As it often happens with sisters, Tasha and Alice look alike, with curly red hair and blue eyes, but they are very different. Tasha is married to a car mechanic, Aaron, and they have twin daughters they are raising in their small hometown, Chew Norton, near Bristol. Alice, who lives in London, has a PhD in biochemistry and is a respected scientist. Her wealthy husband, Kyle, is on the verge of unveiling a medical app that will change the way serious diseases like diabetes and cancer can be diagnosed.
Alice never wanted children, but she loves her two nieces and she understands the pressure Tasha is under, taking care of her family while working as a dental assistant. She offers Tasha and Aaron a swap – she and Kyle will take care of the twins for a week, while Tasha and Aaron enjoy a vacation in Alice and Kyle’s apartment in Venice.
Tasha is reluctant, anxious about leaving her daughters for a week. Something that happened in the past, however, continues to haunt their family. Their young sister, Holly, was only a few months old when she was abducted from her pram. Jeanette, their mother, had left the pram outside a food store while she picked up something for dinner. When she came back outside, Holly was gone. While the police were called and a thorough search performed, Holly was never found. After Jeanette’s husband died four years ago, she moved to France, hoping for a fresh start. But she still believes that Holly is alive and even moving away from Chew Norton has not lessened her pain.
Tasha finally agrees to Alice’s offer. The couple certainly makes an entrance, showing up in Kyle’s bright orange McLaren. While Tasha was embarrassed about their humble home, Alice is excited to be there and the twins, Elsie and Flossie, are thrilled to see their aunt. After many assurances that the girls would be in good hands, and the added help from Aaron’s mother, Viv, who lives nearby, Tasha and Aaron leave for the airport.
Alice’s Venetian apartment is everything Tasha envisioned and more. She’s stunned by the expensive clothes she finds in Alice’s closet. On impulse, she decides to wear one of the glamorous silk dresses to dinner. They get lost walking back from the restaurant and in a dark alley are confronted by a man wielding a knife. They manage to get away, but the encounter leaves them shaken. Were they targeted because of the dress she was wearing? Even worse, Tasha wonders if the man thought she was Alice and was after her sister.
But it’s the phone call Tasha receives in the middle of the night that turns her world upside down. Someone broke into their Chew Norton home, killed Kyle and badly injured Alice. The twins, sleeping upstairs, were not harmed. But Tasha and Aaron take the next plane back, finding their home a crime scene. She finds Alice in the hospital, barely conscious, her face covered with bruises. When she is awake, she tells Tasha she doesn’t remember what happened and is devastated about Kyle’s death.
When Tasha finally reaches her mother, Jeanette wastes no time getting back home. Having Jeanette there is comforting to Alice, who stays in Tasha’s house while recuperating. Viv, however, makes herself scarce and it’s obvious to Tasha that there’s unfinished business between her mother and mother-in-law.
The police investigation produces several suspects, including a violent gang that has been responsible for several home robberies in the neighborhood. But when Tasha finds a note in the mailbox addressed to her saying, “It was supposed to be you,” she’s forced to examine her own past. Is there someone out there who still wants to kill her?
In Claire Douglas’ The Wrong Sister, everyone has secrets. As they are slowly revealed, and another death occurs on Tasha’s property, no one can be eliminated as a suspect. This thriller is indeed a page turner, one that will keep the reader guessing until the end, and maybe even after that last page.
The Wrong Sister
Claire Douglas
Top photo: Shutterstock
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