Publication: 19th April 2018 by Orion
They say I’m a murderer.
Six years ago, Kate Reynolds was found holding the body of her best friend; covered in blood, and clutching the knife that killed her.
I plead guilty.
Kate has been in prison ever since, but now her sentence is up. She is being released.
But the truth is, I didn’t do it.
There’s only one person who can help: Private Investigator Madison Attallee, the first officer on the scene all those years ago.
But uncovering the truth means catching a killer.
I am so happy that this is the first book in a series, because I really enjoyed it and I am already looking forward to the next book.
Four women are the protagonists of this novel. Four women emotionally damaged with their secrets, their guilt, and their fears. But they are also strong, not afraid to stand up for themselves and the people they love, and I liked them all very much.
The first woman is Kate Reynolds. She just got out of prison after serving a six-year sentence for killing her best friend, Naomi Andrews. At the time, she had pleaded guilty, but now she is not so sure that she was the killer. Kate comes from a family with a history of mental illness. Her mother died when she was little and, growing up, she was often left alone. When reading from her point of view, she comes out as a good person, even if she may have killed her best friend. But I thought also that Kate was an unreliable character (I do love an unreliable character in thrillers). The night of Naomi’s murder, Kate was drunk and on drugs, so her memories were hazy and for half of the book I didn’t know whether to believe her or not.
Madison Attalee was one of first agents on the scene at Naomi’s murder. After being forced out of the police, she is now working as a PI, and Kate asks her to reinvestigate the murder. Madison accepts because she was never completely convinced that Kate was guilty. The series is based on Madison who I really liked because she is the character who feels more real. She is a complex character, flawed, and she has her own personal guilt to face and her troubled past to deal with (which I am not going to give away).
Kate’s family shut her out after she went to prison. Her father and her sister refused to talk to her or to visit her, while her brother Marcus just sent a letter every month. Now that she is out, Kate hopes to start fresh with her family, but the only one who seems to welcome her is her sister-in-law, Claudia. Although my favorite character is Madison, I found Claudia quite interesting. She thought she had the perfect husband with their perfect house and their perfect daughter, but she quickly learns that perfection comes to a price. She is stronger and smarter than she looks and she is like a lioness when it comes to protect her daughter.
Anthea Andrews’s life revolved around her daughter Naomi. She was her miracle baby, coming late in life, after years of trying. Her love for Naomi made her blind to her daughter’s true character and her death completely destroyed Anthea so, when Kate comes out of prison, her grief quickly becomes a desire of revenge towards the girl who took away her daughter, transforming Anthea in a very dangerous woman.
This is a dark suspense thriller full of twists that will make you gasp in surprise. The author explores themes that, unfortunately, are very common now, from dysfunctional families and mental illness to adultery, from domestic violence and abuse to alcoholism and, although there will be moments that will make you cringe, there are no gruesome details as the author focuses mostly on the feelings of the characters.
I liked the use of multiple points of view that change every chapter as it helps to build the tension which is always high. All in all, I, WITNESS is a haunting, gripping, and very well-written novel, and I’d like to thank Tracy Fenton and Orion for inviting me to take part in the blog tour and for providing me with a copy of the book.
Book After Book 