The book opens with Helen as a very confused young child sitting in the back of the car and wondering why her mother is acting strangely. She hasn't given Helen her epilepsy medication and Helen isn't feeling good at all. Helen then wakes to something utterly terrifying. Her mother is dead. The book then moves forward to the present time when Helen is a young woman and living in India. A visit from her step grandmother's solicitor prompts Helen to return home. The old woman isn't well and though there's no love lost between them, she is compelled to go home when she hears news of the release of her mother's murderer. 

Helen is so intent on revenge that it becomes her sole focus, yet things don't go according to her plans and Helen ends up living under the same roof as Fay the woman who she feels destroyed her life. And as if there wasn't enough complication in Helen's life including strained and toxic family dynamics, throw into the mix the lovely Jason and this book offers up so much in terms of romance, thrills, mystery and crime!  However, there's so much mystery around her mother's death that Helen finds more answers than questions and her focus does shift towards solving the big question - what really happened to her mother?

The author has certainly tackled the issue of epilepsy well and the impact it can have on those living with the condition. My own daughter has epilepsy so I was curious to see how the author could write about the strains both emotional and physical that sufferers live with. I'm pleased to say it was very well done.

I'm always interested in books that explore difficult pasts and family breakdown and in Helen's case, total abandonment. Not only did the trauma in her early life have a massive impact on her but the relationship or lack of with her family left her searching for a sense of identity through her formative years and beyond. Her feelings of loneliness for me were palpable and this added a real emotional element to balance all the anger that she projected.

There are an interesting mix of characters in the book and all add so much depth to the story. Everyone has their own battles and demons, not least Jason who fights so hard to distance himself from his rather shady father. Given there are so many issues, thrills and a good old mystery to keep any reader fully captivated, it was nice to have things soften a little with the very obvious attraction of both our main characters towards one another, despite both doing their best to fight it. Helen in particular lives life in constant survival mode and who could blame her! 

An exciting and well written book. Definitely a recommended read!