B.M. Carroll – You Had It Coming

‘You Had It Coming’ by B.M. Carroll is a tense and twisty psychological thriller. A story set in Australia that I couldn’t put down from the minute I started it.

Megan Lowe, who is an experienced paramedic, is called to attend the scene of a shooting. As they arrive, the victim, William Newson, is unconscious and bleeding out quickly. Megan and her partner, Lucas, do everything they can for him. It’s only when they’re putting him into the ambulance that Megan gets a really good look at the man who is just hanging on by a thread And recognises him as the one who ruined her life. Megan rings Jess and tells her the shocking news. She’s stunned to hear her ex-friend’s view of the subject. Jess couldn’t have been involved, could she? As the investigation unfolds and the two women find themselves slap bang in the middle of it…everyone had a motive and he did have it coming…didn’t he?

A story told from three viewpoints, Jess, Megan and D.S Bridget Kennedy. We are thrown straight into it from the first chapter with the promise of secrets to be discovered. We discover that 12 years previously something that Jess and Megan never wanted to remember happened…. and William Newsome was connected. Bridget, the investigating officer provides the police viewpoint of the investigation. As she realises both Jess and Megan’s involvement the past is back with a vengeance. The character development is so well done, Bridget may be a policewoman but she has empathy towards these two women. She is a mother of two and B.M Carroll has personified her so skillfully. I think she was my favourite although I am a little torn between her and Jess. I admired how Jess had managed to discover a way to move on in her boxing.

As the story unfolds we see that the murder has much more than possibly two suspects, they are almost lining up for the honour. Showing us the ‘victim’ wasn’t really a nice man. I loved the twists and secrets of this book. As I read I was attempting to discover the killer and I found although I did work it out I still needed to make sure I was right and did not lessen my enjoyment of this story.

An author I have not read before and I so enjoyed this I am going to check out her other work. A great character-driven thriller that I would definitely recommend.

Thanks to Random Things Tours and Viper Books and NetGalley for the copy of the book.