In the Deep by Loreth Anne White
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Smart, compelling and flawlessly plotted, with red herrings sprinkled in like little dashes of chilli, In The Deep is seriously entertaining. And that ending! I’m still running it through my mind the next day!
We start with a woman’s murder trial after she’s been arrested for the chilling murder of her husband. Flashback to a year ago, Ellie has suffered more grief than anyone should have to. She’s just putting her life back together when she meets property developer Martin Cresswell-Smith. They marry after a whirlwind relationship, and that’s when the sh** hits the fan. He’s abusive. Manipulative. He gaslights her. Ellie quickly spirals back into depression. She’s glad when he dies. Which of course makes her suspect number 1 when Detective Lozza Bianchi shows up. But did she really kill her husband?
White deftly explores subjects of domestic violence, trauma and drug addiction against a story in which we don’t know where our allies lay. Everybody is a suspect, and every page reveals something new.
With a vivid setting in Australia and peppered with some seriously creepy animals (giant poisonous spiders, flying foxes, jellies the size of volleyballs, mud crabs), In The Deep is atmospheric and tightly plotted with a twist at end that is so flawlessly executed I had NO idea it was even going to happen. Absolute perfection!
