The Woman Inside

I selected this book for the Monthly Key Word Challenge and am happy to state that I have found another author whose work I love. Anna-Lou Weatherley's The Woman Inside is an absolutely gripping, addictive psychological thriller and I loved it.

The publisher's summary:

Daisey Garrett wakes up in a hospital bed. She remembers her boyfriend has left her for another woman, but she doesn’t remember what happened to her the night she was attacked in her own home. Daisey shouldn’t be alive but against all odds, she’s survived an ordeal most would never recover from. But Daisey’s mind is broken. She’s on edge, drinking too much and, despite the painful breakup, finds herself in bed with her ex, Luke. And while she desperately tries to keep herself together, she can’t shake the feeling that she is being watched. Yet the missing pieces of that fateful summer night are beginning to surface… The lies she told the police. The lies Luke told her. Daisey’s memory is flickering like a faulty light bulb, flashing with images just out of reach. She can’t remember. She mustn’t.

I love serial killer stories and The Woman Inside is one of the best. The book is the 4th book in the Detective Dan Riley series but the first that I have read. The plot is about a killer who selects victims who have flowers as their first name and who work at Warwick's department store. When the bodies of Fern Lever and Jasmin Godden are discovered Detective Riley observes that they have had their throats slashed with their arms are folded across their chests and they are displayed naked with one pink rose. After leaving the store's annual summer party, Daisey is attacked in her home. She is lucky though. Daisey survived her attack but has amnesia and cannot identify the attacker or even how she was attacked. Ex-boyfriend Luke becomes a suspect but because Daisey lied to the police about having seen him earlier in the day he is off the hook. I cannot imagine any other woman lying for an ex-boyfriend. Daisey's agreement with Luke did not seem realistic. It was quite realistic for Daisy to begin drinking a little too much in order to cope with her situation. Luckily, her new flat mate, Iris, helped her think through her memories as well as her problems with Luke.

The story takes place in London during the present day as well as in the 1980s. The story is told from the alternating perspectives of Detective Riley and Daisy Garrett. The perspectives were written so smoothly I hardly noticed the changing perspectives.  The ending of the story was quite shocking. I never would have figured it out on my own. There were some clues about the identity of the killer about 2/3s the way through the story but I missed them. Frankly, the title of the book has the main clue. 

The pace was fast but picked up even more quickly at the midway point in the story and never stopped. The Woman Inside was such a good read that I am considering re-reading it in order to check for early clues to the identity of the serial killer.  It is definitely a must read. 5 out of 5 stars.