BOOK CLUB: Perfect Strangers

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Author: Tasmina Perry
ISBN: 978-0-7553-5849-6
RRP: $29.99

Tasmina Perry’s latest novel is a gripping page turner that held me in thrall start to finish. There is something for everyone with elements of crime, suspense, romance and travel.

In an ideal world this is one book that I would have devoured in a single sitting, I found it extremely difficult to put down and was always itching to get back into it. In part I can attribute this to the various strands of storyline playing out simultaneously, the chapters focus on different characters so at the end of every chapter you want to continue until you can get back to those characters to see what they’re up to.

The story is told in the third person which keeps the story flowing fluidly through chapters as it focuses on different characters. There are straightforward links between some of the characters from the beginning so you know how they fit together. As the story progresses the twists begin and we start to see that often things are not what they seem.

Yet again Tasmina Perry has set her story in the midst of the wealthy, leading lives of privilege. Gorgeous houses, everything money can buy and shallow characters concerned more about bank balances and appearances than actual people.

Sophie Ellis is a spoilt, materialistic young lady drifting through life on Daddy’s bank balance until he loses all the family money in a Ponzi scheme, and then 12 months later passes away from a heart attack. Chapter One opens with Sophie at her father’s funeral trying not to let the other attendees see how much she’s hurting. After the family lost all their money it seems they lost most of their friends as well. She is forced to reassess her life and start standing on her own two feet, which is how she ends up working in a gym and then starting her own personal training business.

perfect strangers

Before long Sophie is house-sitting for a client, which is how she meets Nick Cooper and quickly becomes involved with him. Within a week Nick is murdered in his hotel suite and Sophie is a suspect. From this point Sophie’s life rapidly spirals out of control, it is also where our other leading lady and gents enter the picture.

Ruth Boden is a committed newspaper journalist out to catch a story big enough to land her the promotion she is desperate for, which lands her in Nick’s hotel suite ready to give her all in the pursuit of this story.

Inspector Fox is a detective on the Nick Cooper case chasing every lead he can get his hands on to track down Nick’s killer.

And then there’s Josh, an apparent friend of Nick’s and the only person Sophie could think to contact trying to find answers of her own.

Tasmina Perry doesn’t just write her characters, she creates them, and these ones are very 3-dimensional and in focus. There is not a great deal of background on Inspector Fox because we only really see him when he is totally immersed in the case and he is on duty almost 24/7 so even though we only see Inspector Fox and not the man he is off duty it still seems like a complete picture because he seems to live and breathe the job.

Josh is another character who remains shrouded in mystery throughout the novel and I think this works well because we need that slight sense of vagueness to keep us guessing.

Ruth Boden is a character we do get to know inside and out, on duty and off. She is a cut-throat journalist willing to do pretty much anything to get her story. Yes, over the years she has learned to play the game so to speak and her integrity isn’t neccessarily what it once was and she is a journalist who is always on duty but we still see Ruth Boden the woman as well as the journalist.

Sophie, well Sophie is on a roller coaster ride of discovery, much of it self discovery and that brings us closer to her as the pages turn. A young woman who started the book a spoilt little princess grows into a strong and assertive character who is more than capable of standing up for herself.

I loved this book. I love the characters, I love Perry’s writing style and I love the never-ending twists. Looking back I can see that there were clues to head us in the right direction but never enough to completely join the dots because things are often not what they seem and this plot is layered much more intricately than I was expecting.

I can’t wait to hear what our book club readers have to say about it.

47 thoughts on “BOOK CLUB: Perfect Strangers

  1. Thank you Beauty and Lace for introducing me to Tasmina Perry. I shall be seeking out more of her books.
    Perfect Strangers was a novel with many twists and turns. I found the start a little confusing with the introductions to many characters, but once I knew who was who I was set for a great story. There were so many twists and turns I was kept in the dark and there was no way I could guess the ending. The characters were likeable and I was on Sophie’s side from early on.

  2. From the momemt I opened this book it looked inviting with its attractive cover. The large print layout and end to each chapter kept me hooked to read on.
    The prologue has to be one of the best with its shocking suprise end leaving me eager for chapter 1.Loved reading the parts set in France and England.
    The charactersxwere dense and believable . I was drawn to Sophie early on in the book.
    Thank you Beauty and Lace.
    Sorry for late review but I finished it on holiday with no network coverage

  3. Gosh i’m hooked.. hooked and sucked in. What is happening? Who murdered him. What actually happened with Nick? Who is he? How does this tie in with the prologue?? I am been wanting a book like this to get into for ages since the last Beauty and Lace review. Just what I need before bedtime when it’s time to unwind from work. This is great. Thanks for the chance for the review.

  4. Wow where to start!
    I haven’t read any of Tasmina Perry’s books but I will be all because of Beauty and Lace. I was captured from the first chapter and I couldn’t put the book down.
    I loved the cross-over of characters and the way in which you could loose yourself imaging yourself as the characters and what you would do in there position.

    A fantastic read!

  5. I must admit that although I was intrigued from the start, I was a little confused at the beginning of this book… perhaps my mind was trying to read things into the story that weren’t there 😉
    It didn’t take long to kick into gear (my mind and the book) and I was dragged though the Thames and Paris with Josh and Sophie. I could relate to Sophie and I could feel and understand Ruth’s frustrations with work and trying to figure out the truth. I enjoyed trying to put it all together and trying to figure out who-dunnit.

    Overall a great read! Thank you! (Sorry my review is a bit late, I thought I had done it, but apparently not! )

  6. Thankyou so much or the opportunity to read this book Perfect strangers by Tasmina Perry . I really enjoyed this book a really good mystery story i could really get into it from begin to end it had me in i couldn’t putit down i would recommend this book to any one who loves a good mystery 10 out of 10 for this one can’t wait to read the next one bring it on

  7. First of all my sincere apology for posting late review. I have been traveling and thanks to Beauty and lace I got chance to carry such a lovely book with me. 🙂

    Perfect Strangers is the first book I read from Tasmina Perry books collection and therefore her writing pattern were quite new for me. However as a book-lover I have read good things about her writing and ideas. Thanks to Beauty and Lace, I have ‘been selected to review this amazing book a while back.

    This book is well-written(Of course), It’s different from usual 400 pages novel we often get in this price about rich, pretty looking people who do what rich and pretty people do (Very fantasy but somehow boring to read same stuff over and over..!). However, this book is rather directed on a way of mystery/suspense category. The main and most highlighter character of the book; Sophie unwillingly stuck in difficult situation, when her father loss all money in a Ponzi scheme to make her survival very tough. There is also another the story in a book which runs parallel to Sophie’s story. The story of Ruth, a journalist who finds herself caught up in the middle of Nick’s (her rich boyfriend) death and the aftermath.

    Overall, the book was brilliant, very entertaining, exciting and loved that fact that author managed to keep me hooked til the last page of the book. 🙂 I loved both women characters and their described story but the MOST importantly I <3 the chemistry of Sophie and Josh.;)

    Found: Breathlessly exciting, gloriously glamorous, PERFECT STRANGERS is Sunday Times bestseller Tasmina Perry's most thrilling novel to date.

    I would surely recommend this book to my family and friends( book readers) and/or if they like (which they would), I will also offer them to borrow for as long as they like 🙂

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