One Wrong Turn by C.M. Ewan

I have driven through Bodmin Moor in the fog. It was a wrong turn. I felt sick and afraid that I was completely lost. At least I didn't have weird strangers in the back like the characters in this book had.

This is a well plotted novel about a couple who pick up a family whose car has broken down. The woman is injured and needs a hospital but Cornwall is an isolated and vast place, as well as being dark and cold in the winter. Written in short chapters to keep the pace tight, (in the first person for the driver and third from others) each chapter revealing something to pull the reader along. The story is told in two timelines: one in the present and the other that follows the family up to the point where their car breaks down and the timelines meet. Brilliant suspense.

Of course, nothing is at it first appears and when it looks one way, then it changes. Around the last quarter of the book the story becomes a bit of an action-thriller as it leads to its conclusion. Perhaps because I know this part of the world so well, but the location is definitely a main character, even if the author made a few parts up. Hey, it's fiction after all.

Wonderfully well written, ensuring that perception, angst, intuition and sympathy are authentically portrayed. A really chilling, atmospheric and tense read. This is what a psychological thriller should be. Loved every minute of it. Oh, and don't pick up strangers...

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Published by Pan MacMillan on 18 July 2024. Originally titled One Wrong Turn then re-issued as Strangers in the Car.
​Advance review copy supplied by the publisher.

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