Slick Suspense….
A slick and smartly crafted suspense which starts with a situation that pulls in the reader from the off and continues with an underlying, simmering menace and a well plotted storyline. The premise is certainly intriguing and, in this case, it delivers in buckets. Who exactly is telling the truth here remains to be seen as the reader is pulled one way and another through a tumultuous narrative to a, perhaps, startling denouement.

4-5 stars rounded up.

Two women walk into a lift/elevator at CDMI fashion Empire… sounds like the start of a stand-up comedians joke but the punchline of this one is that seven minutes later one of them is dead. The two women are Lucy Carter–Jones head of HR at the company and the other is intern Shay Lambert, drowning in debt with a relationship gone sour if not rotted. So what’s the story here then? It’s a simple premise (or is it?), murder or suicide, truth or fiction? The plot rises and falls like the proverbial lift/elevator they stepped into and only one stepped out of.

This is a character driven, slow burner mystery thriller that is riveting especially Shays story. Is she reliable??? The mood here constantly changes just as the investigating detectives Cruz and Riley’s does from suspicion to congeniality to hostility and keeps flip-flopping so you read on keen to get to the bottom of it. It becomes a battle between the corporate giant and an individual, David and Goliath scenario or cat playing with a mouse and you have no idea who will be the winner. The corporate version of events is driven by the men in designer suits who make your teeth clench and your fists curl with their smug power. You would just love them to be taken down a floor or three.

The book is very well written, it’s slick and smart with a plot that becomes very fishy if not positively stinky and reeking as it takes a dark unexpected direction. I don’t pretend to understand the US legalese but it doesn’t matter, in the same way you can relish a TV programme like Suits or The Good Fight, you can enjoy this tantalising conundrum. I enjoy the way it’s set out like a play in two acts and what a devious play it is as you try to figure out who’s play this actually is. The conclusion and epilogue are possibly a stretch but I like it as we move to game, set and match which is a very satisfying doozy.

Yes, this is another take on a locked room mystery but this one is elevated above the rest (sorry!). It’s clever, deliciously dark, some parts don’t sit easy as they’re not meant to but for me it’s one enjoyable ride/read.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Canelo for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

#SevenMinutesLater #NetGalley

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Pub Date 17 Feb 2022 | Archive Date 16 Feb 2022
Canelo
General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers
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Awesome.
Lucy is the envy of everyone who knows her. The career she’s worked hard for is flying and she always looks perfectly put together with her beautifully styled blonde hair and designer clothes. But nobody knows she’s harbouring a dark secret, one that would tear her family apart if it’s ever revealed. Shay is a hardworking young lawyer who’s been thrown a lifeline with her new job at Lucy’s company after being made redundant. She knows that she looks a little drab; she can’t afford to dress any better. But nobody knows that her problems run far deeper than money troubles. Her once perfect marriage has become dark and twisted, and she fears what her husband might do next. One fateful evening, Lucy and Shay walk into a lift. Seven minutes later, one woman makes a phone call, saying that the lift is stuck, and no, the other woman can’t come to the phone right now… When the doors open, one woman is dead. The survivor.
Thanks to NetGalley and Canelo for giving me an advance copy.

This is one of those novels with a premise which means you will just HAVE to read it.

Shay is a hard-working lawyer who finds herself in locked in a lift with a colleague, Lucy. Seven minutes later, only one walks out the lift......who walks out and why?

This had me hooked from the first chapter and didn't let go until the dramatic conclusion. This is one of those books that you will race through in a day or so, once you start put aside a few hours as you will not want to put it down.

This is my first novel from this author and definitely won't be my last.

Thanks to Netgalley and Canelo for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.