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The Dead Lie Down (Spilling CID #4)
A breathtaking novel of psychological suspense from the author of "Little Face" and "The Wrong Mother"
Featuring the return of Sergeant Charlotte "Charlie" Zailer and DC Simon Waterhouse, "The Dead Lie Down" is another sophisticated, addictive read from the new mistress of the page-turner.
Ruth Bussey once did something wrong-horribly wrong-and was nearly destroyed by he...more
Featuring the return of Sergeant Charlotte "Charlie" Zailer and DC Simon Waterhouse, "The Dead Lie Down" is another sophisticated, addictive read from the new mistress of the page-turner.
Ruth Bussey once did something wrong-horribly wrong-and was nearly destroyed by he...more
Hardcover, Large Print, 705 pages
Published
September 1st 2010
by Thorndike Press
(first published January 1st 2009)
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Reading this book is a byproduct of my voting early, on October 25th. The early voting site in my ward is a public library branch. I saw this on a shelf as I was waiting in line. After I voted, I went back to find it and checked it out.
About 150 pages into this (150/465), I'm still waiting to be captivated by any of the characters, to care enough about what happens to them to continue. However, I have been roped in by the fact that I can't tell who's telling the truth, ever, and I want to disco...more
About 150 pages into this (150/465), I'm still waiting to be captivated by any of the characters, to care enough about what happens to them to continue. However, I have been roped in by the fact that I can't tell who's telling the truth, ever, and I want to disco...more
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‘The Other Half Lives’ by Sophie Hannah
Published by Hodder & Stoughton, February 2009. ISBN: 978-0-340-93313-8
When I first started reading this book I really couldn’t see where it could go. Aiden Seed confides to the woman he loves that he killed a woman called Mary Trelease. After struggling with this momentous piece of information, Ruth Bussey finally goes to the police and tells Sergeant Charlie Zailer. But when they check out the address they confirm that the Mary Trelease at that addres...more
Published by Hodder & Stoughton, February 2009. ISBN: 978-0-340-93313-8
When I first started reading this book I really couldn’t see where it could go. Aiden Seed confides to the woman he loves that he killed a woman called Mary Trelease. After struggling with this momentous piece of information, Ruth Bussey finally goes to the police and tells Sergeant Charlie Zailer. But when they check out the address they confirm that the Mary Trelease at that addres...more
I’ve read other books by Hannah and loved the complicated, non-linear nature of her writing. She has some recurring characters most notably Sergeant Charlie Zailer and DC Simon Waterhouse. The book seems to be about trauma and psychopathology. When the book is about Charlie and Simon and their quirky engagement, with Simon’s introversion and Charlie’s fear of commitment mixed with crazy parents, it is great. However, the overcomplicated plot is quite complicated, a women landscape architect whom...more
Charlie Zailer and Simon Waterhouse are back, investigating a murder that may or may not have actually happened. Hard to do considering the alleged victim appears to be alive and well and doesn't seem to know her murderer.
I'm getting used to the gimmick of the switches between first-person (sometimes unreliable) narrator and the third-person POV of the police, but I'm still not really sure why Hannah uses this particular device. I don't like characters who lie for no reason, or who spend a littl...more
I'm getting used to the gimmick of the switches between first-person (sometimes unreliable) narrator and the third-person POV of the police, but I'm still not really sure why Hannah uses this particular device. I don't like characters who lie for no reason, or who spend a littl...more
I got this book from Borders last February when I was in Singapore. The title attracted me & i just grabbed it not knowing anything about the writer, except for the quoted praises on the book itself. It took me a while to finish it (around a week) because it’s more than 500 pages. (I should try reading 300 pages novels from now on).
