Book Review: On the Edge by Kate Horan

What is Kate Horan’s On the Edge about?

Desperate people do desperate things…

Sixteen years ago, teenage Maddie Marshall’s body was found on a desolate beach near her hometown, Carrinya. Vibrant, feisty Maddie was the only daughter of a high-profile politician. The case was the talk of the town but was ultimately never solved.

Nel Foley, daughter of the town doctor and Maddie’s best friend, was the last known person to see her alive, and the Carrinya rumour mill was vicious. Nel fled the town and has never been back. Until now.

Now a 32-year-old city GP, Nel returns after her father’s sudden death, determined to get in and out as quickly as possible. Begrudgingly, she agrees to run his clinic for a few weeks, but during that time she meets local mum Sophie Warner and that changes everything.

Sophie’s husband Ryan, a prominent local real estate agent, was Maddie’s boyfriend and Nel is certain he played a role in her death. When Nel discovers that Ryan is not the loving husband and father that he seems, she decides she must prove what he did all those years ago. But as she starts to unravel the past, she discovers the truth is far more complex than she could have imagined.

My review of On the Edge

On the Edge pulled me right in from the start and was page-turnery to the end. Kate has delivered us a story that has a great mystery at its heart as well as taking a good look at family and friendship and community relationships – all things I love in rural fiction. If there’s one thing I love more than a fictional small town, it’s a fictional small town with secrets, and Carrinya certainly delivered there! I also really like when we get to see different parts of the story unfold from a different perspectives that all come together, especially in a thriller/mystery like this – almost like we’re collecting clues to solve the mystery ahead of the characters – this was done so well in On Edge, and it was the theorising and puzzling that kept me turning those pages. Of course, when you’re looking at secrets and relationships in this sort of novel chances are you’re also going to hit on some heavier themes, and I really appreciated the way Kate dealt with the domestic violence and coercive control that is sensitively woven through part of the story.

This one is obviously a recommend from me – I think fans of Aussie crime fiction are going to love it.

Big thanks to the team at HQ Fiction (Harper Collins) for sending me an early copy!

xo Bron

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On the Edge by Kate Horan
Out now from HQ Fiction (Harper Collins Australia)
Source: I received an early copy for review from the HQ team (thank you!)
Category: Australian rural thriller/crime

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