One Down

 

One Down is a well written modern psychological thriller standalone by Diana Wilkinson. Due out 16th Jan 2023 from Boldwood Books, it's 377 pages and will be available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.

This is a gritty and tension filled thriller with an unreliable narrator in Amanda, a recovering alcoholic, who is convinced her husband is threatening her through the crosswords he sets as a cruciverbalist. Through flashbacks, he's shown to be a calculating merciless manipulator and Amanda has become isolated from any sort of support network except her AA support group. 

The author is quite adept at ratcheting up the tension unrelievedly throughout. For readers who enjoy crosswords and wordplay, this book is full of them. It bears mentioning that the book is set in, and the crosswords (and vernacular) are UK style (see book cover). For readers who are going the extra distance to figure the clues as they're presented in the book, they are different than many readers will be used to in North America. The author explains them in context in the text, but they're all what crossword solvers in the US refer to as "cryptic crosswords". 

Three and a half stars. This will definitely appeal to fans of psychological thrillers like Gone Girl, Rock Paper Scissors, and The Maidens.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.