- Shadow of a Doubt by Michelle Davies -

Published : 12th November 2020

Publisher : Orion Publishing

Format : Kindle, Audio, Paperback

Genre : Thriller

Review #13/2021

{ 𝐚𝐝: 𝐩𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 / 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐜 }

* All words highlighted in Grey are affiliate links to either purchase from a range of sellers or links to the authors sites. Where ever possible I will try and provide different versions of the book on all purchase sites.

Synopsis

Twenty-five years ago my brother was murdered in my family home.

I was sent to a psychiatric unit for killing him.

The truth is, I didn't do it.

The whole world believed nine-year-old Cara killed her younger brother on that fateful night. But she blamed it on a paranormal entity she swears was haunting her house.

No one believed her and after two years of treatment in a psychiatric unit for delusional disorder, Cara was shunned by her remaining family and put into foster care.

Now she's being forced to return to the family home for the first time since her brother's death, but what if she's about to re-discover the evil that was lurking inside its walls?

Thank you @Orion for this stunning advanced copy and totally unputdownable read

My Review

Twenty Five years ago Cara Belling was accused of suffocating and killing her six-year-old brother Matty. She was just nine years old at the time but despite being sent away to a Psychiatric facility she always claimed her innocence, stating that it was a ghost called Limey Stan who killed her younger brother and haunted the family home and her for the past few months, sparking the town to become famous for the destination of the so called Heldean Haunting. Cara's parents stop visiting her after the initial visits and she is left alone. Two years later she is finally released and adopted out to a loving family far away from her family home.

Now, twenty five years later Cara has to return to her hometown of Heldean. She hasn’t been near her family home at all and refuses to think of her time there but her mother has died and her will demands that Cara attends so she travels with her adopted mother for support knowing that she will not be welcomed by her family or the residents of her old town. At the reading her aunt is very spiky, clearly her family still blame her for Matty death and wish her to be gone as soon as possible.

Things take a turn for the worst when Cara is left everything that her Aunt Karen believes she doesn't deserve and despite her aunts unwelcome and frosty attitude Cara decides she will go to her family home, sell it and get the hell out of there, because she is baffled why a mother who abandoned her has left her so much. But things do not go to plan and it isn't long before furniture starts to move when she is out of the room and the familiar creak on the stairs in the middle of the night makes Cara fear that Limey Stan has came back to finish off what he started all those years ago...

Alongside Cara's story you have her Aunt Karens perspective on what is happening and also her back story with her dead sister, clearly Anita wasn't as honest with her sister as she led her to believe.

Why I Loved It

I loved this book. I was totally freaked out by the creaking on the stairs and the strange paranormal activity.

This story is very cleverly written, the story slowly unfolds to you chapter by chapter making you question everything that you have read so far! I also loved the medical notes and newspaper articles in-between.

Full of twists, turns and unexpected revelations this is a great unpredictable read.