The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena

I knew from the first page that this was going to be a great story; sadly this was because the writing was so poor it wouldn't have made it to print if it wasn't! It's not terrible writing (12k readers gave the book an average score of 3.8/5); it's just all plot with no imagery, very little description, and no concept of 'show don't tell'. It's also written in the present tense and seems to switch between third person omniscient and third person limited (sometimes we know what a character is thinking and sometimes we don't). I found the use of the present tense annoying, but as the story moved on I got used to it and I just wanted to know what happened next.

In the opening chapter,  Anne and Marco leave their baby at home while they attend a dinner party next door. They take the baby monitor and pop back every 30 minutes to check on the baby. When they finally arrive home at 1:30am, the front door is open and the baby is missing. The police suspect that Anne and Marco have either killed the baby by accident and they're trying to cover up, or they've arranged a kidnapping in order to secure money from Anne's wealthy parents. Anne's recent battles with post-natal depression and Marco's financial problems don't help their case.

Thankfully, you don't have to wait until the last 30 pages to find out what happened to the baby; that's revealed about half way through. The plot has lots of twists and turns; some parts of the ending surprised me and others didn't. Overall, I enjoyed the book. That said, I wouldn't rush to buy another by the same author. Below is an excerpt to illustrate the writing style:

"Anne has a complicated relationship with her parents. When Marco and Anne are having issues with them, which is frequently the case, Marco tells her that her relationship with them is f****d up. Maybe it is, but they are the only parents she has. She needs them. She makes things work the best she can, but it isn't easy." (p.32)

The Good Enough Mother by Anoushka Beazley

I'm very picky about what I read and usually read a lot of reviews before I buy a book. This is probably why I never seem to write a bad review. I found this book by looking through the book choices for the Poppy Loves book club. Groups meet up (IRL) all around the world to discuss Poppy's book of the month. They can read other groups' comments and pose questions for the author via the Poppy Loves Facebook page.

The sticker on the cover describes the book as "dark, gripping and laugh out loud funny". It's all of those plus it's really well written, the comedy coming more from Beazley's careful choice of language and imagery than from the situations themselves.

The protagonist is Drea. Her plans to kill herself are put on hold when her partner absconds to France with a bimbo, leaving Drea desperate to find the fees to pay for her stepdaughter Ava's private education. The story revolves around Drea's attempts to steal enough money to pay the fees and Ava's attempts to ingratiate herself with the school in-crowd. Meanwhile, Drea's elderly father has become addicted to Tamil porn!

The book manages to combine the dark humour of The Dressmaker (Rosalie Ham), the real life observations of Liane Moriarty, and the gritty characters of Gillian Flynn or J.K Rowling (her adult fiction). There are a few cliches e.g. Drea's baking not being good enough for the school bake sale, but  the quality of Beazley's writing makes the book unique. I loved it and hope she writes some more. Below is a taster...

"The morning spilt brightly into the room like a peppy girlfiend. September was unashamedly still in bed with Summer. Another wonderful day to be alive. Maybe I could make a noose for myself out of the curtains. Roll up, roll up, and welcome everyone to the greatest show on earth. Life? Bollocks. I had limited interest in life and even less interest in the school run. Or more accurately, I f******g HATED the school run." (p. 4).