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Spilling CID #4
The Other Half Lives
Why would anyone confess to the murder of someone who isn't dead? Ruth Bussey knows what it means to be in the wrong and to be wronged. She once did something she regrets, and her punishment nearly destroyed her. Now Ruth is rebuilding her life, and has found a love she doesn't believe she deserves: Aidan Seed. Aidan is also troubled by a past he hates to talk about, until one day he decides he must confide in Ruth. He tells her that years ago he killed someone: a woman called Mary Trelease. Ruth is confused. She's certain she's heard the name before, and when she realises why it sounds familiar, her fear and confusion deepen -- because the Mary Trelease that Ruth knows is very much alive ...
552 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
164 people are currently reading
3227 people want to read
About the author
Sophie Hannah
106 books4,510 followersSophie Hannah is an internationally bestselling writer of psychological crime fiction, published in 27 countries. In 2013, her latest novel, The Carrier, won the Crime Thriller of the Year Award at the Specsavers National Book Awards. Two of Sophie’s crime novels, The Point of Rescue and The Other Half Lives, have been adapted for television and appeared on ITV1 under the series title Case Sensitive in 2011 and 2012. In 2004, Sophie won first prize in the Daphne Du Maurier Festival Short Story Competition for her suspense story The Octopus Nest, which is now published in her first collection of short stories, The Fantastic Book of Everybody’s Secrets.
Sophie has also published five collections of poetry. Her fifth, Pessimism for Beginners, was shortlisted for the 2007 T S Eliot Award. Her poetry is studied at GCSE, A-level and degree level across the UK. From 1997 to 1999 she was Fellow Commoner in Creative Arts at Trinity College, Cambridge, and between 1999 and 2001 she was a fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford. She is forty-one and lives with her husband and children in Cambridge, where she is a Fellow Commoner at Lucy Cavendish College. She is currently working on a new challenge for the little grey cells of Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie’s famous detective.
Sophie has also published five collections of poetry. Her fifth, Pessimism for Beginners, was shortlisted for the 2007 T S Eliot Award. Her poetry is studied at GCSE, A-level and degree level across the UK. From 1997 to 1999 she was Fellow Commoner in Creative Arts at Trinity College, Cambridge, and between 1999 and 2001 she was a fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford. She is forty-one and lives with her husband and children in Cambridge, where she is a Fellow Commoner at Lucy Cavendish College. She is currently working on a new challenge for the little grey cells of Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie’s famous detective.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 627 reviews
September 24, 2011
Charlie Zailer and Simon Waterhouse are back, investigating a murder that may or may not have actually happened. Hard to do considering the alleged victim appears to be alive and well and doesn't seem to know her murderer.
I'm getting used to the gimmick of the switches between first-person (sometimes unreliable) narrator and the third-person POV of the police, but I'm still not really sure why Hannah uses this particular device. I don't like characters who lie for no reason, or who spend a little too much time shying away from people. And since this is my third Sophie Hannah book, I distrusted Ruth Bussey immediately. I expected her to lie to me and didn't like her at all for that reason.
I also don't really understand the relationship between Zailer and Waterhouse. They're engaged but Hannah gives us absolutely no reason to believe this relationship. To be fair, the supporting characters (the couple's friends, colleagues, and family) don't believe it either, but then what's the point? Everyone is so secretive and I can't help feeling sometimes like I'm in the middle of a "Three's Company" episode - they'd be about 2 minutes long if someone just told the truth instead of the unnecessary fictions.
The last two chapters felt a little too forced, with an explanation that is all-too-often used as a motive, and a final reveal that followed the formula to the letter (and was a bit of a wth letdown as a result).
Still, there's something about this book that I found compulsively readable. Hannah excels at building suspense and then feeding information to the reader in small doses that are both frustrating and gratifying - just enough to keep me interested but not so much that I figured it out in 50 pages. I spent an hour and a half reading in my car in my office parking lot last night because I wanted to read just a little more before I had to sit in traffic, and then had to keep reminding myself that no, I couldn't put the car on autopilot to get another paragraph in while I was driving home. Trust me, I reached for it more than once.
Flawed though they are, I do enjoy these books and will have to find some more.
I'm getting used to the gimmick of the switches between first-person (sometimes unreliable) narrator and the third-person POV of the police, but I'm still not really sure why Hannah uses this particular device. I don't like characters who lie for no reason, or who spend a little too much time shying away from people. And since this is my third Sophie Hannah book, I distrusted Ruth Bussey immediately. I expected her to lie to me and didn't like her at all for that reason.
I also don't really understand the relationship between Zailer and Waterhouse. They're engaged but Hannah gives us absolutely no reason to believe this relationship. To be fair, the supporting characters (the couple's friends, colleagues, and family) don't believe it either, but then what's the point? Everyone is so secretive and I can't help feeling sometimes like I'm in the middle of a "Three's Company" episode - they'd be about 2 minutes long if someone just told the truth instead of the unnecessary fictions.
