This is an absolute must-read for thriller lovers such as myself. I am so lucky to have gotten an eARC and I will probably even re-read it before the release in 2025. I highly recommend and cannot wait to share this all over my social media.

Thank you to NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This murder mystery certainly kept me engaged and guessing. I initially suspected the murderer, but then I second-guessed myself, which is precisely what I desire when reading this genre. It challenges me to stay alert and attentive, and the author provides several helpful tips along the way. Well done to the author for crafting such a captivating read!

Jennie Whitmore’s family life fell apart when her photojournalist father was killed on assignment. A vulnerable teen she struggled to come with the grief; her mother resorted to the bottle, anything with a high alcohol content. Two weeks after her 18th birthday Jennie realises, she must escape this toxic environment if she is to succeed in life. She decides, with her best friend Hannah Jennings, to escape to London where Hannah’s mother now lives, and they can make a fresh start. Hannah will become a top fashion model, she already has a job lined up, and Jennie will become famous behind the lens like her father.

Jennie is all set at the bus stop, but Hannah is a no-show. It was a horrible rainy night, but she would never desert Jennie… Nobody knows where she is though, has she gone on ahead? Days pass the police become involved, but Hannah is marked down as just another runaway.
Thirty years pass, Jennie is a DI in the local force but hasn’t moved on from the events of that night. She has been unable to throw off the feelings of hurt and abandonment, to make new attachments, friendship or even find love with a partner. She hasn’t even left the small town where she was born. Instead, she has thrown her heart and soul into the job, great for the force but not healthy for Jennie as a person.

Jennie reluctantly goes to a school reunion and soon realises that she now has little in common with her former school friends. Their school is to be demolished thereby taking with it memories both good and bad, but the past seems a different world to Jennie.

When workmen find a body buried in the basement. Jennie is called to the site. Even though the remains are skeletal she recognises a locket, its Hannah. Jennie knows that police protocol deems she should step aside from the case, but she is determined to be involved, she owes it to Hannah and it is a way to atone for the guilt she feels about doubting her best friend.

Readers who like police procedurals will love this as it’s very much one, cleverly combining a cold case with a murder investigation. The cold case is that of Hannah’s disappearance and the original investigation into it. This is the clear starting point for the murder investigation; Hannah never moved on as they assumed. Before any new suspects can be considered they must eliminate those originally questioned, a relatively small pool of family, teachers and fellow pupils. This brings a tight, compact feeling to the story as the past is explained in questioning thirty years later. There is even a nod to tradition with the reveal which could easily be a variant from a golden age classic.

There are two strong themes within the storyline; firstly, that of friendship and family ties, secondly that life is short, and that opportunities must be taken. These are mainly seen from Jennie’s perspective, but as the story progresses the reader gets an insight into how the disappearance also impacted on the lives of her circle of friends the ‘Darkroom Crew.’

From the moment Jennie joins the reunion she can sense that friendship dynamic has changed over thirty years, as could be expected, but it seems that the rest of the ‘crew’ has kept in touch with each other and Jennie begins to wonder whether they were genuinely friends. She starts to see that what seemed so important then is almost trivial now as life experiences change perspectives along with her police work. As the investigation progresses, she even comes to question her closest friendship, that with Hannah, as she finds out things about her that she never knew. Self-doubt makes Jennie realise that she has put her whole life on hold for the past thirty years when she should have been chasing her eighteen-year old’s dreams. Now forty-eight it is probably too late…

Jennie is a surprisingly engaging central character. Initially we can see her as a staunchly loyal person dedicated to her job but willing to risk her career to get justice for Hannah. Then gradually the scales begin to fall from her eyes, and we can see she has been in a kind of stasis or arrested development, with part of her forever stuck in the past. She goes on a journey of self-discovery, albeit many years later than she should, but ultimately, she needs the sense of redemption.

