The Life I Left Behind By Colette McBeth

[amazon_link id=”1472205987″ target=”_blank” ][/amazon_link]’The Life I Left Behind’ is the latest book by Colette McBeth.

Five years ago Melody Pieterson was attacked and left for dead. She coped by burying the person she was, locking away her memories and creating a new life for herself. Her attacker is behind bars. In four weeks’ time she will get married. She’s almost normal. Then the body of another woman is found, close to where Melody was discovered. Like her she has blond hair and green eyes. Like Melody police find a gold bird cage necklace at the scene. And Melody realises her attacker has been out there all along. The woman’s name is Eve Elliot. Melody sets out to discover everything she can about Eve to work out why they were targeted. But the more she gets to know her the more she realises what’s wrong with her own life. Eve may be dead but she’s the only person who can teach Melody how to live again.

‘The Life I Left Behind’ is the first book that I have read by Colette and it certainly was an enjoyable and suspenseful introduction to the author.

The story is written from the perspective of Eve and Melody. Two women who were attacked but only one of them survived. Years ago, Melody was the victim of a horrible attack which has now left her leading a sheltered and scared life, a shadow of her former self, she was never 100 percent sure about her attacker even though a man was sent to jail for the crime. Years later Eve starts to work on a story about Melody’s attacker David, when he is released from jail. Convinced that he was wrongly imprisoned, Eve starts to gather information to prove David’s innocence, but it seems that someone doesn’t want Eve to finish the case when she is found dead. After finding out that her attack was being questioned, Melody decides to continue on with the research and finds herself beginning to remember facts from the night and begins to doubt herself. Occasionally the story is also seen through the eyes of DI Victoria Rutter, the detective who is investigating Eve’s murder.

This book is a complex and cleverly written story seen from the perspective of both the living and dead, I did find it quite reminiscent of ‘The Lovely Bones’ which is also written through the narrative of a dead person, but that is where the similarities end.

The three leading ladies are quite intriguing characters and as the story flows along, it is written in such a way everyone is a suspect. As Melody delves further into the night of her attack, we see her become stronger and more confident in herself. Whilst Eve from the very beginning, is a strong determined lady, driven to tell the truth and become the voice of the innocent. Together the two of them, make for compelling and interesting reading, as the two women try to piece together the missing parts from that night.

The alternating chapters are seen from the perspective of the three women, which given a new and different insight to the story.

With a dark, eye catching cover, this book is an impressive and intense story from the beginning. ‘The Life I Left Behind’ is a gritty and twisty story, that leaves you chilled at the unexpected ending.

You can buy [amazon_link id=”1472205987″ target=”_blank” ]The Life I Left Behind from Amazon [/amazon_link] and is available to buy from good bookshops.