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We Begin at the End: 'A beautifully written mystery, packed with unforgettable characters' Jane Harper

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We Begin at the End: 'A beautifully written mystery, packed with unforgettable characters' Jane Harper by Chris Whitaker

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By Chris Whitaker

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3 reviews

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For fans of Jane Harper’s The Dry comes a powerful novel about the lengths we will go to keep our family safe. This is a story about good and evil and how life is lived somewhere in between.

Thirty years ago, Vincent King became a killer.

Now, he’s been released from prison and is back in his hometown of Cape Haven, California. Not everyone is pleased to see him. Like Star Radley, his ex-girlfriend, and sister of the girl he killed.

Duchess Radley, Star’s thirteen-year-old daughter, is part-carer, part-protector to her younger brother, Robin – and to her deeply troubled mother. But in trying to protect Star, Duchess inadvertently sets off a chain of events that will have tragic consequences not only for her family, but also the whole town.

Murder, revenge, retribution.

How far can we run from the past, when the past seems doomed to repeat itself?

Reviews

18 Jul 2023

Wonderful landscapes, great characters. Love love loved this book.

02 Feb 2021

Oundle Crime

British author, Chris Whitaker, has set this novel in California and Montana in the USA and it received rapturous reviews when it was published last year. When a killer is released from prison after serving a 30-year term, he returns to his hometown where his ex-girlfriend (and sister of the girl he killed) still lives with her daughter and son. As the story behind the murder is told some long-held family secrets are revealed and nothing is quite as it seems. The descriptions and characters are excellent and even though it’s a convoluted plot it’s a really enjoyable read. Mo gives it 4-Stars.

03 Apr 2020

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Wow! I couldn't put this book down. The characters are great, the two characters at the heart of the story are Duchess and Robin, two children who have been brought up by their troubled mother Star. Star has spent all her adult life trying to live with the fact that her sister was murdered. The murderer is in prison but his childhood friend chief Walker is trying to stop the pending death sentence hanging over Vincent King, Chief Walker knows that his friend isn't a murderer, especially as the victim was the sister of Star, Vincents former girlfriend. The story tells of the impact that these events have on Duchess and Robin, a story which Duchess believes she knows the answers to getting revenge for her Aunt whom she has never met, Duchess is a tough girl and will stop at nothing to avenge the wrongs done to her family.
A fantastic book which I thoroughly recommend.

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