‘That’s the thing about murder. It’s all fun and games until it happens to you.’

The blurb attracted me to this novel, given that it said it was set in Ludlow, a very pretty market town in Shropshire where I lived for a few years. An unusual and somewhat rural setting for a murder, I thought, until I saw the heading of the first chapter: Ludlow, Kansas. Ah! More yellow brick road than meandering River Teme…but no matter.

Greer Dunning is returning home to Ludlow after twelve years away. She left after the brutal murder of her sister, Eliza and her boyfriend, and the execution of Roy Mathews, the man a jury of twelve good men had found guilty of the heinous crime. Greer has always had her doubts, however, and now there has been a second slaying – two more young people cruelly murdered. A copycat or the work of the same perp - obviously not Roy? Greer knows it is time to return to her broken family: a father who drowns himself in bourbon and a mum who cleans fanatically and seems to be blind to the emotions of her remaining daughter who needs to confront the past and the part she played.

It doesn’t take long for Greer to settle back into what has become a sad house or to meet up with her old friends, Cassie and Ryan. Who wouldn’t want friends like that? Friends you can talk to, friends who accept each other for what they are and who know instinctively what each one needs. Of course, there are other townsfolk Greer bumps into, people who are quick to comment on her long absence; people who care and people who don’t, who offer tacit criticism and less tacit disapproval.

When Eliza died and the lawman believed he’d caught his man, Sheriff Baker quickly tired of Greer and her endless questions and theories. He felt sympathy for her and the rest of the family but didn’t believe her doubts served any purpose. He suggested a therapist but then Greer didn’t reveal (to anyone) the real reason for her thoughts. One of the many messages she received at the time is still etched in her mind. It was the picture of a heart with the words ‘I did it for you’ and it was hand delivered; there was no way Roy Mathews could have delivered it from his prison cell. Greer has held onto the misery that she may somehow have been responsible for her sister’s death, and by her silence, that of Roy, ever since.

An unusual and somewhat rural setting for a murder, I thought, until I saw the heading of the first chapter: Ludlow, Kansas.

This time Greer joins forces with Dean, Roy’s brother. He is an unlikely partner but one who needs answers just as much as Greer, someone else whose life was torn apart by the murders of Eliza and Travis. Together, they revisit that time, following every lead. They talk to all the principal players, trying to recap the days surrounding the murders and trying to find some link to the latest slaughter of innocents, Addy and Dylan. Their quest leads them to a conclusion neither expects as they face a danger they had never predicted. Roy may have pulled the trigger but, hidden in plain sight, the real person responsible is revealed and his motive is as old as the hills. While the truth is unexpected, it is an unwanted but necessary evil - the only way they can ultimately heal.

The novel explores grief and the need for closure; murder and the fact that there are more victims than the obvious; trust and truth and the knowledge that you cannot have one without the other.

It’s a slow burn but when is the quest for the truth ever a sprint?


I Did It For You is published by HQ