In Bitter Chill - Sarah Ward

"Bampton, Derbyshire, January 1978. Two girls go missing: Rachel Jones returns, Sophie Jenkins is never found. Thirty years later: Sophie Jenkins's mother commits suicide.

Rachel Jones has tried to put the past behind her and move on with her life. But news of the suicide re-opens old wounds and Rachel realises that the only way she can have a future is to finally discover what really happened all those years ago.

This is a story about loss and family secrets, and how often the very darkest secrets are those that are closest to you."

I love a good psych thriller, and I had heard only good things about from my blogger buddies, so it kind of had a lot to live up to. It didn't let me down. Although I found that it started quite slowly, I was soon hooked by the story of two little girls, abducted on their way to school - one returned. One didn't. 
Some of the characters are not particularly likeable or easy to relate to. I wasn't terribly keen on Rachel, nor could I relate to her, but it didn't detract from the story, if anything it made me read on more, perhaps to see if the kidnapper disliked her as much as I did! 
There are plenty of unexpected twists in this novel, and I found myself comparing the writing to the likes of Sophie Hannah (not a bad thing). I found, as I often do with Sophie Hannah's books, that I really couldn't figure where it was all going - there were lots of little strands of plot, none of which I could easily tie up. This was one aspect of the novel that I particularly enjoyed - there's nothing better than getting to the end of the novel without managing to see ANY of it coming. 
A good, strong plot line, although a slow burner it's definitely worth sticking with, even if it's just for the beautifully twisty ending. 

In Bitter Chill is out now and you can get it here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bitter-Chill

**My thanks to the publisher for my ARC**