Not Their to Take

by Keiron Cosgrave, Christine Hancock

NOT THEIRS TO TAKE
Some secrets are best left buried.

Empty nester Sally Tate lives her life for everyone else. Things need to change.

After decades of working in a Michelin starred restaurant, promised then denied an equity stake, Sally is incandescent with rage.

She didn’t plan to create a scandal. To embarrass her boss in front of a restaurant packed with diners paying exorbitant prices for a menu that would barely fill the belly of a toddler.

But he pushed her buttons once too often that day… And well… It’s done now! No point crying over spilt milk…

Returning home to an empty apartment, she hits the bottle. After a furious row with her husband, Sally resolves it’s time to put her own needs first, and follow her dream to open a restaurant on the picturesque Cornish coast. With her husband stubbornly refusing to join her, for reasons she can’t fathom, Sally leaves London without him.

Alone in a creepy, dilapidated boathouse, strange things happen.

Haunted by her past, with unfriendly locals closing ranks around her, and with the fine line between what’s real and imagined blurred, Sally’s new life is a waking nightmare.

Compelled to unlock the dark secrets of the nearby town, Sally investigates and rapidly finds herself entangled in a mysterious conspiracy of kidnap, rape and murder.

Can Sally solve the mystery before she too becomes a victim? Will she achieve her dream? Will she save her marriage?

Not Theirs To Take is an absorbing suspense mystery and the third standalone book in our Psychological Suspense Mystery Series.

If you like atmospheric suspense with twists you won’t see coming, then you’ll love this shocking story by Amazon Bestselling Author, Keiron Cosgrave and Christine Hancock.

Read Not Theirs To Take today.

304 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 16, 2022

Reviews

[Skyesmum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oof! This book started of slowly for me, building and building the scene, the tension, the intrigue and you just knew that something was going to happen so you have to read on despite the lateness of the hour!

Well worth missing my beauty sleep for!

Great book!

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5*

Oh wow! A cracking read. To tell the truth I never really took to the protagonist, couldn't really understand her. But you see, that really got into my head and I like that. I wanted to believe her, sympathise with her....like her. Did I? Hmmm...not much but I did understand, the more I read and the deeper I got into the story and Oh boy, it really gets quite deep, disturbing and chilling. Not giving anything away here, but her husband...manipulating? Nah, I liked him, but she thought he was. You think you know and then you don't! How will it all end? Go find out. A well written and breathtaking, gripping story, the pages turn themselves.

[Lorraine Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good story sally & Greg have been married 30 odd years they have a second home in Cornwall that needs doing up greg keeps putting it off .Sally had enough jack her job in and decides to start doing it up then things happen sally and her sister were abducted when they were teenagers Vicky her sister was never found other local girls went missing to a good read xx

[Alyson Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sally Tate is nearing the end of her tether. Despite numerous promises, her rather controlling husband Greg is showing no signs of them getting any nearer developing the massive old boathouse on land in Cornwall he inherited into The Compass At Point Tregan, the seafood restaurant Sally dreams of running. After the initial building of an apartment on the site, all work seems to have stalled and each time she raises the matter, it ends in a row. Finally she reaches breaking point. She lays out an ultimatum to her boss, Paolo at Piccolo’s, after he has also let her down over a deal they made, gives him what for in the most humorous way, and packing a car, takes off for the coast. Sally has ghosts in her past to lay to rest, namely the disappearance of her younger sister when both girls were kidnapped as teenagers in Cornwall and only Sally escaped, never to see her sister again. Soon she meets Maggie who runs the local petrol station and buys a vintage Land Rover which is perfect for her needs and heralds another step towards her independence. She is intrigued by the fact that Maggie’s daughter has been missing for 39 years and shares a common sense of loss. She also meets the bohemian holistic therapist Renee who Sally decides is the person who just might be able to help her unlock her past. She discovers that Greg has instructed their builder Wilkie to deal only with him and Sally admits she doesn’t even have a key to the boathouse! Sally knows things are going to have to change in a big way. But where does she start and when strange things begin to happen around her, who can she even trust?
There is humour and warmth in Sally’s telling of this story. Right from the start I was willing her on to take charge of her own destiny and loved the way she dealt with Paolo. She was not always likeable or acted completely rationally but then that’s real life, isn’t it, and as the story proceeded, I watched a strong and independent character emerge from the lies and deception that had surrounded her for a long time. This story will have the reader completely gripped in a tale of mystery, murder, courage and subterfuge that at times was dark and disturbing as dreadful buried secrets were finally laid bare. A great thriller with an ending I loved. 5*

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I initially thought this book was a bit of a slow burner. Sally’s marriage is crumbling, she resigns from her job and goes to Cornwall to follow her dream of opening a seafood restaurant there. I quite liked Sally but didn’t love her, I liked a couple of side characters and some characters I loathed. Sally has a good history which forms an integral part of the story. Add on missing young girls, a murder, people who will do anything to stop Sally finding the truth and the book really starts to get interesting and gain pace. Sally’s determination to find out more about her past puts her in danger and she refuses to let go of her dream despite her husband’s objections. I loved the twists in the story and think this is a very well written book that flowed really well and came together beautifully at the end. I guessed part of the ending correctly and the other part of it stunned me. Overall a great, absorbing read that had me wanting to keep turning the pages to find out what was coming next.

[Ruth Matheson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story has a bit of everything to keep you reading - murder, missing women, enmity from the locals and a marriage slowing disintegrating before her very eyes. That is the lead character Sally. The tale goes from London to Cornwall as we follow Sally and her dreams to open a luxury fish restaurant overlooking the Cornish coastline and sea whilst others have plans to hinder her. We are never quite sure who is on her side nor why they are trying to stop her fulfilling her dream however the more they try to push her out, the more determined she is to stay....but at what cost!
A roller coaster of a story with some great characters that you will loathe which just adds to the tale. Great fast pace which will have you turning the pages fight to the end before you can draw breathe.

Thanks to the authors for the ARC to review.

[Aileen Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want a book that is full of intrigue then this book is for you. The characters are brought to life as Sally's past and present come crashing together. The pace of the book is just right and as the action pumps up the pages get turned quicker and quicker. It's a book you are desperate to finish but are sad when it does.

[Lin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Predictable

This book sadly left me cold. It was a great premise for a story, but the storyline itself was predictable and dull.
If you have read any other thriller you will guess the end long before you finish the first chapter

[Hannah Matthews · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sitting someone down and forcing them to read this book is the equivalent to the Chinese water torture method.

I kept reading hoping that something interesting was about to happen but literally nothing occurred until page 200 at the earliest. I had high hopes for this book but I genuinely could not stand reading it. It was almost my first DNF read.

The main issue I had overall was the pacing although I couldn't name something I enjoyed about the plot either. Hellen Keller herself could have seen that climax coming.

[Elizabeth McCabe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn't put this book down

What an awesome read. Full of twists and turns. Interesting story, smarmy characters and of coarse the heroine. Great read