The Woman on the Ledge

Londoner Tate Kinsella is at her office Christmas party when she goes out to the 25th floor terrace for a smoke break. There she encounters a woman named Helen, who is clearly upset and perilously close to the edge of the rooftop. She succeeds in talking her down, they have some drinks at a nearby bar and she goes home feeling assured that Helen will be OK.

At least, that's the story she tells her lawyer the next day when she’s arrested on suspicion of murder.

A woman has fallen from the 25th floor the previous night and witnesses clearly heard Tate say it was her fault. Even her lawyer is finding her account suspicious, and to be fair, Tate’s story does seem to keep changing …

What’s the truth?

THAT is the question, and good luck figuring it out! If you’ve ever worked a puzzle, this book was like finding the edges and starting to fill in the pieces only to have someone repeatedly knock them on the floor! Did I mind? Absolutely not. Each time I had to rework the puzzle and move the pieces around, a different picture took shape, and I had a blast trying to figure out what the final image would be. I’ll just say that nothing is what you think it is until the picture is complete!

This is a book easily spoiled by too many details, so I recommend going in as blind as possible. I will say that if you enjoy a story of wrongs being righted, strong female characters, and justice being served, this may be a book for you. I loved the intrigue, the suspense, the constantly moving pieces. Mancini’s background in law is clearly evident and put to exceptional use in this smartly written tale of crime and punishment! Prepare to suspend some disbelief, but that’s half the fun of this genre, isn’t it?

This was an immersion read for me with both the audio and Kindle versions. The audio was brilliantly narrated by Annabel Scholey, and either format would be equally recommended. As a testament to how good it is, I flew through it almost entirely in one day!

I’ll leave you with this teaser quote:

Revenge is a dish best served cold, as they say, and I wanted it to be as cold as it could be.

That about sums it up!

★★★★ ½