since school who are trying to solve two murders. There are twists and turns throughout and just when I thought I had figured things out there was another twist that made me realise I was totally on the wrong track. I did not see the ending coming at all which is what I love - I want to be kept on the edge of my seat to the final page and this book did this.
I highly recommend The Blame and I will definitely be reading more books by Kerry Wilkinson in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC.

Another great book from Kerry Wilkinson.
Paige, Harry and Richard were very close friends at school but over the years have drifted apart.
Harry now lives in Canada and receives a phone call out of the blue from Paige. She tells him that Richard has been arrested for murder but has little details so Harry drops everything and flies to the UK.
When he arrives there’s still little else known other than it was their head of year, who has been killed.
Harry and Paige can’t bring themselves to believe Richard killed someone but the Police also bring up the death of a teenager while they were at school. This is made worse as it was Richard and Harry who found the body.
There’s lots of secrets and revelations in this book and I had no idea who the killer was.
It’s a very cleverly written book as it leads you down one path, and then flips it when you think you’ve worked it out.
This is a brilliant thriller that will have you well and truly hooked.
Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.