The last two chapters felt a little too forced, with an explanation that is all-too-often used as a motive, and a final reveal that followed the formula to the letter (and was a bit of a wth letdown as a result).
Still, there's something about this book that I found compulsively readable. Hannah excels at building suspense and then feeding information to the reader in small doses that are both frustrating and gratifying - just enough to keep me interested but not so much that I figured it out in 50 pages. I spent an hour and a half reading in my car in my office parking lot last night because I wanted to read just a little more before I had to sit in traffic, and then had to keep reminding myself that no, I couldn't put the car on autopilot to get another paragraph in while I was driving home. Trust me, I reached for it more than once.
Flawed though they are, I do enjoy these books and will have to find some more.
July 17, 2010
I'm sure fans of psychological mysteries will love this book. Unfortunately, I hated it for a number of reasons. First, I prefer to have some main characters who can be classified as "normal". This group went from permanently emotionally scarred to completely bats. I'd rather shoot myself than spend a minute with any of them. The plot was incredibly complex--which normally would rate high praise. However, as I neared the end of the book, I realized I no longer cared for a detailed explanation. I started skimming as soon I as I was sure who the ultimate villain was. The book reminded me of Minnette Walters but only in the sense that Walters is superb and Hannah just made my Do Not Read list.
November 18, 2017
This is the fourth book in the Waterhouse and Zailer series. There is something very addictive about these books. I am slowly growing fond of our (often) fumbling detectives and their unglamorous foibles. This time, a woman approaches Zailer with a non-crime. Her boyfriend confessed that he murdered someone years ago ... but the woman knows for a fact that the victim is alive and well. To complicate matters, her boyfriend then confesses to Waterhouse that he has, in fact, killed someone ... but there's no body, and no proof of a crime. Should the detectives laugh it off, or dig deeper?
The plot of this mystery is twisty and intriguing, a trademark of these series. I love how each chapter unravels the mystery (and more secrets) a bit more, making it hard to put the book down.
The plot of this mystery is twisty and intriguing, a trademark of these series. I love how each chapter unravels the mystery (and more secrets) a bit more, making it hard to put the book down.
August 2, 2010
I love Sophie Hannah, and it was really hard not to give this one 5 stars . . . however, it just wasn't a five star book.
Hannah has the ability to think up very creative and dark mysteries. None of her stories that I've read feel like repeats of mysteries that I've already read.
She also can conjure up life-like characters on the brink of madness in a way that is completely absorbing and fascinating.
However, there is one glaring flaw in this current novel - the ENTIRE mystery could have been solved in 50 pages or less if the police had done a decent background check on the 3 suspects. Seriously! That's all it would have taken - just a little research, it's not like they were hiding these things. In fact, the private investigator managed to figure it out before the police.
Also - Charlie Zailer was incredibly frustrating as a character in this one. As a reader, I really agreed with the slimy lawyer who told her to stop wallowing in self-pity and move on with her life. I realize that makes her character real - but it also made her annoying to read about.
Despite these problems, I still find Hannah compulsively readable with unique stories. I'll still be picking up her next book.
Hannah has the ability to think up very creative and dark mysteries. None of her stories that I've read feel like repeats of mysteries that I've already read.
She also can conjure up life-like characters on the brink of madness in a way that is completely absorbing and fascinating.
However, there is one glaring flaw in this current novel - the ENTIRE mystery could have been solved in 50 pages or less if the police had done a decent background check on the 3 suspects. Seriously! That's all it would have taken - just a little research, it's not like they were hiding these things. In fact, the private investigator managed to figure it out before the police.
Also - Charlie Zailer was incredibly frustrating as a character in this one. As a reader, I really agreed with the slimy lawyer who told her to stop wallowing in self-pity and move on with her life. I realize that makes her character real - but it also made her annoying to read about.
Despite these problems, I still find Hannah compulsively readable with unique stories. I'll still be picking up her next book.
July 2, 2010
Okay, so it's no secret that I love Sophie Hannah's books. I think she's an amazing writer and I never *ever* know what is going to happen in her books, and usually, I know who has done what and why by about the third chapter of a thriller/mystery. But reading Sophie Hannah--I won't lie to you--she does not shy away from going to some very, very dark places, so if you are looking for a cheerful read, you should probably go elsewhere.
But if you're looking for an amazingly written book filled with characters both familiar (Charlie! Simon!) and new (in this case, Ruth, Aidan, and Mary) that are so well-drawn you are sucked into their world and when you're let go, are gasping because of the intensity (not to mention the twists you will never see coming!) then this is very much a book for you.
As a side note, I love Sophie Hannah's books so much I always buy them when they first come out (right now, all her books pub a year or so before they come out in the US) and I have to say the UK title, which is The Other Half Lives, is SO much better. I don't know why it got changed, and I wish it hadn't because the UK title and the last line of the book...(shivers)
But if you're looking for an amazingly written book filled with characters both familiar (Charlie! Simon!) and new (in this case, Ruth, Aidan, and Mary) that are so well-drawn you are sucked into their world and when you're let go, are gasping because of the intensity (not to mention the twists you will never see coming!) then this is very much a book for you.
