The Life I Left Behind: A must-read taut and twisty psychological thriller Paperback – 13 Aug. 2015

This is a good thriller with a well-constructed plot that develops slowly, truth be told, but is read very quickly as it grips your attention and doesn't let go until you reach the end. I liked the fact that a dead narrator told us part of the story. It was a little confusing in the very first few pages, as I hadn't wanted to read the blurb on the back page but it soon became clear enough. The two lines on the cover ' I know exactly who attacked her... he's the same man who killed me' can't fail to intrigue the reader. So we find ourselves getting slowly acquainted with Melody, who was attacked and left for dead six years before, and has been unable to get her old life back. She's merely the shadow of her former self as the trauma erased all memories of the assault from her brain and as she finds herself unable to trust anyone. When Eve gets killed in the same way and her body dumped in the same spot, it might be time for Melody to try to face lifeagain. Especially when she is told that Eve had started on an investigation, aiming to clear the man who had spent five years in prison for a crime some think he didn't commit.There is a lot to like in that rather clever story and the psychological insights into the characters' make up is mainly good. I decided to deduct one star because I would have prefered it if the husband had been depicted as less of a moron, if the author had sometimes tried to avoid good old-fashioned clichés. One last point is that the list of possible suspects is so short that the reader can't fail to pin his suspicions on just the right person. It is nonetheless a book I devoured rather than read and is, in my opinion, really worth reading if one likes crime fiction.

I'm a little conflicted about this book because I enjoyed it enormously. McBeth is a really wonderful writer who uses evocative language, is easy to read and above all superb at setting a decent pace. The premise of the book was good too and I would say until about two thirds of the way through, when I figured out the whodunnit, I would have awarded it five stars. Unfortunately I feel the remaining third of the book let it down a little. Primarily because of the very tenuous motive for the murder/attempted murder. I finished the book wondering if I had missed out on some chapters but no. The book finished with a suitable ending per se but one is left wondering what on earth the point of it all was. It's a good book, and I will certainly champion McBeth but I feel the motive was baseless and their were too few characters for it not to be the obvious culprit. Worth the read though.

A good story but several flaws mean I can only give it 3 stars.The character of Eve is excellent and I was left with a genuine feeling of sadness that she was dead as she was portrayed as a very interesting person. However, it seems as though the author put so much effort into getting Eve right that every other character was neglected.Melody, the other victim, was portrayed more as an irritating whinger than a person for whom you might feel any sympathy and I was just sorry the murderer was unsuccessful. The character of the detective is badly underdeveloped and the lack of motives of the murderer or any real background for the murderer were obvious flaws. It was also really easy to guess who the murderer was.There were also very irritating plot holes - would the taxi driver really not have come forward? Would the original police investigation of the attack on Melody really have been of the standard of a bunch of teenagers playing at "cops"?I also found the later scenes between Melody and her husband totally unbelievable. There was a particularly jarring moment between the scene when he unexpectedly returns home to confront her in bedroom and the next scene in the kitchen with the undercooked fish when there is no explanation as to how her mood has changed so dramatically. It felt as if several paragraphs of exposition had accidentally been deleted!!Overall it's not a bad book but it certainly not the great piece of work some reviews suggest.

This books keeps you guessing until the very end. Mcbeth writes a great plot which unfolds before your eyes.A crime has been committed but by who and why? Two crimes exactly the same. With great twists and turns this book takes you on an exciting journey to the final truth!This book starts well and it ends well so why only three stars. As much as I enjoyed this book I found like others that the middle of this book was puffed and padded to death. There were so many unnecessary chapters which could have been edited out completely or maybe I'm just impatient in today's world. I found my mind drifting until finally towards the middle of the book it gets juicy again and I finish it in no time at all. I was not dissapointed by the story at all. There were times Melody's character became repetitive but as I said with so much padding you can't get around it.The ending was short I felt as though there should have been a 'one month later' ending chapter instead I was confronted with some almost humorous book club questions which rather than asking questions seemed to assume a point and ask you to magnify the written! Slightly silly.However overall I did like this book, the language is simple and it is easy reading one chapter to the next with headed sub titles on who is narrating the chapter.

Told through 3 of the characters - Melody who was left for dead but survived, Eve who was killed and Victoria Rutter the Detective working on the case. The story is well written and grips you as you work out who did it along with the characters. The only disappointment was the ending was abrupt after all the detail during the story.