“Guaranteed to hold you captive…” (Best Thrillers) City girl Amy seems to have it all—the high-flying job, the designer wardrobe, a beautiful home. But beneath the successful façade, Amy has secrets she’d rather her bully-boy boss Ed didn’t discover—like her troubled past and the little voice she hears in her head… When a junior colleague is murdered, Amy’s fragile equilibrium is shattered. … equilibrium is shattered. She suspects a client’s fraud links Ed to the killing, but is her paranoia working overtime?
As Ed tries to discredit her, Amy fears for her job, her sanity and her life. But she’s a tough professional, not a quitter, and somehow she must find a way to fight back…
Concealment is the first in the Crazy Amy series by British author Rose Edmunds. At its heart, this compelling psychological thriller is the story of one woman’s struggle against her own weaknesses and self-doubt—a universal theme.
Hailed as Britain’s flakiest amateur sleuth, Amy is rapidly becoming a cult figure. If you visit Rose’s website (link in back of books), you can join the Crazy Amy VIP fan club and enjoy exclusive access to a selection of free short stories that complement the main series!
Praise for Concealment
Winner in the Mystery and Thriller section of the 2015 Rosie Amber Book Awards
“Concealment is a brilliant thriller set in the cut-throat world of high finance.” (Scatterbooker blog)
“What makes this novel special is the way the author illuminates Amy’s deteriorating mindset.” (A Woman’s Wisdom blog)
“The psychological harassment handed out to the lead character made me weep it was so realistically portrayed.” (Senior HR professional)
“Amy’s own descent into psychological hell is fabulously well done, and I found the parts that looked back into her childhood absolutely fascinating.” (Terry Tyler book blog)
“Treachery and confusion in a story I couldn’t put down!” (Lost in a book blog)
“Edmunds plays on Amy’s vulnerabilities like a master violinist.” (Best Thrillers)
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Concealment is a thriller based in the financial world of a large accounting firm called Pearson Malone and is written in the first person. Amy Robinson is a partner in this firm and right from the start of this story she believes she is living a lie due to the upbringing she endured in her childhood home life, the knock on effects of which are coming out now that she is under a lot of stress.
At the beginning this setting reminded me of my time working in an office and the politics that are the undercurrent of such an environment. Such politics can make for an unpleasant work life and they are one of the reasons I choose to work alone. However at Pearson Malone they are taken to another level altogether and what starts off as mild manipulation and blatant, if suspicious, favouritism grows into something much, much worse as a member of staff is murdered and a culture of blackmail, threats and cover ups is revealed all in order to allow a big and extremely lucrative deal to go through.
This is a very tidy, well written book, the prose spare and efficient which I liked and I felt very much depicted Amy at her most organised. The character descriptions were vivid and very real; I could absolutely see these people, and most of them were terrible. Smithies made me shudder, the very worst kind of patronising bully, Lisa…well…let’s just say I’m not a fan.
Amy drinks too much and because of her actions gets caught up in the murder enquiries. When her suspicions are raised she reluctantly starts investigating the possible reasons behind the murder and discovers more than it is safe for her to. This leads to attacks being made on her life…and this is where I had a bit of a problem. Edmunds is very talented at building consistent and believable characters. She also did an extremely good job of the build up of the paranoia in Amy’s mind as she comes to believe everyone around her is involved in fraud and covering up for each other. But I would have liked there to have been more made of the attacks themselves and of Amy’s reaction to them as those parts of the story passed very quickly and she seems to brush them off when one in particular is not something that happens to you every day on a British street.
Amy not only has problems at work but also a situation arises with her mother which again Edmunds deals with extremely well showing a consistency of thought throughout the story which is totally believable.
Amy starts to hear a familiar voice right from the very first page, (I really liked this) and this manifests into her seeing a figment and eventually as she nears the edge of her own sanity and is close to a breakdown she finds herself acting on the figments instructions.
I’m not that keen on being told very obviously at the end of a chapter of the fate that lies in wait for a character but that is a personal thing and I can see it builds tension and I’m sure other readers will like it. I have to say that I loved the ending, the way Amy, and Edmunds, dealt with that last meeting…brilliant!!
If accountancy isn’t your idea of the ideal basis for an exciting thriller then think again and don’t be concerned about having to deal with the intricacies of tax fraud you don’t need to be all over that to enjoy this very well thought out story.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I had a really hard time following the mindset of this character, and thus following the story. It was just not my kind of story.
Clean writing, crisp with good inner life of the main character.
Spoiler alert! Good read although disappointed slightly with the predictable ‘and everyone lives happily ever after’ kind of ending. And who proof reads these books? So many typos and missing words!
The book was hard to follow early in the reading. The ending was good. The end brought closure and relief because it put the story in perspective.