SHAPE OF REVENGE by Georgia Rose @GeorgiaRoseBook #TuesdayBookBlog

 4.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: Recommendation from a trustworthy source!

In a Nutshell: Book 2 in the A Shade Darker crime thriller series, all set in the fictional village of Melton.

A Shade Darker is a great idea for a series - I believe there will be 12 novels, all stories being connected though each a stand-alone.  Quite a challenge for any writer; having not yet read Book #1, I am in the perfect position to confirm that, as far as Book #2 is concerned, it is one to which Ms Rose has risen admirably!

Shape of Revenge centres around Sharon Beesley, the owner of the local village shop.  She's a terrific character; horribly self-centred and self-righteous, blinkered, unable to 'read the room' whilst believing herself to be so perceptive.  She (thinks she) completely rules the roost in her household, with husband Eric tightly reined into humdrum subservience and daughter Daisy following whatever path Sharon deems suitable.  Of course, both Eric and Daisy have all sorts of stuff going on, not least of all in their individual heads, about which Sharon does not have a clue.

I so enjoyed reading the inner workings of Sharon's pernickety little mind; seeing a character's view of the world whilst knowing it to be utterly skewed is always so entertaining.  The book is most 'reader-friendly', flowing along in such a way that the pages just have to be turned.  I've noticed when reading another book by this author that she is a master of structure, revealing details at just the right time and making all events fit together perfectly.  This is so important in a book of this type, with its secrets, lies, smoke and mirrors, and themes of dastardly revenge, abduction and faked identities.

I don't know if this was intentional, but most of the way through, I felt that it had an element of dark comedy, a genre so popular at the moment with shows like Why Women Kill, You, The Flight Attendant and films such as Promising Young Woman.  The way that some of Sharon's antics were written, as well as those of secondary character Ella, definitely had this feel to it.  Somewhat tongue-in-cheek.  It worked, anyway!