Her Perfect Family

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With tense scenes at Gemma's graduation, what follows is a story that has the police trying to find the suspect. Teresa Driscoll is a former BBC TV news presenter whose psychological thrillers have sold more than two million copies across the world. Gemma Ballantine is getting ready for work one morning when her eldest child comes running down the stairs, saying the words every mother dreads. We are left guessing as to who is the criminal - is it Gemma's jilted boyfriend (Alex), is it Ed's unstable ex-spouse, is it Gemma's creepy tutor, is it the strange woman who appeared from time to time to unnerve Rachel or is it someone else on the periphery.

I’ve read Driscoll’s books in the past, and they’ve never let me down, so I really hoped this one would do the trick! Gemma is a working mum who often feels pulled in all directions and I completely identify with that! But when she stumbles and falls on stage during the ceremony, a beautiful moment turns into chaos: Gemma has been shot, and just like that, she's fighting for her life. Ed and Rachel are shocked, as are all the others watching, as they learn that she has been shot in the leg, and has hurt her head while falling. It is a race against time as police fear the attacker will strike again, versus the faint hope that Gemma may wake up from her coma.

Daughter Tarryn in particular seems to rebel against the idea of pleasing either parent and they’ve acquiesced at some point along the way, keeping the peace rather than adopting an authoritarian approach with her. Covering crime for so long, she was deeply moved by the haunting impact on the relatives, the friends and the witnesses and it is those ripples she explores now in her darker fiction.

Each character shines a different light on the mystery surrounding Gemma's shooting, with Gemma providing the victim's perspective, Gemma's mother portraying the grieving parent, and both contrasting against the more professional stance of the private investigator. Random House presents the audiobook edition of Ikigai by Héctor García and Francesc Miralles, read by Noako Mori. About the author: Shalini Boland is a USA Today bestselling author of psychological thrillers ‘THE GIRL FROM THE SEA’ (No 1, US Audible charts), ‘THE BEST FRIEND’ (No 2, US Audible charts), ‘THE MILLIONAIRE’S WIFE’ (No 9, UK Kindle charts), ‘THE SECRET MOTHER’ (No 2, US Kindle charts), THE CHILD NEXT DOOR (No 11, UK Kindle charts).When the attacks on the house start everyone looks to Tarryn as they assume it to be the work of youngsters. Alongside DI Melanie Sanders, they will soon uncover some family secrets that could be behind the shooter’s motivations. The difference between the public, and the private face of a family is endlessly interesting to me, and I found this deep dive by Matthew Hill into just what has gone on to lead to the point of attempted murder fascinating. All the main characters seem to have a backstory born of trauma, which explains their behaviours in some way. But when a smoke bomb is tossed on their front lawn, and their car’s tires are punctured, the family begins to worry.