#BlogTour Five Bad Deeds – Caz Frear

ONE WOMANS SECRET
TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY
THREE DEADLY BETRAYALS
FOUR POTENTIAL SUSPECTS
FIVE BAD DEEDS
 
Ellen Walsh has done something very, very bad. If only she knew what it was . . .

Teacher, mother, wife, and all-around good citizen Ellen is juggling non-stop commitments, from raising a teen and two toddlers to job-hunting, to finally renovating her dream home, the Meadowhouse. Amidst the chaos, an ominous note arrives in the mail declaring:

SOONER OR LATER EVERYONE SITS DOWN TO A BANQUET OF CONSEQUENCES.

Why would someone send her this note? Ellen has no clue. She’s no angel – a white lie here and there, an occasional sharp tongue – but nothing to incur the wrath of an anonymous enemy.

Everyone around Ellen – her husband, her teenage daughter, her sister, her best friend, her neighbours – can guess why, though. They all know from bitter experience that while Ellen’s intentions are always good, this ultimately counts for very little when you’ve (unintentionally?) blown up someone’s life. Could the five bad deeds that come to haunt Ellen explain why things have gone so horribly wrong?

As she races to discover who’s set on destroying her life, Ellen receives more anonymous messages, each one more threatening than the last . . . and each hitting closer and closer to home and everything she cherishes.

This book is a big YES from me. I adored the style of writing, the plot development and the excellent range of characters. Right from the beginning, and I guess from reading the blurb, we know there are secrets lurking, waiting to make themselves known! It draws you in immediately and definitely ticks the box of a book which is a wretch to have to tear yourself away from!

The story is told through a number of different perspectives, which I love, and we see the disconnect between the “public facing” relationships and words and what they really think and feel behind closed doors. Ellen is an interesting character. She is a married mum with a testing teen daughter and twin boys and feels like she’s always running to keep up. One of her big projects is remodelling her new house and this is a source of annoyance to others. She can be a little self centred and irritate those close to her. Certainly she mortifies her daughter! Although some of her friends and family can be judgy, their lives are far from perfect and some of their choices can be questionable. I found some aspects of Ellen’s character quite relatable – certainly her people pleasing tendencies – hopefully I’m not too like her in all ways though!

I like reading the family dynamics and seeing behind the curtain – glancing in at these characters you might think they have their lives sorted but they very much don’t. There is chaos and resentment and old wounds fester. It’s addictive reading and I highly recommend for anyone wanting something to grip them and properly let them escape into someone else’s life and drama. I was delighted to discover I have Sweet Little Lies hiding in my bookshelf so it is being bumped up the queue now!

About Caz Frear: Caz Frear has a first class degree in History and Politics, and spent twelve years working as a headhunter before she started writing. She hasn’t lost her enthusiasm for networking, and is a popular member of the crime fraternity.  She lives in Coventry with her husband. Her debut, the number one bestseller Sweet Little Lies, was the winner of the Richard & Judy Search for a Bestseller Competition 2017 and went on to sell over 250,000 copies. It was followed by Stone Cold Heart and Shed No Tears, both of which feature her police detective Cat Kinsella. Five Bad Deeds is her first standalone thriller.