4.5★s
The Honeymoon is the first psychological thriller by British author Katy Colins writing as Kate Gray. Having just met, two couples, each on the last day of their Bali honeymoon, have dinner together at an exclusive cliffside restaurant. There’s an incident with an older man and a spilled glass of beer, then later, a storm, a fall down some slippery steps, and a dead body.

Erin Steele, plagued with visions of the dead man, wants to tell the police what they saw, but her husband’s security systems business is at a critical point with new investors that won’t survive adverse publicity. Jamie Steele convinces his new wife they need to forget the man’s accidental death and go home.

A well-known crime reporter for a national tabloid until a misstep saw her dismissed, Sophia Spencer is marking time at a local newspaper until she can redeem her reputation with her former editor. When she hears of the ex-pat who died close to the restaurant where she and new husband Mark dined with the Steeles, on that night, the tenacious journalist in her is determined to get the full story.

Most of the story is told by two narrators, one of whom might not be wholly reliable; each of the four main characters has secrets; it’s apparent early on that one of the four is expert at gaslighting; another is using a fake name; there’s a London hit and run for which at least three parties could be responsible; thugs with vicious dogs, hidden cameras, online stalking and large sums of money all play a part.

Gray’s cleverly plotted tale has turns and misdirections that will certainly keep the reader guessing and the pages turning. Just when the reader has drawn conclusions about perpetrators and motives, Gray inserts in a twist or two that throws doubt on it all: prebooking a chiropractic appointment before the final chapters might be wise. But for not knowing the difference between blackmail and bribery, this is an excellent crime thriller.
This unbiased review is from a copy provided by Welbeck Publishing