Am I Guilty by Jackie Kabler

One moment I had it all – a gorgeous husband, a beautiful home, a fulfilling career and two adorable children. The next, everything came crashing down around me.
 
They said it was my fault. They said I’m the worst mother in the world. And even though I can’t remember what happened that day, they wouldn’t lie to me. These are my friends, my family, people I trust.
 
But then why do I have this creeping sensation that something is wrong? Why do I feel like people are keeping secrets? Am I really as guilty as they say? And if I’m not, what will happen when the truth comes out…?


I have previously read The Dead Dog Day by Jackie Kabler which I did enjoy but remember early on in that book working out who the murderer was. When the cover was revealed for her new novel Am I Guilty I was instantly intrigued and headed off to Amazon to read the synopsis and straight away my interest was piqued and I was looking forward finding out if this storyline could keep me guessing.

Thea is living a nightmare, her happy content world has been turned upside down by the death of her son Zander and its all her thought …… Or is it?


I found myself sympathetic to the situation Thea found herself in and I was convinced from early on that what she believed had happened on the day in question wasn’t true. Each of the chapters alternate mainly between Thea, Flora and Annabelle with addition of a couple of chapters by Isla, Rupert and Greg which allows us to get to know each of the characters as well as forming a picture of the events of that day through their eyes. Although there are a lot of characters points of view in this book they were all well-formed and at no point in the book did I lose track on who was who.


Am I Guilty is in a completely different league to Jackie Kabler’s previous novels, this one had me totally gripped and in suspense the whole way through. At around the half way mark I did have my suspicions as to who I thought may have had a hand in the events of Zanders death but even though I had these inklings the tension then intensified and what was then revealed towards the last few chapters was a complete shock that was disturbing and unpredictable and I found myself constantly wavering thinking everyone seemed to have a motive.


Without giving anything away I just have to say the way things are left between Thea and Annabelle is much more amicable than I would have been had I been in the same situation!


Am I Guilty is a gripping and sinister storyline full of hidden secrets and fractured relationships. I am now looking forward to future novels by Jackie Kabler.

Am I Guilty? is available on Kindle today. The Paperback is currently expected to be released 27th June.

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The Dead Dog Day by Jackie Kabler.

When your Monday morning begins with a dead dog and ends with a dead boss, you know it's going to be one of those days. And breakfast TV reporter Cora Baxter has already had the weekend from hell, after the man she'd planned a fabulous future with unceremoniously dumped her. Now Cora's much-hated boss has been murdered - the list of suspects isn't exactly short, but as the enquiry continues the trail leads frighteningly close to home. Why is Cora's rival, glamorous, bitchy newsreader Alice Lomas, so devastated by their boss's death? What dark secrets are Cora's camera crew hiding? And why has her now ex-boyfriend vanished? The race to stop the killer striking again is on.

I wasn't really sure what to expect from The Dead Dog Day by Jackie Kabler, especially reading the quote on the back from Eamonn Holmes about a "witty murder mystery" I have never come across a witty murder mystery so I was rather intrigued to see what this book had lurking inside for me.

The storyline starts at a quick pace and is rather eventful with a death of a dog hence the title and in the same first chapter Jeanette Kendrick who is our main character Cora's boss is also murdered. With no witnesses around the search is on to try and discover who the murderer is with the only information to go on the last words Jeanette muttered before she took her last breath "Chris". Speculation starts to arise as to who it could be and throughout the storyline the spotlight turns to a number of different characters who are suspicious.

I personally worked out quite early on who the murderer was which slightly put a downer on the book for me but what I hadn't worked out was the reason why Jeanette was murdered so finding out the reason why made up for me guessing early on who it was.

Our main character Cora is very career focused and like me she seems to have been left out when him upstairs was dishing out the maternal gene so I could relate to her character in some which I always like in a book when I can find a connection with the character but although she is so certain of her career and of the fact she never ever wants children she isn't quite so confident and certain when it came to her love life! I personally find it more than enough having one man around but Cora is surround by men and she still can't make up her mind! 

This book is unlike any book I have read before and it took me a while to put my finger on what was so different but as many of you know my preferred genre is always women's fiction/ romance but this year I have found myself reading quite a lot of crime thrillers and what the author has managed to do is merge the two together perfectly. If you are anything like I was a year ago and wouldn't come out of my reading romance comfort zone then this book is the prefect baby step for you, as you still have the light hearted witty humour in Cora's everyday reports and you also have the roller coaster romance surrounding Cora so everything we love is still there but it is wrapped perfectly around this suspicious murder but with out the dark gritty parts.

I am looking forward to book two and I am hoping that the book is as fast paced and enjoyable as this one but the challenge is on to see if Jackie Kabler can keep me in suspense in the next book.

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