The Night of the Crash

by Jessica Irena Smith

IT CAN ALL CHANGE IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE.

Steppy Corner, voice of hit true crime podcast series All the Dark Corners, wakes in hospital with no memory of what brought her to Heartsick - the small Colorado town where her estranged family live - no memory of why she was racing up the mountainside to her parents' house late at night... or why she didn't make that bend.

All she knows is her mother has been brutally murdered and her brother is the prime suspect.

As Steppy begins to piece together events in the run-up to the accident, she discovers her brother's connection to another ongoing case, that of a missing girl last seen with him on Halloween.

Steppy knows better than anyone that the truth often hides in the darkest of corners, but as she races to untangle the web of secrets and lies, will it ultimately prove too close to home?

A twisting, claustrophobic and masterfully plotted thriller, with a breath-taking conclusion. Perfect for fans of Gillian McAllister, Claire Douglas and Lisa Jewell.

Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Adult, Book Club, Ebooks

330 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 1, 2024

About the author

Jessica has a BA in Glass & Ceramics and an MA in Glass, both from the University of Sunderland, based at the National Glass Centre. She’s a glass artist by trade, and has been selling online and through galleries since 2009, when she also began writing. Jessica’s writing is inspired by many things, but she loves podcasts, especially true crime, which she listens to while cutting glass and loading kilns.

Newcastle upon Tyne born and bred, Jessica now lives in County Durham, North East England, with her cat and epileptic rescue chihuahua. The Summer She Vanished is her debut novel.

Reviews

[eviee · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at page 104 :,-(

I really wanted to enjoy this book. I really did, especially after seeing the glowing goodreads reviews (seriously, an average of over four stars?!)

Unfortunately, this book failed to captivate me.

PROBLEMS:
The constant switching from past to present events was jarring. Since the switch was every single chapter, it was hard to get used to what point in time you were in. The chapters being quite short only amplified this problem.

Similarly, our main character has amnesia, leading to a lot of repetition between past and present chapters. This makes sense story-wise, but was extremely boring.

Not to mention the complete lack of stakes?

My main problem, however, was (im going to be honest here) the writing style as a whole. Full stops felt nonexistent. Each sentence had to be complex, include at-least one type of parentheses, and oh! no word could end in ‘ly’.

EXTRACT AHEAD CONTAINS NO SPOILERS! FEEL FREE TO READ!

I think this sentence demonstrates my point.

“When we break the journey at a road-side diner, we both order food, though neither of us eats, and as we nurse our coffees, staring out the window at the highway, Dad clears his throat, slides something across the table to me.”

Using the occasional sentence like this would be great for showing panic or building suspense, but almost every single sentence was like this. Some were so convoluted that I had to read them twice. ALSO, this sentence describes Steppy sitting in a diner. No suspense there.

I can tell that this sentence is meant to increase the pace of the story. Many reviews call the story fast-paced, but for me, the overuse of long sentences caused the effect to wear off.

LAST THING:
I highlighted the word ‘slides’ because I felt like it didn’t quite make sense in the context of that sentence? I think ‘sliding’ would make it easier to read. Or the word ‘and’ before slides.

maybe like this:
‘Dad clears his throat, and slides something across the table to me’
‘Dad clears his throat, sliding something across the table to me’

thank you for reading! Sorry if this review sounded a bit harsh but I didn’t see any properly explained 1 star reviews. I wanted to write this to help others figure out if this book isn’t (or is) for them.
Thanks!

[Kate Cedras · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dang! I loved this one. Super fast paced & suspense that did not stop! I was super surprised and impressed by how off/wrong I was when it came to the twists in this fun read.

I read a lot of suspense/mystery/thriller books and this is one that I will be excited to read again in the future and recommend to others!

If you want to be absolutely addicted to a story and have to know what happens- absolutely read this book!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the fun read in exchange for my honest review.

[Jodie Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Steppy Corner has a successful true crime podcast and helped to solve a decades old cold case. So when she hears of a missing girl in her hometown of Heartsick she makes the journey home to see what the story is, but it becomes far more complicated than she could ever have expected.

I loved this so much and tore through it in 2 days, Steppy is a brilliant protagonist and her relationship with her slightly dysfunctional family had me hooked from the beginning.

I loved the way the story jumped from the past to the present and how pieces of the puzzle slotted in really slowly. The ending had me shocked, genuinely didn’t see it coming.

Highly recommended if you like an edge of your seat read that keeps you guessing

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not sure why I often dislike books so many others love. This is slow, plodding, monotonous, and a bit boring. I wasn’t blown away by the ending - but only because I didn’t really care. I just wanted to be done.

[Kim Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75*

An enjoyable, easy thriller to read.
Slightly predictable. Really enjoyed the switching from before and after the accident.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great who done it.

[Abby McGrath-Neely · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid audiobook! Enjoyed the narration too much it didn’t give my mind time to wander and the end actually took me by surprise !

[Stewart Cotterill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, solid whodunnit murder mystery. An enjoyable beach read, although I didn’t read it on a beach. I read it in Birmingham. We don’t have beaches.

[Sarah Tye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this book very easy to read and finished it in 2 days! I liked how the story flipped between then and now and seeing the same thing from 2 different perspectives. Was surprised at how things unfolded and hadn’t seen the final twist coming! Overall an enjoyable read.

