I Died on a Tuesday

The van. The bike. The crunch.

That’s the memory that haunts the dreams of successful musician Robbie Mannering, even 20 years after he was involved in a serious accident.

Happily married with two children, Robbie has enjoyed the fruits of first being in a popular band followed by a successful solo career, but still lives in dread of the police one day knocking on his door.

On the other hand, 18-year-old Janie White has led a very different life to the one she was expecting. Brought up by her father after her mother disappeared, she was excited to be on the brink of moving to London to start her dream job as an editorial assistant in a publishing company. However, one morning after riding home from her daily swim at the beach, she had a horrific accident. Grievously injured and near death, she heard voices discussing whether to call the police, but then they disappeared and she was left alone on the road with her mangled bike. She will need years of therapy and never be the same again.

Vanessa, a retired store detective, now works at the courts as witness service volunteer, supporting nervous witnesses about to give evidence. When he was alive her police officer husband was called to the scene of Janie’s accident and was part of the investigating team and it always haunted him that the perpetrators were never found. Vanessa had always longed for a big family, but her only child died at birth and she was unable to have any more.

Although Vanessa really misses not having grandchildren in her life, her job supporting witnesses keeps her busy and makes her feel that she is giving something back to society. She has also formed a close platonic friendship with one of the judges and regards him as someone she can confide in. Being assigned to help Janie give testimony in court will inadvertently lead to uncovering lies told to her by her husband and change her life in ways she could never have expected.

The plot is told from the point of view of these three complex protagonists, Robbie, Janie and Vanessa, which works really well in contrasting their lives and giving the reader an emotional stake in what happens to them. Some excellent twists keep the plot interesting, especially once the trial gets underway. The pacing is perfect, making it easy to become engaged with each of the characters in turn. The tension intensifies as the trial ramps up and the reader’s perception of events changes. Although I usually enjoy having all the story lines tied up by the author, in this case I did find the ending overly detailed, but that’s a minor gripe in an otherwise complex and compelling mystery.

With thanks to Penguin via Netgalley for a copy to read.