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Dirty Work
A shallow grave.
A body to find.
But no one is looking.
Caroline Duke and her sister-in-law Marcie lead very different lives, but blood is thicker than water; they are close, they share things.
Husband troubles.
Marcie has everything she could possibly want, funded by Nathan’s high-powered city job. She pays for her privileged position in lonely days and nights, while her husband works away.
Caroline is struggling with two jobs and out-of-work Pete, who brings in no money at all. He is never home either. He spends his evenings in bars and clubs and the occasional ditch.
But everything in the Duke family is set to change. And for the better. Pete declares he has given up drinking for good and is getting a job. Nathan announces his intention to work less, spend more time with Marcie.
A birthday dinner should be the perfect occasion to bring the four together. But when is a party not a party? When someone ends up dead.
A body to find.
But no one is looking.
Caroline Duke and her sister-in-law Marcie lead very different lives, but blood is thicker than water; they are close, they share things.
Husband troubles.
Marcie has everything she could possibly want, funded by Nathan’s high-powered city job. She pays for her privileged position in lonely days and nights, while her husband works away.
Caroline is struggling with two jobs and out-of-work Pete, who brings in no money at all. He is never home either. He spends his evenings in bars and clubs and the occasional ditch.
But everything in the Duke family is set to change. And for the better. Pete declares he has given up drinking for good and is getting a job. Nathan announces his intention to work less, spend more time with Marcie.
A birthday dinner should be the perfect occasion to bring the four together. But when is a party not a party? When someone ends up dead.
264 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 30, 2017
4 people want to read
About the author
Wendy Unsworth
8 books161 followersWendy Unsworth was born and raised in Lincolnshire, England. Her passions are her family, travel, beautiful gardens and reading and writing stories. Wendy lived in Ndola, Zambia and Nairobi, Kenya throughout the 1980's and early '90's before returning to the U.K. to acclimatise back to the English weather in a draughty Cornish cottage close to Bodmin Moor!
Never one to stay still for long, Wendy currently divides her time between Edinburgh and the wilds of Portugal, places she loves, and where she can be close to loved ones.
The African continent has left a lasting impression; Wendy's first novel, The Palaver Tree, is set in a fictional Central African country and the fictional Cornish village of Berriwood, from which the series gets its name. Beneathwood, is the second book in the Berriwood Series, re-introducing cameo characters from The Palaver Tree and telling their own individual story. Her latest book, Dirty Work, proves without a doubt that the quiet, English countryside can be a dangerous place to live! Whilst focusing on the inhabitants of the fictional village of Berriwood, each story can be read as a standalone.
Never one to stay still for long, Wendy currently divides her time between Edinburgh and the wilds of Portugal, places she loves, and where she can be close to loved ones.
The African continent has left a lasting impression; Wendy's first novel, The Palaver Tree, is set in a fictional Central African country and the fictional Cornish village of Berriwood, from which the series gets its name. Beneathwood, is the second book in the Berriwood Series, re-introducing cameo characters from The Palaver Tree and telling their own individual story. Her latest book, Dirty Work, proves without a doubt that the quiet, English countryside can be a dangerous place to live! Whilst focusing on the inhabitants of the fictional village of Berriwood, each story can be read as a standalone.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 21, 2018
In Dirty Work, Wendy Unsworth's third in the Berriwood series, two brothers struggle to fix their marriages, one by quitting the drink and the other by spending more time at home. As we dig into this story, we realize that what really gets in the way of fixing their lives is lies, deceit, affairs, and murder. When it seems things could go right, that's exactly when Unsworth upends everything. To make the story even more tantalizing, Unsworth tells it from the perspectives of all four involved parties leaving it to the reader to determine who is a reliable narrator and who doesn't know how to tell a truth.
This is the second of the series I've read--and loved. Unsworth has a way of weaving her words, beautifully blending action and emotion so you are caught up not only in the plot but how the characters react. If only I could collect words the way she does... See if you don't agree:
"If all the good work of the past few weeks was about to be screwed into a ball and tossed like so much rubbish into the flames, she was sure that finally this was the end."
"...propped like some hideous ornament that no one quite had the heart to put out, in a corner of the Cornish Inn's lounge bar."
"Pete's relationship with the demon drink was as much a fact of life as Logan Talbot's angelic curls or Tiffany Harris' bra-less T-shirts."
And she drops clues as you read, hidden amidst a conversation or a thought or a benign action, tidbits that eventually add up to a story you can't quit. If you think of putting the book down, she throws in another unexpected twist. And you’ll never believe how it ends.
Overall, a satisfying, exciting read I'd recommend to all.
This is the second of the series I've read--and loved. Unsworth has a way of weaving her words, beautifully blending action and emotion so you are caught up not only in the plot but how the characters react. If only I could collect words the way she does... See if you don't agree:
"If all the good work of the past few weeks was about to be screwed into a ball and tossed like so much rubbish into the flames, she was sure that finally this was the end."
"...propped like some hideous ornament that no one quite had the heart to put out, in a corner of the Cornish Inn's lounge bar."
"Pete's relationship with the demon drink was as much a fact of life as Logan Talbot's angelic curls or Tiffany Harris' bra-less T-shirts."
And she drops clues as you read, hidden amidst a conversation or a thought or a benign action, tidbits that eventually add up to a story you can't quit. If you think of putting the book down, she throws in another unexpected twist. And you’ll never believe how it ends.
Overall, a satisfying, exciting read I'd recommend to all.
Displaying 1 of 1 review