The One Who Fell by Kerry Wilkinson

9^th May 2023.

Every now and again, a book comes along to surprise and entertain you like no other. Usually, it’s the characters and the way the story unfolds which grab me. This is exactly what happened with Millie Westlake, a character struggling with past events that the locals won’t let her forget. Immediately, I was on her side, feeling her pain at the unfairness she was enduring. Her release was to volunteer at a residential home for elderly people, keeping them company, talking and listening to their tales. One resident, Ingrid, has seen a young woman pushed from the roof of a nearby property.

Did Ingrid imagine this? Or did she really see a girl fall from the roof?

Millie is determined to find out more and begins to investigate. It’s not long before events take a sinister turn. Someone enters her house, intimidating her. She turns to a former reporter, Guy, who’s now a reclusive, somewhat eccentric character. In the past, his reporting led to the troubles and reputation she now has with the locals.

But he also has the means, knowledge and ability to help her uncover the truth.

I loved the characters that rally round Millie, the mystery that grew deeper and more threatening, and the way her knowledge and understanding of past events becomes clearer as she works with Guy.

The author has not only created vivid characters you care about, but crafted a gentle, but compelling mystery that I couldn’t put down. I enjoyed the story so much, I bought the rest of the series on the strength of it.

If you enjoy a suspenseful mystery, filled with memorable characters and moments, look no further.

Description

In the seaside town of Whitecliff, everyone looks out for each other. Everyone knows your name. And everyone knows your secrets…

Moonlight falls on the figure of the girl standing on the red-tiled roof. Her white dress and blonde hair flutter in the freezing night wind. And suddenly – she is gone.

Volunteering at the local nursing home is Millie Westlake’s one escape from the rumours that swirl around Whitecliff about her past. But speaking with elderly resident, Ingrid, as they play board games, Millie gets chills at her strange story about a young girl being pushed from a roof, somewhere across the valley…

Everybody thinks Ingrid is confused: but Millie knows how it feels to not be believed. Her parents died a year ago, and the residents of Whitecliff – such a quiet place, other than crashing waves and cawing seagulls – are convinced Millie killed them.

Desperately searching for evidence to find the girl Ingrid saw, a broken roof tile could prove Ingrid was telling the truth. But when strange footprints appear in Millie’s garden, she’s certain someone out there is watching.

Have Ingrid and Millie stumbled across something terribly dangerous? And with the town against her, will Millie have to face up to her own secrets to solve the mystery before it becomes deadly?