Book Club | Sarah Ward’s In Bitter Chill

As February comes to a close it’s time to introduce the first of our winter book reviews. As always, it’s a pleasure to welcome Emma from Year of the Yes to take us through her thoughts on ‘In Bitter Chill’ by Sarah Ward.

For the title alone, In Bitter Chill is the perfect book to curl up on the sofa with for winter book club. But it has all the other ingredients that you would expect from a cozy seasonal read too – it’s gripping, dark and compulsive in equal measures.

In fact, just to illustrate that I am not over-stating its compulsive nature, I should tell you that a friend of mine raced through it in just a couple of hours on a spa day. Bearing in mind that we spent most of the day enjoying the 16 experience rooms at the spa, that is no mean feat. But so entrenched was she in this page-turner, that she refused to leave our temporary home at Centre Parcs (the destination of said spa) until she finished reading. I should probably caveat this by saying she is a notoriously fast reader (but when quizzed on her latest reads it is always evident that she has absorbed every last detail) but I followed her lead by devouring the story in just two days – and managing to squeeze work, blogging and a small amount of socialising around it.

Yep, this is the kind book that makes you pull a late (or all) nighter to discover the conclusion. An impressive achievement for a debut crime novelist.

In Bitter Chill tells the story of Rachel Jones and Sophie Jenkins, two young girls who were abducted in the late 70’s. But only Rachel returns home. Thirty years later the case is reopened when Sophie’s mother commits suicide, which raises suspicion that there might be new evidence that can lead to the truth about what happened to the girls on that fateful day; who committed the crime and in particular, why Sophie never returned home.

Told through the lens of the detectives investigating the reopened case, Rachel’s disjointed memories of what happened and a myriad of new discoveries, this carefully crafted story keeps you gripped throughout with interwoven plots that will keep you guessing right up to the very end.

You fully expect a crime novel to have pace, but this one nearly bowls you over with the speed at which it hurtles you through the narrative – presenting the evidence but never allowing you close enough to get a full grip yourself on what might have happened.

Even if crime isn’t really your thing, this novel is a quick and easy read that will certainly have an impact on you – whether you like the ending or not.

So for those of you that weren’t following along with RMS Book Club on this particular occasion, put it on the reading list if you are looking for something that will swallow you right up and spit you back out when you are done. It’s not a life changer, littered with messages and life lessons (I’m hoping we all know not to get in the car with strangers already), but it is a damn good read.

If you were following along, I would love to hear what you thought. How long did it take you to read? How did you feel about Rachel as the central character? Did you warm to her? How do you think she felt about Sophie, both as a child and when she was an adult, after Sophie’s disappearance? And most importantly, did you see the ending coming?

I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts on today’s book. Do drop by on Sunday for a bonus book club post as Hannah joins us to take us through her thoughts on Drew Barrymore’s latest novel.

{WINTER READS}