Book review: The Other Woman by Sandie Jones

There are three people in Emily's relationship with her new boyfriend'¦ but it's not who you might suspect.
The Other Woman by Sandie JonesThe Other Woman by Sandie Jones
The Other Woman by Sandie Jones

Meet Pammie, the mother-in-law from hell and lead player in Sandie Jones’ brilliant, blistering story about a young woman who finds her dream man, only to discover that his menacing and manipulative mother is her worst nightmare.

Freelance journalist Jones delivers what is surely destined to be one of 2018’s best debut novels as we are swept away into a sublimely crazy, edge-of-the-seat thriller which stars a villainess so devilishly clever and wicked that you will want to boo her every time she steps on to the page.

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But be warned, this addictive, intriguing and gripping tale is not always what it seems to be as Jones toys with our minds and expectations, and then plays her jaw-dropping trump card in the shape of a spectacular twist in the tail.

When ambitious, high-flying recruitment consultant Emily Havistock meets IT analyst Adam Banks during a conference at a smart London hotel, there aren’t many things about him that she doesn’t like. In fact, ‘every little box had a tick in it.’

Emily hadn’t been looking for love as she is still feeling raw from her last cheating boyfriend but Adam is good looking, smart, funny and laid back which suits Emily fine… in Adam’s world, everything is calm and under control, ‘like a sea without waves.’

Despite Adam’s reluctance to talk much about himself and his life, Emily has a hunch that he might just be ‘the one’ for her and their love story begins to take off… but that was before she met his unpredictable and alarming mother Pammie.

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Emily chose Adam, but she certainly didn’t choose his mother. There is nothing a mother wouldn’t do for her son, and now Emily is about to find out just how far Pammie will go to get what she wants.

Jones’ enthralling debut is a triumph… a twisting, teasing piece of pure theatre that lurches between melodrama and some only-too-real and disturbing life issues which will leave readers gasping for breath and racing through to the last page.

This is a good, old-fashioned mystery ride, a tale of light and darkness, a bewitching and beguiling story packed with electrifying psychological tension and the riveting, show-stopping repartee between pernicious Pammie and the increasingly suspicious Emily.

Perfectly paced, fiendishly clever and hugely entertaining, The Other Woman is the beach read you won’t want to miss this summer.

(Pan, paperback, £7.99)

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