The Other Boy by Heidi Field

ABOUT THE BOOK

When the worst comes calling…

Scott and Blair Bagby are a happy, successful English couple living in the suburbs with their teenage son and Great Dane. Life seems good, until one beautiful spring morning when a detective inspector knocks on their door asking if their son is home, unleashing an unspeakable horror that blows apart the life they thought they had.

Police have discovered bodies buried deep in the Peasedale forest and the inspector suspects one is Jamie, the final victim of a brutal and prolific serial killer. But Jamie’s death is unlike all the others, starting with his emergency phone call that leads to a macabre burial ground near a dilapidated hunting shack and creates shocking suspicions.

With bone deep grief threatening to destroy their marriage and their sanity, Scott and Blair set out to investigate Jamie’s death, a journey that not only upends their perceptions of who they are, but torturously reveals they may not have known Jamie at all…

MY REVIEW

This book is every parent’s nightmare! I was hooked on this story from the very intense beginning when a mother and father are told their son was found murdered by a serial killer. 

Blair, a fashion photographer, and Scott, a reporter, start piecing together the clues surrounding their son Jamie’s death, and things take a dark twist. It turns out that Jamie was involved in some pretty shady stuff, and honestly, that was a tough pill to swallow. The parents are plunged into a nightmare, not just over the loss of their son but also over the disturbing revelations that come to light.

What really stands out in this story is the heartbreaking portrayal of Blair and Scott’s emotional journey. Finding out that a serial killer murdered your child is gut-wrenching enough, but the added layer of suspicion around whether he was an accomplice? That’s a lot to unpack. The whispers and rumors swirling around are like salt in fresh wounds. You feel every ounce of their pain as they navigate through grief, confusion, and anger.

Ms. Field delves deeply into the turmoil that follows such a traumatic event. It raises questions about how well we really know our loved ones and the hidden lives they might lead. The guilt, the denial, the anger—it’s all so relatable, even if the circumstances are unfathomably tragic.

The emotional depth of this story, paired with the thriller elements, makes for a superb read. I’ll be thinking about this one for a while.

Thank you to Ms. Field for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Heidi Field was raised in the beautiful countryside of the South of England with her parents and her two sisters. In her twenties she was a freelance Sports Massage Therapist. She achieved a Degree in Zoology at the age of thirty and then went on to raise two boys and became the stepmother of three more young children. She still lives near her family home with her partner, their Great Dane and the children that have yet to fly the nest. In her early forties Heidi completed a Masters in Creative Writing at Winchester University. She entered the course hoping she would become a children’s fantasy writer and left with a burning desire to write contemporary mysteries and thrillers. Heidi wanted to put relatable people in extraordinary situations, challenge them, push them to their limits and watch them fight for their sanity. The Other Boy is her first novel.

Follow Heidi on her website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Bluesky.

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