It is a pleasure to take my place on the Blog Tour to celebrate the publication of Lucy V Hay's debut novel, The Other Twin.
When India falls to her death from a bridge over a railway, her sister Poppy returns home to Brighton for the first time in years. Unconvinced by official explanations, Poppy begins her own investigation into India’s death. But the deeper she digs, the closer she comes to uncovering deeply buried secrets. Could Matthew Temple, the boyfriend she abandoned, be involved? And what of his powerful and wealthy parents, and his twin sister, Ana?
Enter the mysterious and ethereal Jenny: the girl Poppy discovers after hacking into India’s laptop. What exactly is she hiding, and what did India find out about her?
Taking the reader on a breathless ride through the winding lanes of Brighton, into its vibrant party scene and inside the homes of its well-heeled families, The Other Twin is a startling and up-to-the-minute thriller about the social-media world, where resentments and accusations are played out online, where identities are made and remade, and where there is no such thing as the truth…
My Thoughts
From the opening page, The Other Twin feels fresh and original. It isn't just the references to social media, the contemporary feel of the setting or the relevant social references. There's something about the writing style that gathers you in and keeps your attention. The tension is slowly ramped up and there are plenty of red herrings which make you want to re-read it as soon as the last page has been reached.
As a character, Poppy is believable and likeable, but flawed. She's complicated as we discover are several other characters we meet. I like the fact that you don't realise just how complicated they are until you are quite far into the story. The plotting is so well controlled that clues as to what happened to India are never obvious or predictable. It's a book which gets inside your head a little, just like the mystery which haunts Poppy. Just like her, you find your assumptions about people shaken. You just know you have to follow her to discover the truth.
In The Other Twin, Lucy V Hay entwines character with modern issues without making the narrative contrived or cliched. The result is a beautifully crafted book which holds you on the edge of your seat at times and certainly delivers a breathless, satisfying read.
In short: a cleverly written and distinctive thriller, which is not afraid to tackle social issues held within a web of secrecy and lies.
About the Author
Lucy V. Hay is a novelist, script editor and blogger who helps writers via her Bang2write
consultancy. She is the associate producer of Brit Thrillers Deviation (2012) and Assassin
(2015), both starring Danny Dyer. Lucy is also head reader for the London Screenwriters’
Festival and has written two non-fiction books, Writing & Selling Thriller Screenplays, plus its follow-up Drama Screenplays. She lives in Devon with her husband, three children, six cats and five African Land Snails.
Thanks to Karen Sullivan and Anne Cater of Orenda Books for a copy of the book and a place on the Blog Tour.
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