Today its my turn on the blog tour for The Girl In the Van by Helen Matthews in behalf of Rachel’s Random Resources. Thanks to both Rachel and Darkstroke Books for the copy of the book to take part today.
A tormented mother. An abandoned girl. A deadly game of survival.
What happened to Ellie?
Traumatised by events, Ellie’s mother, Laura, can’t bear to stay in the Welsh seaside town where she lives with her partner, Gareth. She escapes to London, breaking all ties with him, and refusing to tell anyone her new address.
After two years of living alone and working in a mundane job, Laura buys an old campervan and joins a singles holiday. Here, she meets Miriana, a teenage girl who bears a chilling resemblance to Ellie. As Laura uncovers Miriana’s story, she’s shocked by the parallels to her own life.
But stories can be dangerous, and someone out there will stop at nothing to prevent the truth about Ellie from coming out…
A psychological thriller from Helen Matthews, an author who also wrote Façade. I read and blogged that book which I found to be a fantastic read. I wondered if she would have managed to keep the same quality to her work with this book. Off course it was a silly thought! I found this book to be, again very skilfully written.
The Girl in the Van is another story that brings real world issues and problems. Helen Matthews handles these so sensitively and with respect, as I found with Façade too. We meet Laura whose experienced a great loss. She has left her life behind and now bought a campervan and joins a singles holiday. She meets Miriana, a teenage girl who reminds her of her lost daughter. As Laura learns more about Miriana she sees the similarities between them.
Helen Matthews characters are just as believable as they were in Façade. Their back stories all build up as the story develops. The way they acted really rang true. I connected with Laura being a mother myself quite quickly.
A fast paced story that grabbed me immediately, it seems Helen Matthews writing has that effect on me. The themes range from dealing with grief, the breakdown of relationships and moving forward from that. We do deal with drug running too, the county lines issues that are prevalent in todays world. Hard hitting but subjects that should be out in the world to speak freely. Instead you hardly hear those words county lines in relation to drugs. Helen Matthews always brings challenging material and that deserves a 5 star review just for that alone.
With twists and turns that make for a suspense filled mystery that I read at breakneck speed. Helen Matthews is an author that has now cemented her position as one of my top ten writers. I do look forward to her next book. A highly recommended read to anyone who loves a great suspense filled thriller.
Purchase Link mybook.to/thegirlinthevan
Author Bio
Helen Matthews writes page-turning psychological suspense novels and is fascinated by the darker side of human nature and how a life can change in an instant. Her fourth novel The Girl in the Van, a suspense thriller with dark contemporary themes will be published by Darkstroke Books in March 2022. Previous novels include After Leaving the Village, which won first prize in the opening pages category at Winchester Writers’ Festival, and was followed by Lies Behind the Ruin, domestic noir set in France, published by Hashtag Press. Her third novel Façade was published by Darkstroke in September 2020.
Born in Cardiff, Helen read English at the University of Liverpool and worked in international development, consultancy, human resources and pensions management. She fled corporate life to work freelance while studying for a Creative Writing MA at Oxford Brookes University. Her stories and flash fiction have been shortlisted and published by Flash 500, 1000K Story, Reflex Press, Artificium and Love Sunday magazine.
She is a keen cyclist, covering long distances if there aren’t any hills, sings in a choir and once appeared on stage at Carnegie Hall, New York in a multi-choir performance. She loves spending time in France. Helen is an Ambassador for the charity, Unseen, which works towards a world without slavery and donates her author talk fees, and a percentage of royalties, to the charity.
Social Media Links
Twitter – https://twitter.com/HelenMK7
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/helen.matthews7
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/HelenMK7Writer/
Website – https://www.helenmatthewswriter.com
sharonbeyondthebooks.uk 