Four Brits and a Book

Title: He Will Be My Ruin

Author: KA Tucker

Release Date: February 2, 2016

Synopsis:

The USA TODAY bestselling author of the Ten Tiny Breaths and Burying Water series makes her suspense debut with this sexy, heartpounding story of a young woman determined to find justice after her best friend’s death, a story pulsing with the “intense, hot, emotional” (Colleen Hoover) writing that exhilarates her legions of fans.

A woman who almost had it all . . .

On the surface, Celine Gonzalez had everything a twenty-eight-year-old woman could want: a one-bedroom apartment on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, a job that (mostly) paid the bills, and an acceptance letter to the prestigious Hollingsworth Institute of Art, where she would finally live out her dream of becoming an antiques appraiser for a major auction house. All she had worked so hard to achieve was finally within her reach. So why would she kill herself?

A man who was supposed to be her salvation . . .

Maggie Sparkes arrives in New York City to pack up what’s left of her best friend’s belongings after a suicide that has left everyone stunned. The police have deemed the evidence conclusive: Celine got into bed, downed a lethal cocktail of pills and vodka, and never woke up. But when Maggie discovers a scandalous photograph in a lock box hidden in Celine’s apartment, she begins asking questions. Questions about the man Celine fell in love with. The man she never told anyone about, not even Maggie. The man Celine believed would change her life.

Until he became her ruin. 
On the hunt for evidence that will force the police to reopen the case, Maggie uncovers more than she bargained for about Celine’s private life—and inadvertently puts herself on the radar of a killer. A killer who will stop at nothing to keep his crimes undiscovered.

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My Review:

He Will Be My Ruin is about as different to contemporary romance as I would go. It is a suspense book where you are left constantly guessing – the traditional “whodunnit” in other words. 

I trusted no one, I suspected everyone. I knew who I WANTED it to be and who I DIDN’T want it to be. But I didn’t get to decide on the! KA did. So I had to play along with the storyline, all the while guessing the inevitable plot twist. FYI, I got it wrong. A lot. My mind changed and my thought processes changed as the direction of our protagonists’ investigations changed direction also. 

I loved Maggie. I adored Ruby. The characters were expertly written with Maggie’s distrust in the (mis)ruling of her best friend’s suicide, Grady’s seemingly dodgy goings on in his apartment directly upstairs and Jace’s shrewd business manner. They all had their place in the story with no unnecessary additions. I loved reading Celine’s back story and finding out her deepest, darkest secrets and I was entranced thoughout Maggie’s search for the truth. 

Definitely a different kind of KA Tucker novel but an extremely commendable and cleverly thought out one all the same. 

4*

Excerpt:

These are Celine’s most private things. No one was ever supposed to find them.
​With slightly shaky hands, I shift my focus to the bottom of the closet, where shoe boxes and storage containers are stacked in tidy piles. I toss them about, rooting through the contents, anxious over what I might find.
​Until I come to a decorative box of dangly necklaces and bracelets, made from giant stones. An uneducated person might mistake them for costume jewelry, but I know that the diamonds are real. I can tell by their sparkle. Several receipts sit at the bottom of the box, indicating a pawnshop where it looks like Celine had already sold some pieces.
​I crawl on my hands and knees to check under the bed. Nothing but a single dust bunny—the soul survivor of Celine’s excessive cleaning regime—hides there.
​I toss the lamp onto the recently delivered and freshly made bed—the silk white shade bends but I don’t care—and pull apart the makeshift end table, yanking the long and narrow crates apart to hit the hardwood in a loud clatter.
​Books spill out everywhere.
​The crates are full of little books, ranging from pink journals with unicorns to leather-bound diaries with locks. No keys included.
​I didn’t know Celine kept a diary. But of course she did. She liked keeping track of everything. It only makes sense that she would keep track of her life.
​I gather every last one and spread them out across the bed. Hoping that somewhere in here I’ll find a reasonable answer…
​Dreading the truth.

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  About the Author:

Born in small-town Ontario, K.A. Tucker published her first book at the age of six with the help of her elementary school librarian and a box of crayons. She currently resides in a quaint town outside of Toronto with her husband, two beautiful girls, and an exhausting brood of four-legged creatures.

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