Limelight by Graham Hurley

Release: 30 Sept. 2020
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Source: Rachel’s Random Resources
Find it at: Amazon UK, Amazon , Severnhouse

Life is dangerous. No one survives it. Enora Andressen makes a series of mind-blowing discoveries when her friend disappears.

Actress Enora Andressen is catching up with her ex-neighbour, Evelyn Warlock, who’s recently retired to the comely East Devon seaside town of Budleigh Salterton. What’s more,. . . Evelyn loves the peace, the friendship of strangers there. Above all, she enjoys the town’s prestigious literary festival.

On a September evening when her French neighbour, Christianne Beaucarne, disappears. The village is stunned and large search is on. Enora has met this woman. Until now, the two of them have bonded. But Enora discovers some anguished moments over the months to come . For one thing, this will put sleepy Budleigh Salterton on the front page of every newspaper in the land.

To Summarize, this is the story about an enduring friendship from beginning to end..

About the Author:

Graham Hurley is an award-winning TV documentary maker who now writes full time. His Faraday and Winter series won two Theakstons nominations . French TV also successfully adapted the same. He has since written a quartet of novels featuring D/S Jimmy Suttle. Wilbur Smith Adventure shortlisted the first of three WW2 novels – for the Writing Prize. The first three titles in the Enora Andressen series, Curtain Call, Sight Unseen and Off Script, are also available from Severn House. After thirty years in Portsmouth, Graham now lives in East Devon with his wife, Lin.

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Limelight Review:

Honestly, the turns in the book were beyond my expectations. What starts off as a simple mystery, soon turns into a tale of possible conspiracies and terrorist attacks. The story progresses in such a gripping manner that you wonder how Enora will get herself out of the various predicaments. Some of my memorable scenes in the story is when Bullivant and Brett arrest her because of her past in Syria, or the story she narrates in French about Marcel and his impending death after the Germans captured him.

The author does a wonderful job in maintaining the suspense in this story. Although I have not read the previous three books, I had no trouble reading this as a standalone. The author provides a nice recap in the beginning of what happened earlier. The supporting characters like Andy, Sylvester, Beth and Bullivant also added well to the story. I also liked Enora’s friendship with Christianne (even if Chris appears for just a few scenes). On a side note, I also liked the various French terms I learnt while reading this tale like “dégringolade” and “copine”.

However, the only downside to the story is in the reference to the characters. I get confused at stories that refer to characters on first name basis at certain times, and last names at others. The author did this quite often in the story, diverting my concentration, as I had to remember the full name of the characters.
Apart from that, this was a very nice story, igniting my interest to pick up the previous books in the series.