Of course, we ended up here.‘The police belonged to another world – the world they saw on the television or in the papers. Not theirs.’
When two 18-year-old girls go missing on their gap year in Thailand, their families are thrust into the international spotlight: desperate, bereft and frantic with worry.
Journalist Kate Waters always does everything she can to be first to the story, first with the exclusive, first to discover the truth – and this time is no exception. But she can’t help but think of her own son, who she hasn’t seen in two years, since he left home to go travelling. This time it’s personal.
And as the case of the missing girls unfolds, they will all find that even this far away, danger can lie closer to home than you might think ...
This is the third and maybe the last Kate Waters novel, I haven't found confirmation of this, but this feels like the last of Kate Waters. Like the old girl is gonna been left to paster after this one. Also, the way things are referenced in this novel feel like a wrap-up. I have reviewed the first two novels, The Widow and the Child.
Kate Water's personal life was obviously set up from the last book for this one. Her son goes to Thailand and is still there all the years later. So of course, he ends up being involved.
Waters is pretty unlikeable in this one. The other ones she always seemed alright; a Journalist who had good intentions. I should have felt sympathy but it just didn't click in this book. Maybe it's all the complaining about the death of Journalism. Yeah, Journalism has taken a hit with the death of print, but there is Journalism still and in 2020 more people are aware of Clickbait. I don't know if it also I'm just sick of so-called Journalists who have failed to report on cases. Yeah, the internet is a trash fire of miscommunication and propaganda but so are newspapers. Speaking of.
This book takes place during the Scottish Refurdem, random and odd considering August was meant to be a slow time for news. I guess maybe in England but I remember a lot of lying going on then. Maybe it's somehow set in the future. The Scottish Referendum was five years ago and it honestly feels like more. Also at one point, a journalist refers to the case as "The Backpacker murders", which is odd as that refers to real murders that happened in Australia during the early 90s. He seems old enough to know that. Fiona Barton should know that.
The ending of this book acts like its a big dark reveal when its nothing. It's just okay. It is what is.
This book is in several points of view, and we have voices to match in the audiobook; read by Siân Thomas, Mark Meadows, Clare Corbett and Ria Zmitrowicz; this works well especially with my lack of affection for Waters this time. We have the police officer from the first book back to investigate and one of the girls who goes missing in Thailand. Works great as a method of getting the story across.
Overall, I gave this 3/5 stars for Big Mama. I don't think this was a series that benefited from me reading them all back to back. The first two books felt pretty self-contained, while this one felt like it needs the other books more. I don't if this is definitely the end of Kate Waters, but is probably the end of me reading about her.
Released: 24/1/2019/1 March 2019
Read 20/1/2020, Reviewed 26/1/2020
Source: Library
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