‘The Woman In The Wood’ by M.K. Hill is the second crime thriller to feature D.I Sasha Dawson and my first M.K. Hill book. I found this story a very intriguing one as the plot is base’s around reality TV. I found this a refreshing theme, especially as reality TV is everywhere these days. It grabbed me anyway.
Laid in Essex is the show that M.K. Hill has made the ‘place to be’ in the Book. It isn’t that far removed from the shows we see. The main character is Abs, a former ‘Laid in Essex’ star. His success was almost instantaneous and he was riding high…until three years ago. Abs and three friends stayed in a remote cottage in Wales which ended up with a young woman going missing and he was seen as a suspect until the police found no evidence to go any further. His career obviously went downhill from there.
Alongside this reality TV plot, we also see DI Dawson’s almost chaotic family life. Her husband, who is recovering from mental health issues, her daughters who are pushing all the boundaries and her sister who could really beat the fragile reality TV stars in selfishness. All this is quite the opposite of reality TV personas who are all too wrapped up in feeling like they need to be relevant and up to the minute.
Back on the Reality TV front, Abs is in turmoil when one of his friends who was with him in Wales is killed. He feels that because of the events in Wales someone is picking them all of one at once
Abs for me, was a very insecure, self-centred young man. I wanted to slap him most of the time, so not a favourite character of mine. He did make me feel like he fitted the label of ‘reality star’ though.
M.K.Hill has made his characters believable, even if they aren’t on the nice side. D.I Dawson is a character I really warmed to, her chaotic family and having to unravel the mystery of who was killing men so violently as well. I wondered if she and her team would manage to solve it before Abs’s fear of his life would become reality.
A gripping and addictive read that had me curious as to what really happened in Wales and who was exacting revenge? The twists in the story made me even more impatient to conclude. All I will say is, it’s worth it.
A book I read as a stand-alone but I want to read the first book as well. This is a series that makes me want to actually know Sasha Dawson, as I really like her.
Thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours and Head of Zeus for the gifted copy of the book
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