Intrigue

A frustrating and annoying character makes this story barely palatable. The trope of anxious women with past secrets has run its course. Unfortunately, this was the first of two, back to back, of this similar character that I read and I’m about finished with the entire thriller genre, at least with women protagonists. Reading through this story was exhausting and annoying and I couldn’t wait for it to end, the only thing keeping me from putting it down altogether was the curiosity of how it would all end.

An advanced copy of this book was sent to me by the publisher. The opinions are my own. ( )

This was okay. Far from "The most gripping and suspenseful book of 2021". Jenn wasn't the most likeable character and it took until the very end of the book to find out what the trauma was that affected her so much that she had multiple freak-outs, and Charlie was simply being a kid and having tantrums when she did act out at least on a couple of those occasions. I liked the past story with Prin and Jane better, at least those characters were engaging. ( )

I struggled at first with Safe and Sound by Phillipa East, it seemed to take a lot of reading to establish both the story and the characters. By the end of the book, however, I had been absorbed by this psychological thriller and was glued to the pages.

Housing manager Jennifer Arden discovers a deceased tenant where the body has been lying undiscovered for about 10 months. It appears that she died of natural causes, but Jennifer feels tremendous guilt because she failed to do an annual inspection which would have revealed the corpse much earlier. Jennifer becomes obsessed with why this woman, Sarah, who was known to have a lot of friends and a loving family, was not found for months. As she digs into Sarah’s life, a number of discrepancies are revealed. She eventually meets with an ex-boyfriend and a former coworker who help her uncover Sarah’s secrets. Jennifer is also dealing with her own problems. She suffers from excessive anxieties, and can easily lose touch with reality. We learn that there has been an incident in her own life that has led to her paranoia about her son’s health.

I found I had to be patient with the character of Jennifer as I must admit I found her quite annoying at first. She seemed so unstable that I couldn’t totally trust her as a reliable narrator. As the story progressed it was very easy to question Jennifer’s choices and judgments. The author draws her readers along and Safe and Sound becomes an intriguing read about a woman desperately holding on while at the same time trying to uncover the truth. ( )

Safe and Sound by Philippa East is a highly recommended psychological thriller.

Jennifer (Jenn) Arden is a housing manager who needs to evict a tenant for nonpayment of rent. When Jenn and the bailiffs can't get any response and see a pile of mail piled up inside the door, the police are called. They open the door, discovering the body of 26 year-old Sarah Jones inside. Apparently Sarah died some 10 months earlier and no one reported her missing or requested a wellness check on her. The discovery shocks Jenn and sets her on a quest to find out more about Sarah and track down people who knew her. At the same time Jenn is in a fragile state dealing with issues of her own. She has anxiety issues, constantly worries over her son, Charlie, and is trying to overcome something in her past.

This psychological thriller features an unreliable narrator with a secret who is trying to discover more information about a woman who may also be an unreliable narrator with a secret. An alternating plot thread follows two young girls who are cousins, Prin and Jane, whose connection to Jenn's present day search is explained much later. All the characters are presented as individuals with complicated pasts as more details are slowly disclosed in the plot. Jenn experiences growth as a character as she tackles her problems and the search for information about Sarah.

The plot of Safe and Sound does move at a slow pace which serves to highlight the fragile mental state of Jenn and increases the tension as new discoveries are made or new information about the past is revealed. Jenn keeps to her search with tenacity and determination, even as her own health may be in jeopardy. The alternating chapters between the two girls and Jenn's present search help increase the tension and drama in both storylines. The final denouement provides a satisfying, emotional conclusion.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of HarperCollins.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2021/05/safe-and-sound.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4015410189 ( )