The Murder of Graham Catton by Kate Lowe 4****1/2

Genre: Thriller

Pages: 448

Thank you #netgalley and #harpercollinsuk for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was published on June 10, so I'm a month late with my review.

Well, this has taught me not to request too many ARCs in the future....

Folks, I absolutely loved this little gem. Superbly well written, it's a slow-burn, clever, atmospheric and suspenseful thriller that gripped me from the start and questions everything and everyone.

Our main character, Hannah Catton, is a psychiatrist whose husband was stabbed to death in his bed one night. Hannah can't remember what happened that night, but when a suspect is found and convicted, she takes her six-year-old daughter and starts a new life, grateful that her abusive husband can never hurt her again. Now, 10 years later, her new boyfriend is about to propose to her when a true-crime podcast called Conviction decides to drag up her husband's horrific murder and prove that the man convicted of the crime is innocent. With each new episode of the podcast, new facts are uncovered from that terrible night and suddenly Hannah's life starts to crumble around her.

Right from the start, the question we readers ask ourselves is: Did Hannah kill her husband? This question will haunt you throughout the book and drive the entire plot. Because we don't know if Hannah really doesn't remember or if she's just faking it....

Again, give me a psychological theme and I'm in. This was a clever plot with interesting, if not always likeable characters.

I felt the pressure on Hannah as the story unfolded, could relate to her frustration and confusion. I could see why she would want to kill her husband, but I just couldn’t decide if she had! There are several subplots featuring a couple of her patients who commit suicide and her grandmother, who was placed in a local asylum many years ago for killing her husband and child. The same eerie asylum that is now empty and rotting and to which Hannah is drawn again and again throughout the story. How does it all come together? You’ll have to read it to find out!