Wednesday 13 June 2018

The Brighton Mermaid by Dorothy Koomson





Teenagers Nell and Jude find the body of a young woman and when no one comes to claim her, she becomes known as the Brighton Mermaid. Nell is still struggling to move on when, three weeks later, Jude disappears.

Twenty-five years on, Nell is forced to quit her job to find out who the Brighton Mermaid really was – and what happened to her best friend that summer.

But as Nell edges closer to the truth, dangerous things start to happen. Someone seems to be watching her every move, and soon she starts to wonder who in her life she can actually trust…

Fast-paced and thrilling, The Brighton Mermaid explores the deadly secrets of those closest to you.


Title: The Brighton Mermaid
Author: Dorothy Koomson
Published By:  Century
Publication Date: 17th May 2018
Links:  UK:  Amazon       US: Amazon
                      Waterstones
                      WH Smith


Our Review

Wow this is one of the best books I've ever read.
It was mesmerising from beginning to end and the momentum of the plot raced along with intrigue and suspense in equal measures.
The story is told by alternating chapters between Nell and her sister Macy and also alternates between the present day and to the time of the discovery of the body, along with flashbacks to other occasions.
As a teenager Nell and her best friend Jude discovered the body of a girl on Brighton beach. The unidentified girl soon became known as The Brighton Mermaid due to a defining tattoo on her arm and the case remained unsolved even after 25 years.

I found the premise of the story absolutely fascinating as Nell spent most of her time trying to find out who the Brighton Mermaid was and what happened to her.
Also the fact that Nell and Jude's lives were changed so dramatically after this incident mostly due to the reaction of the police which involved racism towards them and their families. One nasty piece of work in particular called John Pope was determined to destroy them.
To say this book was unputdownable is a complete understatement, I enjoyed every last word of it and the book itself was so thick and felt great to be immersed in.

Nell is a flawed but immensely likeable character and I felt so sad for her for the way she was treated. The author has been very perceptive in relaying the feelings of teenage insecurities and how unkind words said to a teenager can have a profound affect on the rest of their life.

Dorothy Koomson is one of my favourite authors and this has become my favourite of all of her books. I see this as a blockbuster film or series on a par with Big Little Lies. I want to shout from the rooftops BUY THIS AMAZING BOOK!!!

Sincerely
Book Angel x

About the Author













Dorothy Koomson is the award-winning author of 14 novels and has been making up stories since she was 13 when she used to share her stories with her convent school friends. Her published titles include: The Friend, When I Was Invisible, That Girl From Nowhere, The Flavours of Love, The Woman He Loved Before, Goodnight, Beautiful and The Chocolate Run.

Dorothy’s first novel, The Cupid Effect, was published in 2003 (when she was quite a bit older than 13). Her third book, My Best Friend’s Girl, was selected for the Richard & Judy Summer Reads of 2006 and went on to sell over 500,000 copies. While her fourth novel, Marshmallows For Breakfast, has sold in excess of 250,000 copies. Dorothy’s books, The Ice Cream Girls and The Rose Petal Beach were both shortlisted for the popular fiction category of the British Book Awards in 2010 and 2013, respectively.

Dorothy’s novels have been translated into over 30 languages, and a TV adaptation loosely based on The Ice Cream Girls was shown on ITV1 in 2013. After briefly living in Australia, Dorothy now lives in Brighton.

For more information on Dorothy Koomson visit www.dorothykoomson.co.uk

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