The Woman on the Pier by B.P. Walter

The title of this book is misleading. What is this about? Where is the pier? What direction is it going in?

The pier in the title refers to the one at the seaside resort town of Southend-on-Sea in Essex.

Told from the perspective of The Mother, a married couple struggle to cope with the death of their daughter during a terrorist attack. She was not where she was supposed to be, where she would have been safely away from the attack and for the first half the story is about the grief. Following two timelines, the unpleasant couple bicker, snipe and irritate each other. All very depressing.

Three months after the attack, the mother reads her daughter's messages and finds out that she had arranged to meet a boy and that was why she was somewhere other than where she said she would be. The mother decides that he is the one to blame for her death and sets out to find him. From this discovery (which should have happened much sooner) the story takes off in some strange, unexpected directions, none of which I predicted. That makes it an engrossing read.

This is a dark story, dealing with some horrific issues that don't include the daughter's death by terrorists. After the first half, which was slow and dispiriting, the book slides into a fast new path where revenge is taken over by other things. Not really suspense but plenty of surprises. Still wondering why this title was chosen though...of course, the pier.

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Published by One More Chapter on 11 November 2021.
​Advance review copy supplied by the publisher.

Rugged Coastline: Islands and Maritime Tales