One Year Later by Sanjida Kay

One Year Later- is it a murder mystery that has been underestimated let's find out and see.

This book is a novel written by Sanjida Kay and was published in 2019, however it is not the first book she has released. She has published books as early as 2016 "Bone by Bone", her other publications include The Stole Child (2017) and My Mother's Secret (2018). One Year Later is really something special because it had me second guessing myself all the way through.

The book is based in a small town within the UK, it follows the journey of a grieving mother who lost her daughter (Ruby May) who died in a horrific accident but what is a book without a dysfunctional family right? As everyone comes to terms with Ruby-May's death Amy and Nick (her brother) decides that it would be a good idea to elope to an island in Italy to get away from all the painful memories that remind them of Ruby-May.

The family consists of Amy (the grieving mother who is dealing with the most traumatic loss- my heart really goes out to her). Matt (the very distant and cold husband who is having the a affair with his ex- wife.... messed-up, I know)- there is also Lotte and Theo who is the two children of Amy and Matt- and there no surprise that it's a blended family because Nick's daughter Chloe joins in on the family fun too. As the story progresses we soon find out who the most hated family members are: Bethany (Amy's sister) as well as their Dad, we will discuss the "why" behind all of this very soon. When all of them eventually get to the island with the nanny (Luca) and Bethany's personal trainer (Joe) in tow they soon discover that there are deep secrets lurking underneath the surface, and one person in that family is responsible for Ruby-May's death, and it might not be the person they initially thought it was.

This book is nothing short of a roller coaster because the author did such an amazing job of making you suspect every person in the book... it was absolutely genius. It is a classic case of who dunnit, and it has all the necessary elements to make it a great mystery/suspense. As readers some of us fall prone to harping on one theme and perspective that we forget the subtle clues that stare us right in the face. It was also very interesting to me that instead of Amy being the narrator, it was Nick and I liked that take because in the book it becomes known that he was actually the last person to find out what happened to Ruby-May which led him to take the "investigator" type role.

Sanjida mastered the art of hiding the answer in plain sight which made it a really pleasant read. I would recommend this book if you are the type of person that loves to read murder mysteries because then this is perfect for you. It is a little bit of a slow burner but, as soon as you get into it, it will become the ultimate page turner.

Rate: 3.5/5

Favorite character: Nick- he had really good intentions and just wanted to wrong his rights.