Brooke and Bailey were best friends until Bailey joined the cheerleading team which started a chain of evenets that led to her apparent suicide. Twenty years later, Brooke returns to her hometown and finds Bailey’s missing necklace. Was Bailey murdered and who kept her necklace hidden for so long…?
Prom Queen is a dual timeline psychological thriller showing us the past and present experience of Brooke as she adjusts to the change to her friendship followed by the mystery surrounding Bailey’s death.
Brooke returns home to renovate then sell her late mother’s house. She meets true crime podcaster Hannah who is wearing a familiar necklace. It belonged to Brooke former best friend Bailey who died on prom night 20 years ago. Hannah doesn’t believe that Bailey’s death was an accident or suicide so calls on Brooke to help her investigate with a view to finding a killer.
The book is written from Brooke’s first person perspective in the past and present. The chapters from the past create suspects and suspicion which Brooke follows up in the present day. I felt desperately sad for the best friends as they split but remain neighbours. I’m sure that almost everyone will have gone through teen friendship angst so will be able to identify with Brooke and Bailey.
There is plenty of mystery as Brooke joins in with the investigation to support the podcast. I suspected eveeryone and had no idea about the truth behind Bailey’s death. Brooke receives anonymous notes that add to the tension as someone thinks she is lying and this could place her in danger. I was not expecting the huge twist at the end!
Prom Queen is an intriguing mystery with a strong narrator.
MEDIA PACK
Book: Prom Queen
Author: Laura Wolfe
Pub Day: October 9th 2023
Buy Link:
About the Book:
Twenty years ago, someone murdered my best friend the night she was crowned prom queen. Now I’m finally going to prove it…
After Bailey died, I fled our small lakeside hometown and never returned. But now I’m forced back here and I can’t avoid the constant whispers about our prom night, the suspicious looks of the people I grew up with.
Then I bump into a woman in a coffee shop and my eyes are drawn to the silver locket around her neck, glinting in the sunlight. My blood runs cold. I know it’s Bailey’s—she never took it off. And it’s been missing since the night she died.
The shock of seeing it again jolts me back to that terrible night: Bailey under the glittering lights, blowing kisses to a crowd glaring furiously back at her. Bailey wasn’t supposed to be prom queen—and someone made her pay for it.
Officially her death was ruled a tragic accident, but I knew better. I’ve never seen this woman before, so why does she have my best friend’s necklace? There has to be a reason, and this time I’ll stop at nothing to find out what really happened to Bailey the night she died.
Everyone in this town has secrets. But as I edge closer to the truth, I’m afraid of what lengths they’ll go to protect them…
A gripping psychological thriller with a twist that will make your jaw drop, perfect for fans of The Woman in the Window, The Wife Between Us and Lisa Jewell.
Author Bio and Social Media
Laura Wolfe is an Amazon charts bestselling author who writes twisty, fast-paced psychological thrillers and suspense novels published by Bookouture. Her indie titles have also been shortlisted for multiple book awards. Laura is a lover of animals and nature. When she is not writing, she can be found hanging out with her husband and two kids, growing vegetables in her garden, or spoiling her rescue dog. She enjoys living in Ann Arbor, Michigan
Get Laura’s FREE short story (a mini psych thriller), The Perfect Escape: https://t.co/RTGEoz9VgY
TRIGGER WARNING: domestic and child abuse, serious mental health conditions
James Owens is released from a secure hospital after being incarcerated following a significant crime a decade ago which he cannot remember. He needs to adjust to life outside but is haunted by the abuse from his father which manifests as hallucinations. His twin sister offers to help but can he trust her or even himself?
The Patient is a psychological thriller set in America.
Poor James. He is completely overwhelmed from the moment he leaves the hospital. He has no recollection of the incident that saw him convicted and imprisoned. His overbearing sister arrives and his fragile mental state immediately worsens.
The hallucinations and descriptions of mental illness are very powerful and devastating to read. It was quite upsetting to read of the abuse from the past and the fear that existed within the family. The use of the first person narrative of James allows us insight into his struggle to understand reality in the present day. However, he seems so nice and kind that we are willing him to be innocent and get a happy outcome.
Ooh I hated Janet. She was such a baddie from the start and I instantly mistrusted her. Meanwhile I also didn’t trust his probation officer Brianna who was just too nice and completely inappropriate by overstepping her professional boundaries. I had to completely suspend my disbelief but the book was entertaining. The writing style was engaging and the main character was so well written.
The Patient is a tense thriller which deals with some big issues as well as having plenty of emotion.
Book Links
Book Blurb
Ten years ago, James Owens was convicted of a murder he couldn’t remember committing.
Now, finally released from the mental institution where he’s served his time, he is placed under house arrest in the sprawling family home he has inherited from his father.
Living in isolation, visited only by his therapist, parole officer, and supportive but controlling twin Janet, he at least has something resembling peace. But he is still haunted by hallucinations, nightmares, and bizarre memories which may or may not be real.
Strange sounds in the house, and objects which disappear or are mysteriously damaged all add to his fear that he is sliding into uncontrolled insanity again.
But is he? Or is his fragile mental state being manipulated by someone with a sinister agenda of their own?
When tragedy strikes, James must go on a journey that will force him to confront the past – and the haunted depths of his own tortured soul.
Cole’s Bio
Cole Baxter loves writing psychological suspense thrillers. It’s all about that last reveal that he loves shocking readers with.
He grew up in New York, where there crime was all around. He decided to turn that into something positive with his fiction.
His stories will have you reading through the night—they are very addictive!
Cole’s Links:
Orphan Edwin Hope is dared to climb a tree. He does, falls and is sent away. His relationship with the tree has begun…
The Promise Tree is a mix of history, fantasy, myth and romance.
