Tuesday 5 August 2014

The Way You Look Tonight by Richard Madeley



Not until she was 16 did Stella Arnold learn the full truth about her father, how handsome, charming James turned out to be a cold-blooded, psychotic extortionist, racketeer and killer. Knowing now what her father was capable of, she decides to study psychology and the criminal mind, and to further her education in America. In the spring of 1962 she flies to Boston where, being beautiful, bright and fashionably English, she becomes someone of huge fascination and on every invitation list. Then comes an invitation one summer weekend to the home of the Kennedys. Stella quickly becomes part of the inner Kennedy circle as they party through the hot summer nights. Both brothers, JFK and Bobby, make their moves on her but she firmly, charmingly, repels them. Further south, on the Florida Keys, a killer is on the loose. The case, unsolved, begins to rock America, and with her specialist knowledge of psychopaths, Stella is co-opted by the police investigation and prepares to fly south...

I always say don't judge a book by its cover but I am ashamed to say I did just that when I saw the cover for The Way You Look Tonight by Richard Madeley, I was expecting a nice light breezy romance and yet I couldn't have been more wrong! 

Stella is off to America to further her education in psychology and the criminal mind but she never expected to find herself at a party with the Kennedy brothers. The president who is fascinated by the English Rose and her expertise in her chosen field soon confides in her about the keys killer who has brutally murdered 4 young women and is still on the loose.

I was intrigued to see if Richard Madeley was as good writing a novel as he is at selecting great reads and I can tell you now I was pleasantly surprised at how good this novel was. Once I got over my initial shock at the content of this book I was then hooked and couldn't put it down. The pace in which the book is written is perfect slowly building up to the explosive ending, there were no low points and it never felt as though it was being drawn out.

I hadn't read the authors debut book which apparently is about Stella in her younger years but I didn't feel that having not read the first book put me at any disadvantage it was easily read as a stand alone book although having enjoyed this one so much I will definitely be picking up his debut book.

The way the author manages to write from a psychopaths point of view was done remarkably well and really fascinated me. 

I just hope that people who are looking for an intense, thrilling, psychotic read won't miss out on this one because of the cover. I highly recommend this book it was a compelling read that I just couldn't get enough of which is saying something or me when I am not a big crime fan but this one really sparked my interest.




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