The story starts with an intriguing scene. Each chapter has its own mystery which keeps you reading to know what will happen in the next one. It develops slowly b...more
The story starts with an intriguing scene. Each chapter has its own mystery which keeps you reading to know what will happen in the next one. It develops slowly b...more
I'm not a big fan of thriller and mystery books, but I came across this book. I thought it was really interesting, because the character Ruth who had problems in her past, starts over and falls in love with a guy who he thinks murdered someone. But in fact she knows that the victim is still alive. I felt in the beginning it was really confusing and I had to go back and forth to understand it. The beginning starts off with Aiden confessing to Ruth about the murder. Sometimes I wanted to give up o...more
I bought a copy of The Other Half Lives a couple of years ago. I started reading, and then I stopped. Because even for Sophie Hannah, queen of the seemingly impossible scenario, this one just seemed a little too unlikely.
In a London hotel room Ruth and Aidan agree to share their deepest, darkest secrets.
“It doesn’t have to be everything. Just … as much as we can … “
She tells him that years ago she did something wrong to a woman and a man. She was punished excessively, and she has never recovered...more
In a London hotel room Ruth and Aidan agree to share their deepest, darkest secrets.
“It doesn’t have to be everything. Just … as much as we can … “
She tells him that years ago she did something wrong to a woman and a man. She was punished excessively, and she has never recovered...more
Okay, so it's no secret that I love Sophie Hannah's books. I think she's an amazing writer and I never *ever* know what is going to happen in her books, and usually, I know who has done what and why by about the third chapter of a thriller/mystery. But reading Sophie Hannah--I won't lie to you--she does not shy away from going to some very, very dark places, so if you are looking for a cheerful read, you should probably go elsewhere.
But if you're looking for an amazingly written book filled with...more
But if you're looking for an amazingly written book filled with...more
What would you do if your boyfriend told you he'd killed someone? That he'd killed a woman years ago? This is the premise for Sophie Hannah's The Other Half Lives. Ruth Bussey knows the meaning of heartache and pain, she's felt the kind that rips a person apart and nearly destroys you. She's left everything she's ever known, relocated and met and fallen in love with a man: Aidan Seed, a man whose love she feels she doesn't deserve. Aiden, haunted by a past he's never quite able to escape confide...more
I enjoyed this but it was a bit laboured (and therefore so was my reading of it) and not as good as her other books I have in this series. The reviews I read were awful and overall pretty negative but I stuck with it as I recently taped the TV version and wanted to catch up on this book of the series first.
I'm a bit confused too in looking up this series and they've all been renamed for some reason. I saw complaints about this as people are unknowingly buying ones they already have under the ori...more
I'm a bit confused too in looking up this series and they've all been renamed for some reason. I saw complaints about this as people are unknowingly buying ones they already have under the ori...more
Sophie Hannah has an amazing ability to draw readers into her novels - it's a bit like adding a beaten egg to dry cake mixture, you keep adding the dry ingredients a little at a time and mixing it... I literally didn't want to stop reading this book, I was completely addicted! I kept wondering how on earth what was happening could be happening, and who was sane and who was mad.
Sophie Hannah does suspense brilliantly, and really keeps you guessing.
One thing however which was glaringly awful was a...more
Sophie Hannah does suspense brilliantly, and really keeps you guessing.
One thing however which was glaringly awful was a...more
I read this hard on the heels of another book featuring DS Charlie Zailer and her fiance, DC Simon Waterhouse...and I needed both books to flesh out their characters and make them real. Like her other books, in this one Ms. Hannah creates a plot that is incredibly convoluted; unlike some of her other books, this one seemed like it might actually make sense in "the real world," mostly because one character in particular has gobs of money, and therefore might just get away with what he/she gets aw...more
I picked up this book based on critical reviews that had been posted online and in book publications. It was very good and if you enjoy British psychological thrillers a la Minette Walters, you won't be disappointed. After reading it, I learned that there were earlier books featuring the two police detectives Charlotte ('Charlie') and Simon, but it didn't hamper my ability to follow along. The story was just as much about the other characters, not soley the police - so it felt like a stand-alone...more
Well let me just say the mystery had me stumped, as did Charlie and Simon's on going complicated relationship...
