Nothing is ever an accident — everything happens for a reason.
Did a talented classical violist jump or slip off a cliff? An inquest delivers a verdict of death by accident, but two friends of Lisa Wright believe she leapt and want somebody to blame other than themselves. The antithesis of plot-driven suspense and resolution thrillers, Accidents is a noir exploration of guilt, bereavement and injustice.
What did I think?
Did she jump, did she fall or was she pushed? That's the question I kept asking myself when reading Accidents Will Happen but in the end it doesn't really matter as either way a life has been lost. It's a short book at 124 pages but every single word has been carefully crafted by Andrew J Field into an intriguing, thought-provoking and poignant read.
Lisa Wright was on a run with her personal trainer, Mike Nicholls, when she ended up dead at the bottom of the cliffs in Berwick-upon-Tweed. The book opens as the Northumberland coroner's court investigates whether Lisa's death was suicide or a tragic accident. First on the stand is Mike and the reader is privy to his thoughts so we know he's not telling the whole truth...but what is he hiding and why?
I love the layout of the book that is set in two parts: 'On the record' and 'Off the record'. On the record is set in court and takes us through the inquest into Lisa's death, whilst Off the record is where Mike and Lisa's friend Sally search for the truth about what really happened. It's interesting that both of them want to absolve themselves of any blame in Lisa's death, which does make you wonder how much they did actually contribute to it.
The book is quite dark in places as Mike's mental health is explored and Lisa's historical abuse comes to light but it is very compulsive reading and I couldn't put it down. Accidents Will Happen is the kind of book I would call a genre-buster as it refuses to be put in any one box, creating almost a genre of its own. It's well worth a read and I plan to read it again to pick up all the nuances of Andrew J Field's impeccable writing.
I received a gifted hardback to read and review for the Love Books Tours Instagram Tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
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About the author:
Andrew J Field lives with Catherine by the sea in Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northumberland, next to the docks, three bridges, and close to the Scottish border. He writes post-modern ironic noirish thrillers. Books include After the Bridge and All Down the Line. He is currently working on You Are One of Us, a Mott the Hoople tribute book. A member of the Society of Authors, he has a MA in novel writing from the University of Manchester. He also runs Hit the North ...and likes coffee, dry white wine and scoffing fish and chips overlooking the Tweed estuary. His latest novel is Accidents Will Happen, the antithesis of plot-driven suspense and resolution thrillers.
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