If I could give you one word of advice, it would be to not settle down with Michael Robotham's brand new thriller When You Are Mine, unless you are planning to stay up all night.
The novel combines all the ingredients essential for a page-turner - complex characters, a well-crafted world, and a long burn mystery that provides you with another piece of the puzzle with every passing chapter.
Throughout his career, Michael Robotham has established himself as one of Australia’s most successful thriller and crime fiction writers. An author who has twice won the CWA Gold Dagger award for best novel, who has written more than a dozen books, and whose work regularly tops the best-seller lists in multiple countries. In total, his combined works have sold more than 6 million copies.
In addition to this, one of Robotham's most celebrated works, his stand-alone novel The Secrets She Keeps was turned into a critically acclaimed six-part TV series by Network 10 last year and even became one of the most-watched TV shows on BBC1 in 2020.
Now, Robotham has turned his talents to penning a brand new thriller, When You Are Mine, that introduces readers to a whole new set of characters, and puts forwrad a new mystery to unravel.
Set against the backdrop of London, When You Are Mine tells the story of Philomena McCarthy, a young officer with the Metropolitan Police who has carved out a promising career for herself despite being the daughter of a notorious and feared London gangster.
It is a family legacy that weighs heavily on her, but as the plot unfolds it also begins to play a pivotal part in her story.
Despite initially rising above her father's criminal actions, Philomena’s career trajectory takes a sharp downward turn when she receives a call to investigate a domestic assault and arrives on the scene to find a young woman named Tempe Brown with a brutally bruised face, cowering behind a door.
The story becomes even more complicated when Tempe’s abuser is revealed to be a highly decorated and respected police detective. A “family man” with a wife who no one believes would ever lift a hand to the woman claiming to be his mistress.
Unable to charge the detective over the incident, and with her own reputation now in question, Philomena turns her attention to helping Tempe put her life back together and the two women quickly fall into a fast friendship.
At first, Tempe becomes almost indispensable to an overworked Philomena, helping to pull together her upcoming wedding while Phil tentatively begins to wade back into the world of her estranged family.
But in the background of their budding friendship, something just isn't quite right.
Tempe's stories of her past don't quite line up, and after inviting her on a night out with her closest friends, Philomena realises just how easily lies and wild made-up stories can topple out of her new friend's mouth when needed.
At first Tempe appears to be a loyal and devoted friend in need of a little kindness to rebuild her broken life, but as the story kicks along, both her motives and her interest in Philomena are called into question.
The true brilliance of Michael Robotham's work here is his ability to weave together multiple storylines throughout the book, to have each one littered with its own little mysteries and backstories, and then expertly bring them all together in the final, electric chapter.
The character of Philomena also makes for a compelling protagonist, because as the story moves along and more details come to light you find yourself fully inside her head, plagued with the same doubts and fears as she is. All as she tries to find out the truth in a world full of people who seem to be keeping secrets from her.
When You Are Mine delves into the toxic nature of male-dominated workplaces and the distrust that arises around domestic violence while also looking into the complexity of relationships.
The complications, loyalty, and pain that come tied up with family and the role of friendship plays in our lives. In particular, the deep and sometimes all-consuming connection that can form between women, and the consequences that arise when that bond is really tested.
Michael Robotham's When You Are Mine is a well-crafted thriller that pulls you so deeply into its pages that you'll want to finish it all in one sitting.
A world of complex characters and nuanced storylines that rapidly build to a thrilling and satisfying conclusion.
You can get your copy of When You Are Mine by Michael Robotham at QBD Books for $22.99.