The Wronged by Kimberley Chambers

When the going gets tough, the Butlers get even… ‘Murdered in 1980 she was, bless her. Now I’ll tell you the story of everything that’s happened since…’ No parent should ever have to bury their child, but God knows the Butlers have buried more than their fair share. Now, Vinny and Michael are planning the downfall of all who’ve wronged them. The Butlers don’t forgive or forget, and they take their secrets to the grave. As yet more tragic events rip the family apart, loyalties are on a knife edge. Times are changing in the East End, and the brothers who have always stuck together are at each other’s throats. As the old saying goes – you keep your friends close, and your enemies closer… But you keep your family right where you can see them.


I have read a lot of reviews from other book reviewers on Kimberley Chambers books and it has been a real marmite reaction. I have never picked one up as it is not my particular genre of choice but when I was sent an advanced copy of The Wronged for review I decided to give it a try.

The Butlers are a family not to be messed with, they never forgive or forget so cross any member of their family and you may as well book your funeral. The Butlers have also buried their fair share of family members but more recently Vinny has had to bury his little daughter Molly who was horrifically murdered and now Vinny is doing time for his payback. The family should all be coming together at a time like this but can they really trust everyone in their family and do they really know each other?

This was a gritty read full of many bold and fearless characters as well as the oldies Vivian and Queenie who is the mum of the Butler family, she is very proud and fiercely protective of their family name and yet both she and Vivian did bring some humour to this book. There were a lot of conflicts between various characters and it did take me a while to follow who had an issue with who but I soon got to grips with it all.

The book started off at the perfect pace and as we were being introduced to many characters and various problems my attention was held but after a little while the pace started to slow and it felt as though the storyline was being drawn out and I did wonder if I was going to carry on with the book but I am glad I did as it did pick back up again and soon grabbed my attention back.

There is a lot of swearing in this book but it suited this book it added to the vicious and brutal nature of this family and I even learned a new word a Fucktard! One thing I was surprised about was that we find out who Molly’s killer is and I just think this book although a great read, would have been an amazing read if there was an element of suspense to it and I think this could have been achieved by concealing the true identity from the reader.

I didn’t realise that this was book three of a series so I read this as a stand alone book which worked well for me although now I am looking forward to going back and reading the previous books. This book had a good twist in it later in the book which I didn’t see coming and the author also leaves us on a cliff hanger so I am sure we will be seeing another book in this series.

I enjoyed this book and I will pick up another book by this author now to see how her other books compare.

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