Young Edwin meets a young girl in the branches of the sycamore tree on his family’s estate. It begins a relationship that lasts a lifetime. The girl is a dryad or tree goddess, or nymph. Edwin names her Drusilla and their friendship, love and passion develop over the years.
The exact description or explanation of Drusilla’s existence is never clearly defined. This made me feel a little disappointed as I like clarity. Myths and legends as well as the supernatural play an important role but this didn’t particularly interest me because I didn’t fully understand it.
I really enjoyed the historical aspects of the book. The horrors of the WW1 trenches felt so authentic and emotional. I also liked the changing friendship with Robert Carfax from bully/bullied to respect and secret keeping. The boys become men and are united by their experience of war and unconventional love affairs. The book deals with class and social expectations as well which seemed properly researched and authentic.
Edwin’s relationship with his grandfather is desperately sad. Both are grieving and Edwin needs the parental love he has lost. But instead he is rejected and sent away. In the later years, the grandfather’s behaviour has not softened. Drusilla offers Edwin the love he craves.The final chapters were sweet about the strength and enduring power of the love between Drusilla and Edwin.
The Promise Tree is a sweet love story with a supernatural element.
The Promise Tree
When does a story begin?
For Edwin Hope, it begins with a childhood dare and a forbidden tree. It begins with him falling … in more ways than one.
Called home from his studies by the grandfather who has always hated him, eighteen-year-old Edwin is once again trapped in a house that is colder than the winds whipping across the fields. Seeking sanctuary, he escapes into the untamed beauty of the Peaks and meets a woman who sparks an old memory. A memory of the sycamore that broke him, and the little girl who saved him.
Drusilla has had many acolytes over the centuries but none like Edwin. With the Great War looming and Edwin’s future uncertain, she knows the right thing to do is to set him free from her spell, but can she do so if it means breaking her own heart?
Author Bio – Elisabeth’s writing career began in 2013 when she entered Harlequin’s So You Think You Can Write contest and it turned out she could. She writes romantic Historical fiction as Elisabeth Hobbes and Historical folklore/fantasy inspired romance as Elisabeth J. Hobbes.
She teaches Primary school but would rather write full time because unlike five year olds her characters generally do what she tells them. She spends most of her spare time reading and is a pro at cooking one-handed while holding a book.
She lives in Cheshire because the car broke down there in 1999 and she never left. Elisabeth has two almost grown kids, two cats, two dogs and a husband. The whole family are on the autistic spectrum and that probably includes the pets! She dreams of having a tidy house one day.
Social Media Links
TRIGGER WARNING: child murder
15 years ago a woman killed herself after her baby daughter went missing, presumed dead. Now a family are murdered on the same property and a toddler is missing. Madison Harper and her team are desperate to find little Annie while her associate Nate investigates the cold case for a killer who claims he was wrongly convicted…
Her Lonely Bones is the 6th book to feature Detective Madison Harper. There are mentions of plot details from earlier book but no spoilers.
A family move in to a delapidated property and are murdered wtihin hours of their arrival. Two adults and two boys, with evidence that a young girl may be missing. Meanwhile Nate is called onto a cold case by a convicted killer who swears he is innocent. The case involved a missing toddler on the same property.
Madison has some big emotional issues to deal with. Her son, who she was separated from while she was wrongfully incarcerated for murder, is heading to college. Her friendship with Nate is threatened by his decision to leave town and their reluctance to address and admit their feelings. Given their pasts, both are affected by the cold case and a potential wrongful conviction.
The emotion of child murder is quite difficult to read at times. It is absolutely heartbreaking that Madison finds one of the boys barely alive but fails in her frantic efforts to revive him. The descriptions of the adult bodies are quite grisly despite being presented forensicially. I did guess a big plot twist but this did not spoil my enjoyment as I watched the plot unfold.
Her Lonely Bones is a disturbing crime thriller.
Her Lonely Bones: A totally jaw-dropping and addictive crime thriller (Detective Madison Harper Book 6)
The house is deathly silent as the summer sun starts to creep in through the dusty windows. The children should be waking up, the parents should be cooking breakfast. But they all lay still, their heads on their pillows, lifeless eyes staring at nothing, their bodies waiting to be discovered…
When a couple and their young twin boys are discovered brutally murdered in their beds, everyone suspects this is a home invasion gone tragically wrong. But as Detective Madison Harper walks into the run-down house that is eerily empty, she isn’t so sure.
Talking to the neighbors, Madison soon discovers that the family only recently moved to the small town of Lost Creek, Colorado. No one has met them, and no one knows their names. With nothing to identify them in the house, or even to show that the house belonged to them, Madison is suddenly faced with not only having to find a cold-blooded killer, but needing to identify the victims too.
Then, Madison’s heart stops in her chest when she discovers a small yellow t-shirt in the back of the family’s vehicle that says Daddy’s Girl. The couple must have had a daughter as well as the twin boys, but where is she? Madison suspects she’s been abducted, and vows to find the missing little girl before it’s too late.
But as Madison makes a breakthrough in identifying the family, she discovers they had a secret that changes the whole course of the investigation. Madison knows with every second that passes the chances of finding the girl alive get smaller, but she’s prepared to risk everything to find her, even her own life…
An absolutely gripping and twist-packed read that will make your jaw drop! Perfect for fans of Lisa Regan, Melinda Leigh and Kendra Elliot.
About Wendy Dranfield
Wendy is the bestselling author of the Detective Madison Harper crime series.
She is a former coroner’s assistant turned crime writer who writes a mixture of standalone thrillers, crime series and short stories. Some of her books have been shortlisted for various writing competitions and awards, including the Mslexia novel writing competition and the International Thriller Writer Awards.
You can find more information on her website: wendydranfield.co.uk
Author social media
Instagram: @wendy_dranfield
