Six Wicked Reasons by Jo Spain ~ One Family…One Night…Ten Years of Lies #Psychological #Suspense @SpainJoanne @QuercusBooks

Author: Jo Spain

Performed by Aoife McMahon

Published January 2020 by Quercus

Category: Pyschological, Suspense, Family Drama, Mystery, Audiobook, Review

It’s June 2008 and twenty-one-year-old Adam Lattimer vanishes, presumed dead. The strain of his disappearance breaks his already fragile family.

Ten years later, with his mother deceased and siblings scattered across the globe, Adam turns up unannounced at the family home. His siblings return reluctantly to Spanish Cove, but Adam’s reappearance poses more questions than answers. The past is a tangled web of deceit.

Set in Spanish Cove, a small village on the west coast of Ireland, Six Wicked Reasons focuses on the dysfunctional Lattimer family. The story begins with a celebratory reunion on a yacht. Adam Lattimer, the son and sibling the family feared dead had returned after ten years. Nine people, including Frazer Lattimer’s fiancé, had boarded but only eight left the yacht alive. When Frazer’s body was pulled from the sea it was evident the blow to the back of his head had killed him.

Kathleen, a wealthy woman in her own right, and Frazer Lattimer, who quit work to manage his wife’s portfolio, had six children—James, Adam, Ellen, Kate, Clio and Ryan. When Adam disappeared ten years previously the impact on the family was huge. During that time Kathleen, who was devastated when Adam couldn’t be found, passed away. Frazer’s controlling, critical and sometimes sadistic nature had adverse effects on all his children. All but one left home as soon as they could. Now Adam was back. And Frazer was dead.

The narrative comes from the perspective of each sibling, covering their lives past and present. The brothers and sisters couldn’t be more different. Ellen, the eldest, is the only one still living at home. Clio was living under the radar in New York, James and Kate in Dublin. Ryan, a recovering addict, lives in Italy. Each of them had issues with their father and could have reasons to want him out of the way. Detective Rob Downes, an old friend of Clio’s, is investigating. With a confined suspect pool, he knows one of them killed Frazer, yet the evidence gathered doesn’t really push the case forward.

There’d been fireworks, earlier in the evening. The strains of music could be heard from the shore. Crates of champagne had gone on board, delicious canapés, everything to make it the perfect luxury night at sea.

It was a much-anticipated reunion.

A brother, who had vanished from their lives ten years ago, leaving untold grief in his wake, had come home.

The party to mark his return ended when a body was pulled from the water, already deceased.

As always, Jo Spain’s writing and plotting are excellent. There are unexpected reveals as the story unfolds from each of the Lattimer siblings’ timelines, giving a rounded picture of their feelings, the angst, secrets and lies, and how home life had impacted on them. Lots of emotions, including anger, guilt, revenge, are swirling around and all the time it was impossible to guess who did the dirty deed. Frazer is one of those characters who you’re not sad to see get his comeuppance. The pain he caused his family, and the delight he took in it, is very hard to comprehend.

An extremely twisty and entertaining listen, Aoife McMahon does a great job with the narration. The story threads all come together smoothly, culminating in a very satisfying outcome.

Book links ~ Amazon UK | Amazon US | Book Depository | Hive Books

About the Author

Jo Spain is the author of the Inspector Tom Reynolds series. Her first book, top ten bestseller With Our Blessing, was a finalist in the 2015 Richard and Judy Search for a Bestseller. The Confession her first standalone thriller, was a number one bestseller and translated all over the world.
Jo is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin, a former political advisor in the Irish parliament and former vice-chair of InterTrade Ireland business body.
She now writes novels and screenplays full-time. Her first co-written TV show TAKEN DOWN was broadcast in Ireland in 2018 and bought by international distributors Fremantle.
Jo lives in Dublin with her husband and four young children. In her spare time (she has four children, there is no spare time really) she likes to read. Her favourite authors include Pierre Lemaitre, Jo Nesbo, Liane Moriarty, Fred Vargas and Louise Penny. She also watches TV detective series and was slightly obsessed with The Bridge, Trapped and The Missing.
Jo thinks up her plots on long runs in the woods. Her husband sleeps with one eye open and all her friends have looked at her strangely since she won her publishing deal.

Author links ~ Facebook | Twitter 

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