Monday 18 August 2014

Broadchurch

Broadchurch by Erin Kelly & Chris Chibnall
Published by Sphere
14th August 2014
Paperback Edition

 
It's a hot July morning in the Dorset town of Broadchurch when Beth Latimer realises that her eleven-year-old son, Danny, is missing. As Beth searches desperately for her boy, her best friend, local police officer DS Ellie Miller, arrives at work to find that the promotion she was promised has been given to disreputable Scottish outsider DI Alec Hardy.

When Danny's body is found on the beach Ellie must put her feelings aside as she works with DI Hardy to solve the mystery of Danny's death. As the case becomes a murder investigation the news hits the national press, jolting sleepy Broadchurch into the national spotlight.

As the town's secrets begin to unravel, members of this tight-knit community begin to consider those in their midst. Right now it's impossible to know who to trust...


I might be the only person who missed it, but I didn't see the television adaptation of Broadchurch by Chris Chibnall and spent an age after the final episode hiding from any newspaper and Twitter reveals as to 'whodunnit'.  However, I did get the dvd when it came out, but, at the time of writing this, it remains unopened. 

You may be asking yourself why this is (or not really care, but I'm going to tell you anyway).  The reason it's unopened is because not long after said dvd purchase, I heard on the grapevine that is Twitter, that the fabulous Erin Kelly (who writes excellent books, and if you have't read them, you should) was going to be writing the Broadchurch novel, based on the tv series.  I had to get myself a copy.

After a few tweets were sent, it came through, and then I had the next dilemna, did I watch the series, then read the book, or the other way around?  I couldn't decide, so asked the author herself.  She offered it out to others who had already done both, and the reply was to read the book first.  So the dvd has remained on the back-burner until I finished the book this week - can't wait to watch it, but firstly, onto the book itself....

So back to the plot, and here's presuming you haven't seen it either; one weekday morning, all is normal in the Latimer household.  Beth Latimer gets up only to discover her 11 year old son Danny isn't home.  Both she and her husband presume he has got up early, done his paper round and gone to school, but without taking his lunchbox.  She goes over to the school only to discover that they haven't seen him either - now it's time to panic.  At the same time, Beth's best friend Ellie gets a call that a body has been discovered on a beach, and it doesn't look good.

Accompanying this story-line is that of DS Ellie Miller's career - before going away on holiday, she was more-or-less promised the job of DI upon her return, however she gets back to find that she has been passed over for the job by DI Alec Hardy - a man who has his own demons relating to a previous missing child case that threatened to wreck his career.  Can Miller work alongside him, and can Hardy handle the media pressure once the death of Danny Latimer hits the nationals?

Broadchurch is the story of a sleepy Dorset town where everyone thinks that they know each other.  However, as the police start digging deeper, it appears that many of the residents have guilty secrets that they would rather remain hidden; and one person in particular has the biggest secret of all.  The question is, which resident is it?

I didn't guess who the murderer was, but I was surprised when I found out.  I think Erin Kelly has written a very good novel based on the script by Chris Chibnall.  Obviously if you have already seen the television series, you will already know 'whodunnit', does that change how good the book actually is?  I can't say for certain but I througly enjoyed it, and if you like your crime novels, I'd say snap this one up right away.

 
Happy Reading

 
Miss Chapter x

No comments:

Post a Comment

I'd love to hear your thoughts on anything I review!