Win 1 of 3 copies of Hangman’s Gap by Rachel Amphlett – QUEENSLAND, Australia
Psychological thriller set near VERONA and the WEST MIDLANDS
23rd January 2026
That Night by Gillian McAllister, psychological thriller set near Verona and the West Midlands (Birmingham).
The Plant siblings have invested in a villa near Verona. Cathy, Joe and Frannie are veterinarians and back home they are in a practice together, all co-owners with their mother. There was a fourth sibling, who died at a young age and now there are three, to wit “three siblings who wanted to be together, no matter what”. They live in each other’s pockets and are quite enmeshed.
Together on holiday at the villa, Cathy has just been out to buy a late-night bottle of wine and she runs over a man (this man turns out to be William McGovern, a policeman of British heritage). In panic, she calls Joe who heads straight out to help her. Frannie is there too. Given an altercation earlier in the day – and the man under the wheels of the car is seemingly not a random victim – they decide to bury the body because they do not want to be accused of a deliberate killing. “Do you think we are doing the right thing?” ponders Joe, as his hands lose grip and slither around on the victim’s ankles. Probably not, muses the reader, but crack on.
On the sidelines, in the house, is Joe’s wife Lydia. She is on babysitting duty to Frannie’s small son, Paul. She has not been involved, knows nothing about William’s death but she senses something is amiss and she is now high alert as she starts to look for something, with the old adage “Look for what’s missing, as well as what’s there…”
Back home in the West Midlands the siblings struggle to keep the lid on things, and lies and secrets are set to be spilled. Careless talk propels the situation into new and alarming territory.
I found the storyline immersive and the twists and turns intriguing. This is a very readable novel.
Tina for the TripFiction Team
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