A Face in the Crowd by Kerry Wilkinson

Ben spoke of weddings and such the last time Lucy saw him as he was leaving for work. Five years later her life is MUCH different as she is living on a tight budget hoping to make ends meet. Sometimes she feeds her dog instead of herself but she is managing to scrape by as she works as a grocery checker and goes to school. She has some friends and does a bit of online dating but really...all she seems to do is put on foot ahead of the other to get from one day to the next...until...something big happens...and...she is faced with a dilemma. What should she do with that envelope of money that showed up unexpectedly...look for the person who lost it, spend it or do something else? Then...bizarre things begin to happen and she starts feeling things are perhaps not quite right. What is NOT right is a mystery...until it is not.

This was creepy and interesting and perhaps a bit unbelievable and yet...it did make me think and wonder...what if? If I had any quibble with the story it was that I felt Lucy was left hanging at the end and if given a choice might have liked another chapter or perhaps an epilogue that let me know what Lucy’s future holds in store for her.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4 Stars ( )

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

I seem to be stuck in a rut at the moment where I read books that could be summed up 'this could all have been avoided if she had just read her bank statements every month'. Lucy's boyfriend Ben died in a train crash five years ago, leaving her with debts arising from loans he had fraudulently taken out in her name. (This sub-genre I am currently stuck in could also be summarized 'why don't people ever seek legal advice, or at the very least go to Citizens' Advice?') Lucy is living hand to mouth, still making repayments. For inexplicable reasons Ben's mother blames Lucy for his death. One day someone puts an envelope of cash in Lucy's handbag.

There isn't much plot here, and some of what there is turns out to be utterly irrelevant red herrings. Lucy's dog Billy is the main character, and his trip to the vet's in a baby stroller was an episode of light relief. Lucy never really came alive for me and the ending was full of holes.

SPOILERS

I don't understand how Ben got declared dead when there can have been no evidence of his body and it was unbelievable that he should murder the woman in the flat opposite to Lucy's solely so that he could go in there and play music occasionally.

I have enjoyed books by this author in the past, but this was thin and disappointing. ( )