Title: Little Sister

Author:  Isabel Ashdown

Publisher: Kensington

Publication Date: June 26, 2018

Page Count: 304

My rating: 5 stars

About the book:

No one knows you better than a sister—your dreams, your fears, your mistakes, and all your secrets.

It was just that way when Jess and her older sister, Emily, were children. Born barely a year apart, they were deeply entwined, complementing each other in their differences. When Jess felt awkward and shy, Emily, the consummate big sister, was happy to take the lead.

After a long estrangement, they’ve become close again. Jess moves into the comfortable Isle of Wight home Emily shares with her husband, step-daughter, and toddler. Any misgivings about the past are swept away and forgotten.

And then, on New Year’s Eve, little Daisy disappears while in Jess’s care.

Jess is in shock, unable to remember what happened. Emily, traumatized, watches helplessly as her life unravels. But as the search intensifies and the police detective’s questions grow more pointed, a different picture emerges. Behind the image of a seemingly happy family—Daisy’s doting teenage sister, Chloe, loving father and husband, James, and siblings Emily and Jess—there are devastating deceptions and long-ago choices that can never be unmade. And underlying everything is the story of what really happened to drive Emily and Jess apart years ago.

Unfolding through shifting perspectives, Little Sister is a brilliantly plotted, dark, and constantly surprising tale of love, rivalry, and broken loyalty that reveals how far one sister might go to protect—or destroy—another . . .

Little Sister by Isabel Ashdown is a psychological thriller that had me turning the pages as quickly as I could to find out just what would happen. With a missing child on the line it was safe to say this one would hook me into the story and not let go but also full of shifty characters and a fast paced plot it was extremely addictive.

Jess and Emily are sisters that were close growing up being barely a year apart in age. But the old the pair got the further they began to drift apart and then had a huge falling out that separated them for years.

Now Jess and Emily have reconciled as adults and have grown close once again with Jess taking up Emily’s offer of moving in with Emily and her husband to help with their children. On New Year’s Eve Jess stayed home to watch little Daisy as Emily, her husband and teenage stepdaughter went out to celebrate but when everyone returned they find Jess passed out and Daisy gone beginning a frantic search for the missing child.

The story in Little Sister is told with alternating points of view between the sister, Jess and Emily through the first half of the book at which point another POV is added into the mix. Things mostly follow along in the current time but there are flashes in the story to develop the past between Jess and Emily to dive deeper into their relationship.

Little Sister was just what I hoped for when picking this one up, a nice trip through the secrets and lies to find just how deep the betrayal would run in this family. A nice little twisty ride that has a reader questioning everyone along the way with a bit of nail biting tension building to the final conclusion. I’d definitely recommend this one to the fans of psychological thrillers.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online: 

Goodreads  /   Amazon

About the author:

Isabel Ashdown was born in London and grew up on the south coast of England. Her writing career was launched with her award-winning debut Glasshopper, and she now writes full-time, walks daily, and volunteers for the charity Pets as Therapy. She has a Masters degree in Creative Writing and was recently appointed Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the University of Chichester. Isabel lives in Sussex with her carpenter husband and their two children. Follow Isabel on Twitter @IsabelAshdown, or visit her website at isabelashdown.com.