The questioning scenes are particularly strong as the more robust questioning of the murder enquiry reveals piece by piece secrets from the past and modern lives not quite how they appear to be. All this questioning doesn’t slow the story down, there are few sidelines which keeps the pace brisk enough. There is even a sprinkling of danger as Jennie manages to attract a menacing stalker.

When it comes to nostalgia there are certain periods of our lives that stand out and the one where we move from school to adulthood is a key one and this story captures many of the feelings we had. There is even a nice playlist included so that the music of the period (mentioned in the text) can be experienced as you read along.

I would like to thank NetGalley for access to this book in exchange for a fair review.

I am a MASSIVE fan of M J Aldridge, he is one of my favourite authors and I completely freaked when I got accepted to read this ARC - thank you NetGalley and the publishers for giving me this opportunity. I loved this book, and I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn’t read it, for anyone is new to M J Aldridge please pick up his other books too! You will not be disappointed

I have to admit that I got this so wrong. I had an idea, but I was way off the mark. I’d love to tell you what it was, but that would be a spoiler of sorts, as in ‘it wasn’t that or even close’.

Hannah was Jennie Whitmore’s best friend. They had planned to run away to London together, get away from her alcoholic mum and Hannah’s violent dad and start a new life. Hannah with her beautiful face and long legs was going to be a model. But Hannah never showed and Jennie was bereft. Where was Hannah and why had she let Jennie down?

Thirty years later and Jennie is a senior police officer in the town where they both lived. But the school they attended, White Cross Academy, is about to be demolished. Then a body is discovered in the school basement and Jennie fears it’s Hannah. But when her heart-shaped gold pendant is found near the remains, Jennie knows it’s her. She didn’t abandon her best friend. She was murdered.

And so we go back and forth as Jennie has to interview the other members of the sixth form darkroom group, Lottie, Elliott, Rob and Simon, the friends who met in the basement in their final year at the school. Jennie was a keen photographer, having inherited a camera from her late father. Elliott helped her learn how to use it and develop the pictures she took. It was her pictures that Hannah used in her modelling portfolio.

But in order to remain in charge of the case, Jennie has to hide the depth of her involvement and friendships within the group. And she has to treat her old friends as possible suspects in Hannah’s murder. There were two original suspects – Hannah’s violent father and the creepy art teacher. Jennie wants it to be one of them, but she can’t be biased.

It’s a shocking story of murder, betrayal and secrets. How can this group of old friends that were so important to her in her teens be responsible for the death of her best friend? But did she ever really know any of them, even Hannah? I flew through the book over a weekend, determined to get to the truth. It wasn’t at all what I expected.

Many thanks to @Tr4cyF3nt0n for inviting me to be part of the #CompulsiveReaders #blogtour and to NetGalley for an ARC.

A mystery from the past that will affect Detective Inspector Jennie Whitmore’s present. As a teen, Jennie and her best friend, Hannah, were secretly leaving for London and a better future. That never happened as Hannah never showed up and was never seen again. Years later, Jennie is called to the destruction of the White Cross Academy where and a body has been found by the construction workers. She fears that the remains could belong to her best friend Hannah. Jennie now has a murder investigation to solve, but if her supervisor realizes that Hannah was her best friend, she may be removed from the case. She must get justice for Hannah. When they were teens, Hannah had stopped a bully from bothering her and had pulled her into Hannah’s established group of friends. She didn’t quite fit in, but she and Hannah had grown closer. Perhaps those friends may have more information, after so many years, that will aid Jennie in her investigation. When someone appears to be stalking and threatening her, will Jennie be able to find the killer before they end her and her investigation? I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (paytonpuppy)

M.J. Arlidge and Steph Broadribb are two authors whose books I love. So when I discovered they were due to co-author a standalone crime novel together, I jumped at the chance to read it.

