Someone Else's Skin by Sarah Hilary Review!

   

Title : Someone Else's Skin
Author : Sarah Hilary
Pages : 416
Published : 27th February 2014
Publisher : Headline
Source : Bookbridgr

Some secrets keep you safe, others will destroy you... 

Detective Inspector Marnie Rome. Dependable; fierce; brilliant at her job; a rising star in the ranks. Everyone knows how Marnie fought to come back from the murder of her parents, but very few know what is going on below the surface. Because Marnie has secrets she won't share with anyone. 

But then so does everyone. Certainly those in the women's shelter Marnie and Detective Sergeant Noah Jake visit on that fateful day. The day when they arrive to interview a resident, only to find one of the women's husbands, who shouldn't have been there, lying stabbed on the floor. 

As Marnie and Noah investigate the crime further, events begin to spiral and the violence escalates. Everyone is keeping secrets, some for survival and some, they suspect, to disguise who they really are under their skin. 

Now, if Marnie is going to find the truth she will have to face her own demons head on. Because the time has come for secrets to be revealed...

My Thoughts : 

When DI Marnie Rome and her partner DS Noah Jake are sent to a womans shelter to interview a victim of violence, they never expected to walk in on a stabbing!! When they get to the shelter its to find the front door opened, which in itself is very odd because security is supposed to be strict, and a crowd gathered in the living room. The husband of one of the victims is lying on the ground with a knife in him. His wife is inconsolable and the one who stabbed him. Why was he there and how did she get a knife?

Marnie and Noah have to try to get the truth off people who have suffered at the hands of their spouse and who keep their secrets close. Can they find the answers to what happened before its too late?

I've never heard of this author before but I'm so glad I got a chance to read her work. Someone Else's Skin is her first Crime novel and is very impressive. 

Marnie is a complex character. She is strong, capable and hard working.  She is dealing with secrets of her own after her parents were murdered 5 years before. She has immersed herself in work since then and is known as a ball breaker. She is tough but fair though!

I loved Noah. He is a gay Jamaican and gets quite a bit of slack from on of his co workers but tries not to let it get to him. He is an all round nice guy and the case he is working on really hits him hard. I hope we see more of him in future books.

Then we have the characters from the womans shelter! Quite a diverse bunch but they all have similar stories. We learn some of each characters stories and it was truly heartbreaking. The subject matter of the book is tough and I was crying reading what happened to these women but Sarah Hilary handled it superbly. Its always hard to read about abuse and rape but its even tougher when its done by someone who is supposed to love you. 

Overall Someone Else's Skin was fantastic. I started reading it and couldn't stop, I had it read in a day. Its a gripping and tense story and one I wont forget. There's parts where you will feel your heart breaking for each and every one of the character and then there's parts that will leave you breathless. There's a twist that I never saw coming and one that had me gasping! I cant wait for more from DI Marnie and her team.