BEDSIT THREE by Sally Jenkins

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE
On Goodreads HERE

Reviewed by me as a member of Rosie Amber's Review Team

A dark, fairly gritty drama with a side plot of insanity and murder - I enjoyed it!  It centres around Vesey Villas, an old house made up into seedy bedsits.  One occupant is Sandra, a single mother with her daughter, and a new arrival is Ian, an unemployed father who is hoping to get back together with his wife.  Sleeping in his car outside is the former resident of Bedsit Three, Ignatius Smith, who is eager to get back inside the building....

The novel is well written and nicely observed, the characterisation extremely good - I loved the parts about the increasingly disturbed Ignatius, and Sandra and Ian are both real and likeable, the sort of characters you root for.  The plot is perfectly paced, alternating between the three main characters, with no boring bits; I was not tempted to skip read at all, and read 80% of it in one sitting.

On occasion I felt the dialogue was a little unlikely, and I thought Ian's story was too speedily and rather drearily wound up in the epilogue (I hoped for so much better for him!), but these are my only complaints, and they are but minor.  I enjoyed the unfolding of Ignatius's story the most.

I think it would be enjoyed by anyone who likes a mild sort of contemporary thriller; it's very good.