As I have said in my last review about this series, I have been reading these books to get to the sixth book of the series ( and I won't stop until I get there). For the most part I like this series. One of the problems I have is sometimes I get the feeling that Sophie Hannah is coming up with the ideas for her books with the sole intention of stumping the readers, and not trying to co...more
As I have said in my last review about this series, I have been reading these books to get to the sixth book of the series ( and I won't stop until I get there). For the most part I like this series. One of the problems I have is sometimes I get the feeling that Sophie Hannah is coming up with the ideas for her books with the sole intention of stumping the readers, and not trying to co...more
It was all I could do to finish this book and I use the term "finish" loosely. It was an audio book and I ended up zoning out through the last several hours of torture. Holy hell, it was long too. What started out with whispers of the possibility of being a moderately compelling development of characters quickly transformed into a ridiculous cacophony of implausible scenarios and excruciating/pointless details. Every character had some serious psychological issue or trauma causing them to act in...more
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I feel slightly bad giving this only two stars because I did find it interesting, but it was too disturbing for me to really say I 'liked it'
I found a lot of the characters just odd and creepy, even the ones that weren't supposed to be. The story of the crime that was committed against Ruth was just awful and I couldn't get it out of my mind afterwards which I didn't like.
Also it started off really well, but it didn't get around to explanations quick enough for me. I think I did skip ahead/skim...more
I found a lot of the characters just odd and creepy, even the ones that weren't supposed to be. The story of the crime that was committed against Ruth was just awful and I couldn't get it out of my mind afterwards which I didn't like.
Also it started off really well, but it didn't get around to explanations quick enough for me. I think I did skip ahead/skim...more
This is the first book that I have read by Sophie Hannah. The title caught my attention, and the premise of the novel had me wondering: why do you confess a murder to your girlfriend, when the victim is still alive?
This novel is written from two perspectives(girlfriend and police detectives), and the viewpoints keep changing back and forth during the storyline. At first, this was confusing; however, as I learned more about the complex characters and as the plot developed layers of lies and mys...more
I'm having a bit of a Sophie Hannah-fest at the moment. I really enjoy them while I'm reading them - the ridiculously complex mysteries, the reoccuring police characters, the weird relationship between Charlie and Simon. And then I get to the end, and think - "Phew... hang on... what the fuck was that all about? How could that even work?" They're all so ludicrous in their resolutions. But fun!
The Other Half Lives distinguishes itself by most of the characters being truly awful. Ruth Bussey is a...more
The Other Half Lives distinguishes itself by most of the characters being truly awful. Ruth Bussey is a...more
I read the Dutch version: De andere helft leeft.
De titel deed me het boek oppakken. Ik verwachtte een thriller over een tweeling. In zekere zin was dat ook zo. Het duurde even eer ik de structuur van het boek kon waarderen, maar toen greep het me ook enorm en moet je sadomasochistisch zijn om dit boek te lezen. De auteur pijnigt de lezer iedere keer met precies voldoende raadsels en precies net niet genoeg oplossing, dus je moet doorlezen. Het gegeven dat iemand een moord komt bekennen die niet...more
De titel deed me het boek oppakken. Ik verwachtte een thriller over een tweeling. In zekere zin was dat ook zo. Het duurde even eer ik de structuur van het boek kon waarderen, maar toen greep het me ook enorm en moet je sadomasochistisch zijn om dit boek te lezen. De auteur pijnigt de lezer iedere keer met precies voldoende raadsels en precies net niet genoeg oplossing, dus je moet doorlezen. Het gegeven dat iemand een moord komt bekennen die niet...more
god, this book was good. i first became aware of sophie hannah when i saw an ad in shelf awareness for her previous book, the wrong mother. then i read somewhere that she and tana french were buddies, and that she (sophie) was big in the UK and tana was big here and they were trying to help each other break out in the other countries. so when i was at the airport on monday in desperate need of a book, i ended up with this one, and i'm SO glad that i did.