The Reunion is set around a thirty year old mystery. What happened to Hannah Jennings on the night she was due to meet with best friend Jennie Whitmore? The plan was to run away together to London. But Hannah never showed. Not knowing what changed Hannah’s mind has moulded and shaped Jennie’s life since. Desperate to see her friend again she reluctantly agrees to attend a school reunion in the hope Hannah will be there. But she’s not. Seeing the small group she and Hannah used to hang around with stirs up other emotions and before long Jennie is swept up in memories of days gone by and a heavy dose of nostalgia. But by the next day, Jennie is regretting her decision to let go and live a little, particularly with a stonking hangover making itself known at every opportunity. However, duty calls as a Detective Inspector with the Major Crime Unit — straight to the basement of White Cross Academy, the school Jennie and her friends attended. Looking down into the shallow grave at the bones, Jennie is certain of one thing. She knows the reason Hannah didn’t meet her at the bus stop that night was nothing to do with Hannah changing her mind. She’s certain because the bones buried beneath pipework in the school basement are Hannah’s. Hannah never left White Cross Academy…

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. The Reunion is a well-written tale which pulls the reader into the story and keeps them there. I was intrigued to find out what had happened to Hannah and I found Jennie to be fascinating lead character. I felt for her on one hand, the more she discovered about her friends and their relationships, the more it became clear that Jennie’s memories weren’t quite as rosy as she had painted them to be. I also couldn’t help but suspect Jennie. Those slightly clouded, fuzzy memories, could there be more to them? I certainly wasn’t ready to believe that Jennie was completely innocent! There are quite a few characters in this book but it was easy to keep tabs on who everyone was and what their relationship/role was. As well as the small friendship group, there is also a team of detectives pulling the clues together. And despite being a standalone, the authors did a great job of giving the more secondary characters a voice and a personality. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed The Reunion. I thought the plot was strong, I thought the cast of characters all played their parts well and I liked how the tension built as I approached the denouement. An interesting lead character who manages to keep her connection to the victim under wraps for a surprising amount of time (and then convincingly persuades her DCI to keep her on the case!) really added to my overall enjoyment of the novel. One for the crime fans, that’s for sure. Add it to your reading list. You won’t regret it. Recommended.

I chose to read and review a free eARC of The Reunion. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

I have read M J Arlidge’s Helen Grace series and really enjoyed it so I had high hopes for this book. I was not disappointed. It had the same vibe that I get from the Helen Grace books; female detective with a messy life hiding knowledge from her team. I’m not a big reader of British thrillers but Arlidge is an author I enjoy. I have not read anything from the co-author, I like the way the mystery was built up, gathering little pieces at a time over the 8 day period. As with most thrillers, there’s a raft of unlikeable characters who could be the culprit.
I’d been reading a lot of romance so this was a breath of fresh air, and the something different I needed.

Thank you to Netgalley and the authors for the arc. This is my honest opinion.

It took me a while to get into this book even though the storyline was intriguing. Hannah finally laid to rest after disappearing 30 years ago, only to be discovered she had never left home, her killers finally brought to justice.

My thanks to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for giving me the opportunity to read an advanced digital copy in return for an honest review.

High school isn't the best time of everyone's lives. And The Reunion by M.J. Arlidge just goes to prove that.

The Reunion follows a small group of friends from White Cross Academy, but mostly Jennie Whitmore. A somewhat troubled childhood without many friends, she thinks she's found her best friend in Hannah Jennings and a place with some of her friends. But when Hannah disappears and is ruled a runaway, Jennie finds herself struggling to accept that her best friend would willingly abandon her.

Fast forward many years later - White Cross Academy is scheduled to be demolished so a reunion of classmates is planned. When a human skull is found in the basement prior to demolition, tension rises. When the skull is determined to be Hannah Jennings, everyone becomes a suspect.

In her years since high school, Jennie has become a DI and tells a few untruths in order to be involved in the case. Even once her relationship with Hannah comes to light, she manages to stay on the case. Jennie is determined to find out what happened to Hannah and bring justice to her friend.

