Before You Were Gone

 

Third book in the series out from Canelo on 28th February

FFO: Marion Todd, Fiona Barton

Sheila Bugler returns with the third book in her Dee Doran series, Dee the intrepid reporter based in Eastbourne, who following the conclusion of the second book is now writing the non-fiction account of that escapade yet a family problem is coming to her attention.

Dee Doran is from an extended Irish family, her cousin Emer Doran's life was turned upside down by drowning of her sister Kitty. Yet twenty years later, Emer swears to have seen her on the London Underground - and believes her sister to be alive.

Dee jumps at the chance to help her cousin help locate this mysterious person; yet it is not the happy family reunion she was hoping for. Emer's family, her stepfather Robert O'Brien a prominent politician in the Irish Republic with aspirations of gaining the Presidency, endears to help and yet as always there is more than meets the eye.

As Dee attempts to untangle the elements of lies around her, she has to combat an old beau in the police force an amour she cannot shake, and the departure of her neighbours meaning the young Jake who will be leaving for Canada with her Mum, pastures new await them there while Dee must while away on the Sussex coast with worries of work and menopause.

There are elements of this work this reader enjoyed, the knowing nods to the difficulty of writing that Dee has is Bugler putting herself on the page for example and it is so rare to see a middle-aged woman be present in the centre of a narrative with all her worries there to help define her and not be defined by them.

However, unfortunately the narrative and plot was too convoluted and confusing on occasion and when reading on the kindle found it hard to grasp who was who, and who was telling the truth.

Not as strong an entry in the series as previous releases especially When The Dead Speak, yet Bugler has so much nous at her disposal as well as the ever interesting Dee that another book cannot be too far away.

Before You Were Gone is out from Canelo on 28th February on all formats.