Synopsis:
Following the death of her husband and unborn child, Charley Belington sells the family home and bravely starts life over again. On moving into a new flat, she is befriended by her landlady, Ella, who seems like the perfect friend and confidante.
But, unbeknown to Charley, Ella is fighting her own dark and dirty demons as the fallout from a horrific childhood sends her spiralling down into madness—and unspeakable obsessions.
As Ella’s mind splinters, her increasingly bizarre attentions make Charley uneasy. But with every step Charley tries to take to distance herself, Ella moves in a tightening lockstep with her, closer and closer and closer…
From bestselling author Mel Sherratt comes an intense psychological thriller – raw, sexually charged, and darkly claustrophobic, it grabs you by the back of the neck and never lets you go.
My review:
Well what can I say? It took my a long time to pop my Mel Sherratt cherry and what a book to pop it with! Warning this book is not for anyone who isn’t keen on sexually explicit material! Not usually my bag but I have to say it fits in perfectly with the psychological thriller that this book is!
Watching Over Me is a fast paced, adrenaline charged read! From page one you hurtle head first into the downward spiral that is Ella! Charley meets up with Ella as she moves into her new flat as a means of moving on with her life following the death of her husband. Ella is her landlord, Ella wants to be friends but Ella is not alone and sometimes Ella isn’t such a nice friend to have!
I did say this is not for the faint hearted, Amazon describe it as an erotic thriller, but behind the eroticism there is a hard hitting psychological thriller based on a spiral into mental dispair as a result of traumatic childhood abuse; I found it so difficult not to feel empathy and a deep sorrow for Ella as her childhood story unfolded; I loved the way that throughout the book connections with characters were made and how their actions impacted on Ella throughout her life. I have to say, despite the horror she caused, Ella was my favourite character in the book and I found it impossible not to warm to her. Charley, however, irritated me a little – she was a bit of a wet fish I thought – and I got irritated at the fact that she didn’t pick up on Ella’s issues until it was too late – I found myself shouting at her as I read!
I read the book biting my nails all the way through it, my stomach was in knots and I had memories of Single White Female running through my head throughout – but I thought this was much better as I enjoy allowing my own imagination to provide the backdrop.
This was the first Mel Sherratt book that I read but it certainly won’t be the last!
Scottish Crime Fiction Blogger and Author 