Tuesday 31 October 2023

Dead Pretty by Joy Wood

Dear friends. Welcome to my spot on the Dead Pretty book blog tour. I really enjoyed this thriller, which showcases the lives of young nurses in the 70s.

Synopsis

It's 1977 and six young women start their training to become nurses at Harlow Wood Orthopaedic Hospital. They are excited but nervous, and soon develop a strong friendship bond within their cohort.

But there is a predator amongst them.

A man who takes great delight in killing young, pretty girls.

Graphic showing the blog tour dates in 2023 for Dead Pretty by Joy Wood

My Thoughts

This book accomplishes a couple of difficult challenges: firstly building a strong narrative around the student nurses, so that we care about them, and secondly, running a parallel story about a serial killer who's obviously in their circle. He seems to know their movements and habits.

I loved the nurses' chit chat, their excitement about dates and nights out, their backgrounds and how they interacted with their families. This was after all my era: in 1979 I left school and became a trainee journalist.

There are several possible suspects: a gardener, a handyman, a boyfriend who seemed too good to be true. I even suspected one of the doctors. But for a long time I didn't suspect the actual perpetrator! What a twist that is.

The desperate battle to find one of the victims before time runs out, near the end of the book, makes for gripping reading.

A corker of a tale and look forward to more from Joy Wood.

Purchase Links

Amazon UK Amazon.com

About the Author: Joy Wood

Joy Wood has worked as a nurse most of her adult life and turned to writing six years ago to ‘see if she could.’ Her earlier work was adult romance and intrigue, but more recently she has switched genres to romance with a crime element. Joy lives in the seaside town of Cleethorpes in North East Lincolnshire and her writing ideas come from watching the tide turn daily, of course with the obligatory ice-cream – someone has to support the local economy!