DEAD HEAT
Dead Heat by Sabine Durrant, a review
Dead Heat by Sabine Durrant, published in hardback by Cornerstone on 12th March £13.99 in Waterstones and £8.99 on Kindle. Length: 352 pages
My friend Femina told me she bought a book last week on the basis of one of my recent reviews, which really made my day. Please do let me know if any of my reviews prompt you to make an actual purchase AND more importantly, what you think when you’ve read the book. There’s a handy comments box below.
Meanwhile, we’re back in thriller territory this weekend and this one is a superb and unexpected combination of edgy psychological suspense with a beguiling but misleadingly languorous atmosphere. It’s quite the feat of deft plotting and literary thrills.
Arcadia’s shabby chic location on the Peloponnese coastline is the perfect setting for Matt to write. It’s also the perfect place for a murder.
The Vibe: Matt has lost his newspaper column and his girlfriend has left him. His friends, Adam and Celia, have offered him the cottage in the grounds of Arcadia, their grand but ramshackle house in the Peloponnese, for him to lick his wounds and write his screenplay. The languid, sun kissed days become laced with danger and betrayal when billionaire tech tycoon Rey de Souza installs himself in the flashy new build next door and Matt’s screenplay begins to play out in real life, with deadly consequences.
Thoughts and feelings: The story contains fabulous scene setting and beautifully descriptive writing. With atmospheric and propulsive storytelling, it’s immersive and well paced with sparkling prose and a witty internal monologue. Heavily layered with detail, it appears weightless and light at first, becoming darker in the final pages with deliciously chilling concluding sentences! Deftly plotted with slick prose, this is at the more literary end of the mainstream thriller market. A real page turner, it’s irresistible and addictive. The writing is incredibly fresh with a unique authorial voice and doesn’t fall into the trap of obvious genre tropes.
Who will enjoy this? This would appeal to readers searching for the sophistication of Patricia Highsmith combined with the accessibility of Lucy Foley.
Final thoughts: This was utterly gripping. The author cleverly hooks the reader in with the empathetic protagonist, Matt. The storytelling is subtle and sophisticated with dark undertones and cleverly distributed comic asides. Strikingly visual, this engrossing drama skilfully plays out against a beautiful backdrop and I can’t recommend it highly enough.