ARC Review: The Girl in the Picture by Kerry Barrett

Recommended Read!

“This is my first read from Kerry Barrett, but I don’t think it will be my last…”
~ Under the Covers

East Sussex Coast 2016 – Ella Daniels has given up her safe life as an accountant to pursue her career as a thriller writer full time. So, her and her family have moved from London to the coast on a house overlooking the sea. However, Ella soon hears the rumours of a mysterious murder and a missing girl and she can’t concentrate on her new novel until she gets to the  bottom of the tragic case.

East Sussex Coast 1886 – Eighteen year old Violet Hargraves aspires to be a painter, however, her father insists that it isn’t proper and instead she should marry. However, when the naive Violet meets the handsome and older man Edwin, her new neighbour, he offers her the chance to make her dreams of becoming a painter real. As Violet starts to fall under his spell she gets a warning from the most unlikeliest place…his wife.

This is my first read from Kerry Barrett, but I don’t think it will be my last, she sucks you in as the tale unfolds told from two points in time; present day from Ella’s point of view and then back in 1886 as Violet first meets Edwin and events start to unfold. The Girl in the Picture did a great job in pulling you in, feeding you parts of the past as Ella slowly starts unravelling the story from the present, so although you may guess what has happened you can’t be entirely sure until you reach the end.

It was also a bit of an emotional journey, Ella starts to learn about Violet’s life and starts to sees parallels to her own history, which forces her to face some emotional baggage she’s been hauling around since childhood. Towards the end of the book when the whole mystery unravels and you learn the full extent of the tragedy…I admit, I may have shed a few tears, there was no ugly crying but it was a bitter sweet poignant moment.

I really enjoyed this book I really liked how well Barrett balanced the two separate timelines and the intrigue of the mystery with the more human story of Ella and Violet.

[about-author author=”Kerry Barrett”]

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