When She Was Bad by Tammy Cohen

When She Was Bad by Tammy Cohen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Publisher - Black Swan

Pages - 384

Blurb from Goodreads

YOU SEE THE PEOPLE YOU WORK WITH EVERY DAY.

BUT WHAT CAN'T YOU SEE?

Amira, Sarah, Paula, Ewan and Charlie have worked together for years - they know how each one likes their coffee, whose love life is a mess, whose children keep them up at night. But their comfortable routine life is suddenly shattered when an aggressive new boss walks in ....

Now, there's something chilling in the air.

Who secretly hates everyone?

Who is tortured by their past?

Who is capable of murder?


My review

The book opens up with Dr Anne Cater, her friend has messaged her to turn on the news, there has been a brutal killing by a seemingly normal person, but Anne knows different! The chapters are headed with an individuals name, next is Paula, surround by her colleagues, discussing their previous boss Gill being sacked and what she should do about it. It is a relatively small office and soon we are introduced to each of the characters, Amira, Sarah, Chloe, Ewan & Charlie. A close group until Gill is fired and Rachel Masters takes over, driven, harsh, mean and will use what she needs to to get results. The chapters flip between the characters, the events that lead up to the murder and flipping back to Anne, a child psychologist called in to assess a particularly harrowing case. As the book progresses we see the two story lines come together to leave the reader shocked and wanting more!

Ooft you thought you worked in a bad environment? Imagine being close to your colleagues only to find all it takes is a new boss and people you thought were your friends ready to screw you over for a promotion! Ridicule you to gain favour with the bosses boss or just wanting your job. This is what we find in this tale, a breakdown of friendships, a murder has been committed and your guessing throughout who done it and why. The murder itself, when covered is quite gruesome, some of the details Dr Cater discloses during her observations of her case are quite horrific to read, more so because children are involved.

It is a fast paced tale, not very likable characters and yet you are compelled to watch their relationships break down devouring page by page to find what happens next. Cohen creates dark and twisted tales that leave your skin prickled and feeling creeped out at how one individual can wreck so much havoc. This is certainly one of my favourite tales by this author, 4/5 for me this time, When She Was Bad is out to buy from the 21st of April 2016. Thanks so much to Netgalley and Black Swan for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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