if you like tana french, kate atkinson, la...more
if you like tana french, kate atkinson, la...more
Not quite as enthralling as the previous three novels I have read by Sophie Hannah, as I found it confusing and had to keep checking back to remind myself of what was happening. Thank goodness I was not reading this in eBook format, as it is much harder to flip backwards and forwards. Once again it is Sophie Hannah’s now signature format of a psychological thriller and the police officers Simon Waterhouse and Charlie Zailer from her previous novels are investigating the case. It does not matter...more
I'm of two minds about this book. On the one hand, it was a very well crafted and intelligently written mystery/thriller with great characters. I loved how well everything came together in the end. But it took way too long to get interesting. The first 100 pages or so felt like a throw-away, and it didn't make any sense to me why the detectives even cared at ALL about the case when there wasn't even an actual murder until almost halfway through the book. I could not suspend my disbelief that det...more
I'm sure fans of psychological mysteries will love this book. Unfortunately, I hated it for a number of reasons. First, I prefer to have some main characters who can be classified as "normal". This group went from permanently emotionally scarred to completely bats. I'd rather shoot myself than spend a minute with any of them. The plot was incredibly complex--which normally would rate high praise. However, as I neared the end of the book, I realized I no longer cared for a detailed explanation. I...more
The story line was a bit bizarre and intriguing...enough to keep me reading, but I can't say I really enjoyed it a whole lot. I would put this between 2 and 3 stars. The main character in this story is a woman who immediately comes across as disturbed and unbalanced and you learn that she suffered through some horror which caused her to be that way. The majority of the main characters seem really unbalanced and bizzare. This woman is telling a policewoman that her fiancee confessed to killing a...more
Once I'd started reading this novel, I couldn't put it down (that's a bit of a cliche, sorry). It is so intriguing! It begins with the basic premise of a couple who go to the police - he to confess to a murder he committed years ago, she to say he couldn't have done it because the woman in question is very much alive. From this beginning, more tangled branches grow and twists and turns ensue and I just had to keep reading until I knew all the answers - and everything was satisfactorily explained...more
I had to force myself to finish reading this book. I felt that each character was his/her own brand of mentally unstable. Not one of them appealed to me. I felt that each character was too overdeveloped. At some point in character development they may have been interesting, but they all just seemed over the top, crazy and not believable.
This was the first book I've read, and quite possible the only book I will read, by this author. The descriptions sound great and very interesteing! However, th...more
This was the first book I've read, and quite possible the only book I will read, by this author. The descriptions sound great and very interesteing! However, th...more
Hannah has done something that most authors stay away from - and thats creating centeral re-occurring characters that are dislikeable and annoying - and yet that seems to contribute to the enjoyment of the book. The fact that you feel so strongly about these characters and that you cant stop thinking about it after, is what in my opinion a good book should do. The pscyhological twists and turns throughout keep me glued to the pages and despite my intense dislike for Simon Waterhouse and his equa...more
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2 likes · like · see review
Nov 29, 2010
Meagan
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
present-day-mystery-thrillers
Before starting this book, I read a few Goodreads reviews and one stands out for me now. It read something like "I had no idea what was going on for the first half of this book, but I knew I wanted to keep reading", and that's just how I feel about The Dead Lie Down. The story is so strong, and so mysterious in both subject and in the way it is written and structured that I don't know that I could have stopped reading even if I'd tried. Sure, I was totally baffled for much of the book, but I kne...more
The one word that kept popping in my mind as I continued reading this book was "quirky" - the main characters, the story plot and the twists and turns throughout - all 'quirky'! The 'who-done-it' went to 'was anything actually done' back to a 'who did what to whom' back to 'who-done-it' once again. And half the time the reader can't help but laugh--or at least chuckle--at the 'quirky-ness' of all involved. Have to say I ended up really enjoying this book although right at first wasn't entirely s...more
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Sophie Hannah is a bestselling poet and novelist, who regularly performs her work both nationwide and abroad. Her poetry is studied at GCSE, A-level and degree level across the country. She was born in Manchester in 1971 and lives in Low Utley, West Yorkshire.
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“Look at us. One bleeding body, one corpse, and a husk who's been half dead for years. No one who took an objective look at this room could think it was anything but too late, Ruth. For all of us.”
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