We meet pregnant Catherine who’s life was threatened while her husband Adam was away. Of course she doesn’t tell Adam! ( crazy)... A teenage boy hunts for his mother’s killer in this Man Booker Prize-longlisted novel by “the true heir to the great Ruth Rendell” ( Mail on Sunday, UK). A little later, Catherine is queasy as she stares down at her tummy: “Because for the first time, alongside their precious child, grew a tiny seed of doubt.” We have the new neighbour next door making an appearance. I loved how I didn’t like her, then I did. Yeah- yeah.... I know how did they not get caught by social services- and support themselves to boot?

The only issues I had with this one was the slow burn. I was pretty bored on and off with this story and had trouble focusing because I felt like there was nothing happening. If you're expecting a thriller with massive twists/turns then I wouldn't count on that. Bauer focuses more on a deeper look into the characters in this thriller/suspense. Snap reveals a story focused on a family that has been dealt a raw hand of murder in their lives. The story slowly reveals how one family has coped with the aftermath of a murder. With her deeply quirky take, Belinda Bauer is totally unlike contemporaries, and all her crime novels have a very distinct identity. Readers never know what to expect with each new novel, except that it will be highly accomplished.”— Financial Times (UK)The crime was a brutal one, but there were few violent descriptions, or scenes (the worst occurred in the opening chapter when the children stumble across a dead fox). Instead the story focused on the devastating effects of such a crime, and how much it completely destroyed more than one family. What wife does that?? Every wife I know -including myself - would never keep a secret from my husband that a knife was found near my bed with a note saying.”I could have killed you”.

This article is about the writer Belinda Bauer. For the actress Belinda Bauer, see Belinda Bauer (actress). Ha....not so fast. Don’t think for one second that there aren’t other adults in this story ... or there aren’t other plots happening. I adored this book and how it was written. There are no fancy frills or poetic moments here (except maybe for poetic justice, if that counts) – and yet my thoughts, feelings, and imagination were all held captive until the very end. So these were two storylines. There is a third which is introduced as the beginning. A young pregnant woman, Catherine, awakes to find a note with a knife stating “I could have killed you”. She has no idea where it came from and she makes a “snap” decision not to tell her husband about this which ends up almost costing her everything!

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EXCERPT: 'To my Daughter on your Special Day'. Her mother chose the worst cards. A week after her birthday she had bundled it up with all her others and put them in a drawer in the spare room. Unique, haunting…and bonkers. If I had to describe this book in a nutshell, that’s what comes to mind. And just so you know, I’m a big fan of bonkers.

yet... we don’t care: the storytelling - the wonderful characters with all they are grappling with, make us happy campers readers!!!

The opening of Snap is one of the most vividly unnerving I have read . . . razor-sharp observation.' Guardian Finders Keepers, Bauer's third novel, was set in the fictional location of Shipcott, also in Exmoor. The book was published in Britain on 5 January 2012, and in the United States on 28 February 2012. Marvel was almost embarrassed by how magical it felt. He felt so connected to it! And he wanted to use it. Wanted to see what it could do. Wanted to cut and to stab and to slice. To carve his name in something. Bauer simultaneously grips your heart and your head with a cast of characters you can’t help but care for and a crime you need to see solved. This was an audio book I listened to, think I'm getting better at these. The narrator was Andrew Wincott, and I thought he did a wonderful job. Maybe I'm better with male narrators?

The abalone was a turbulent storm cloud, captured and tamed by the smooth, warm handle that fitted his palm like magic. He touched his thumb to the diamond stud and the knife seemed to open itself! Seemed to know that he wanted it open, and obliged before he’d exerted any noticeable pressure. No hesitation. No notches. No friction. The blade sprang open like a living thing, alert to his every wish. Serrated on one edge, curved on the other to a cruel point.

Despite being a crime novel, it is a charming book that encompasses themes of compassion, friendship, love and standing up for what you believe is right.'