[Lauren Minifey · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 ⭐️ Really enjoyed but do feel like it was drawn out unnecessarily

[Sam Bartling · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Alix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thought I’d struggle with the back and forth timeline but actually easy to keep up with. The short chapters were filled with suspense so found myself getting through it quick. Some predictability, but that’s difficult to avoid in a thriller and the ending still had a twist for me.

[Amanda Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very enjoyable read, full of suspense, and ended with a very unexpected twist.
3.5*

[Lee Welch · Rating 2 out of 5]

Odd and quite unbelievable story. The dialogue between people doesn’t seem relatable or real. Even with the overuse of ‘cos throughout the book. An internet sleuth piecing together pretty basic info the police missed? Families all willingly talking to a random internet detective and letting her grill them? It wasn’t realistic. The ending wasn’t a surprise and the “twist” was pretty easy to figure out towards the middle of the book. Pretty meh.

[Jenny Brouhard · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried really hard to become interested in this book. I just couldn’t do it. I skipped multiple chapters just to move along. Don’t think I missed anything by skipping. Read the last two chapters and it was not surprising.

[Cindy King · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not an easy to read book.

Written in a very choppy manner. Could be intentional but not my type. I like something more cohesive easier to follow.

[Zoe Kindle Queen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Steppy Corner is the woman behind the hit podcast ‘Dark Corners’ and she successfully managed to solve a cold case resulting in the murderer being put behind bars. She is actively looking for something for season two when a story seemingly lands at her feet in her hometown, the disappearance of Casey Carter.

Told on now and then timelines, which are before and after the car crash that leaves Steppy with no memories of everything she researched before she was hospitalised following the crash. She also discovers her mother was murdered the night of her crash and the main suspect in Caseys disappearance and her mother’s murder is her own brother Garrett, which leaves Steppy in a strange predicament.

This was a good read, although I found it difficult to follow at times with the jumping back and forth, and I think our main character would have benefited from some character development especially in her relationships with those around her.

Many thanks to NetGalley, publisher and author for my eARC.

[Amanda Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Steppy is the host of a hit true crime podcast “Dark Corners,” who wakes up in the hospital after a car accident to find herself at the epicenter of an investigation as she is told her mother was murdered the same night as her car accident. She has no recollection of the crash or weeks leading up to her mother’s murder. Her brother is the main suspect and is also suspected in the disappearance of a local woman.

This book had interesting moments, but the alternating then/now chapters were hard to follow at times. I had difficulty keeping track of when events occurred, and also her finding out the same information in both the then and now chapters, due to her amnesia, got repetitive. Overall, I enjoyed it—I always appreciate a mystery/thriller with a podcast element. Thank you to NetGalley and Headline books for the ARC!

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Night of the Crash is a fast paced thriller that keeps readers guessing with each chapter.

This book follows Steppy, a true crime podcaster, who wakes up in a hospital with no recollection of a car accident and days prior. All she knows is her mother was murdered and her brother is the prime suspect. But why was she in this town to begin with?

This novel kept me on my toes for the entire ride. Every time I thought I had solved a murder, new evidence was presented and I was back to the drawing board. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy suspenseful thrillers and mysteries.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Lorraine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book. I didn’t enjoy the jumping around from now to then but I soon got used to it. I did query why the police just took the cell phone evidence as proof of alibi when anyone can just leave a phone somewhere to create an alibi in that case. The necklace thing was a bit drawn out. This is the first book I’ve read where the killer is actually the sibling so that was interesting. The plot twist at the end was good too. I did kind of guess it would turn out to be Steppy who killed her mother but it took a while for me to work that out.

[KC Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

great mystery

This author keeps you spellbound with the characters and the plot of this book. Deaths surrounding young women hang on the brother of the family, but a surprise revelation at the end will have you scratching your head!

[Robyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Between a 2.5 and a 3. Too much convoluted story telling with the before the accident scenes, the after the accident scenes, and the main character’s own confusion about them. Personally, I long for the days when authors didn’t employ the alternating chapters method.

[Debbie Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good! But it's a book that goes back and forth in time so if that makes you a little crazy, beware.

[Sarah Cullen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Molly Chenault · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was good and quick! Sometimes the Then and Now chapters did seem to blend together but this was a good thriller read!

[Laura Felty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable

This was a family drama mixed with psychopaths mixed with murder and murder podcasts. I never saw that ending coming.

[Jillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75! I read this bc it was free on Kindle but ended up liking it bc it’s a mystery from the beginning. Has a kinda crazy twist at the end

[Vikki Fawcett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read with a good twist, enjoyed it!

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this on my kindle in less than two weeks. Some red herrings were convincing and some not so much. Overall, the story worked even with the Dark Corners twist at the end. I just found a few things difficult to believe and the fact that there were UK English terms, spellings (S instead of a Z) and single quotes for speech, while the story was set in Colorado and NY was kind of annoying, too.

[Rosario Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy entretenido, creo q el plot twist es un poco evidente pero incluso asi me ha gustado, bastante realista todo que se agradece leer un thriller con una historia real. Me ha gustado!!