But through the twists and turns, Jennie starts to realize that her best friend might not have been who she thought she was. And her group of friends might not have been true friends to Jennie. Through each revelation, Jennie becomes closer to the truth - but does she really want to learn the truth if it means some of the happiest memories of her life were built on a lie?

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for providing this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Both of these authors were new to me so I was looking forward to reading this as I’d heard good things about both of them.

I really liked Jennie and I felt for her trying to solve the case of her old school classmate whilst trying to keep from her colleagues just how close they were at school.

So many suspects and they all seemed to have something to hide, I kept switching back and forth with who I thought was the murderer.

It really cranked up the tension when Jennie was having up interview her old classmates/friends as part of the case. I really took a dislike to some of the characters.

I was totally shocked by the outcome and when the identity of the culprit was revealed.

Definitely recommend this fast paced thriller. I’ll certainly be reading book by both these authors in the future.

Thank you to Compulsive Readers for having me on the tour and to the publisher for the gifted ebook.

This was good. I had dreams about this book after I finished it.

Jennie’s best friend stood her up the night they were going to catch a bus out of town headed for London. She never heard from her. There were sightings of her. But no evidence she had left town. She just disappeared.

Jennie now is investigating a body found in the basement of her high school. Strange things start happening to her as she seeks answers for who was found and how they came to be there.

With many twists, we finally learn what happened the night her best friend disappeared.

I devoured this book! MJ Arlidge is one of my favorite thriller authors and I haven’t read anything by Steph Broadribb but I’m definitely going to change that.

This book took off from the very beginning and didn’t let go until the end. This book had me guessing at every turn on who could be the killer and I had no idea.

I loved the mystery in this book and how suspenseful it was.

I enjoyed this book overall. There was an “extra” storyline that felt disjoined and unnecessary for the plot… and I have to admit that the main character’s decisions drove me crazy though I did understand where she was coming from on it.

It's the day of the demolition at White Cross Academy, and a crowd of former pupils and teachers have gathered to watch. But as the final charges are laid in the basement, the crew make a shocking discovery - a human skull.

Former student DI Jennie Whitmore is assigned to the case, her first big murder investigation and one where there can be no room for mistakes. The remains are identified as Hannah Jennings, a popular, but troubled classmate who went missing during her lower Sixth year.

Another great crime read from this author who I find never disappoints. Lots of elements that build the intrigue including secrets, betrayals and lies, all the factors that enhance an exceptional plot and then with the addition of many interesting characters which aid in bringing the story to life. A very enjoyable read that I would highly recommend to all.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an advanced copy of the book, all opinions expressed are my own.

This was a fun read about digging for the truth to solve the disappearance of an old friend. Jennie Whitmore has the chance to solve the case after reuniting with her old friend group from 30 years ago. The characters were interesting, and I couldn’t guess the ending. This was a quick read and I really enjoyed it. Thank you to Net Galley for a copy of this book!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6827602468

I feel this had so much promise, but I just couldn't get into it. It was very slow paced to begin with, and honestly Jennie annoyed me aha! This was the first of these authors I'd read, but whilst it just wasn't for me, I'll definitely be giving more novels by them a go!

Love M J Arlidge's work and this is no exception though I haven't read anything by Steph Broardribb. For thirty years Jennie thought Hannah had abandoned her when they were leaving White Cross now her body has been discovered. Full of memorable characters, twists and turns, and it will leave you guessing till the end. Thanks to Orion Publishing and Netgalley for this review ARC.

Anything with M J Arlidge’s name is enough to make me want to read it. Brilliant writing and full of twists and turns. Highly recommended

This was a book that was difficult to put down. Jennie is a DI working with the police force in the local town that she grew up in. Once upon a time she had wanted to leave, but something happened at the end of her last high school exams that made her stay. She’s always had a feeling of being abandoned by her best friend. When a body is found at the local school, Jennie is in charge of the team solving the murder. Jennie has lots of feelings about the person who was murdered and the suspects as once upon a time they were her friends. Thank you to NetGalley for letting me read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.