As a side note, I love Sophie Hannah's books so much I always buy them when they first come out (right now, all her books pub a year or so before they come out in the US) and I have to say the UK title, which is The Other Half Lives, is SO much better. I don't know why it got changed, and I wish it hadn't because the UK title and the last line of the book...(shivers)
September 25, 2011
Um, it's no spoiler to tell you that the plot centers around a guy who thinks he killed a woman. The problem is, the woman is not dead yet. This is revealed in the first 10 pages. The problem is that the next 200 pages centers monotonously around that same plot point. She's really alive. She's not dead. Why is he insisting he killed her? Why is she alive? Are we sure she's not dead? How can he think he killed her?
I can't take this much repetition. Not wasting any more of my life on this book. At this point, I don't care why he thinks he killed her.
I can't take this much repetition. Not wasting any more of my life on this book. At this point, I don't care why he thinks he killed her.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 12, 2013
I had to force myself to finish reading this book. I felt that each character was his/her own brand of mentally unstable. Not one of them appealed to me. I felt that each character was too overdeveloped. At some point in character development they may have been interesting, but they all just seemed over the top, crazy and not believable.
This was the first book I've read, and quite possible the only book I will read, by this author. The descriptions sound great and very interesteing! However, the writing was not interesting and didn't hold my interest.
This was the first book I've read, and quite possible the only book I will read, by this author. The descriptions sound great and very interesteing! However, the writing was not interesting and didn't hold my interest.
December 19, 2019
Un libro muy largo con una buena historia. Tengo que admitir que me costó bastante el principio. Estuve a punto de abandonarlo porque en las primeras paginas entra de lleno al misterio y luego se vuelve muy repetitivo, tanto que la historia cobra forma en la mitad del libro.
Ruth es una joven que se dedica a los diseños de jardines. Pero un día atiende a unos clientes inusuales que le cambian la vida drásticamente. Hasta el punto de no querer trabajar más en lo que la apasiona. Se muda de lugar y comienza a trabajar en algo distinto y que la apasiona nuevamente, en una galería de arte. Un día llega una clienta con un cuadro y Ruth quiere comprarlo, pero para su sorpresa la mujer llamada Mary Trelease, reacciona caóticamente hasta el punto que la ataca y le inflige daños físicos y psicológicos.
Ruth cambia de trabajo y conoce a Saúl. Hacen química al instante y se enamoran. Un día deciden visitar Londres y para sorpresa de la chica, Saul le confiesa que ha matado hace unos años a una mujer llamada Mary Trelease.
Al principio, Ruth le suena el nombre pero poco a poco recuerda que ésta chica fue quien la atacó y que está viva.
Ruth a partir de entonces hace lo posible para hacerle ver a su novio que la mujer que dice que asesinó, está viva.
En esta historia tenemos como protagonistas a Ruth, su novio Saúl, Mary Trelease. Así como los policías Charlie y Simón.
La historia tiene unos giros que me gustaron muchísimo. La autora juega mucho con la mente de lector, tanto que me impresionó el final de la historia.
September 9, 2016
Well let me just say the mystery had me stumped, as did Charlie and Simon's on going complicated relationship...
As I said in my last review about this series, I have been reading these books to get to the sixth book of the series ( and I won't stop until I get there). For the most part I like this series. One of the problems I have is sometimes I get the feeling that Sophie Hannah is coming up with the ideas for her books with the sole intention of stumping the readers, and not trying to come up with a plausible mystery. -but then I tell myself, in this world these days...anything is plausible. The other major problem is the recurring characters, Charlie and Simon's (the detectives) relationship can sometimes be very annoying and unbelievable -but then I say to myself, in this world these days... anything is believable. If you can ignore the "possible" implausibility/believability (is that a word?) in both of these cases you have yourself a very entertaining read that will have you turning the pages to end.
As I said in my last review about this series, I have been reading these books to get to the sixth book of the series ( and I won't stop until I get there). For the most part I like this series. One of the problems I have is sometimes I get the feeling that Sophie Hannah is coming up with the ideas for her books with the sole intention of stumping the readers, and not trying to come up with a plausible mystery. -but then I tell myself, in this world these days...anything is plausible. The other major problem is the recurring characters, Charlie and Simon's (the detectives) relationship can sometimes be very annoying and unbelievable -but then I say to myself, in this world these days... anything is believable. If you can ignore the "possible" implausibility/believability (is that a word?) in both of these cases you have yourself a very entertaining read that will have you turning the pages to end.
June 27, 2011
I'm having a bit of a Sophie Hannah-fest at the moment. I really enjoy them while I'm reading them - the ridiculously complex mysteries, the reoccuring police characters, the weird relationship between Charlie and Simon. And then I get to the end, and think - "Phew... hang on... what the fuck was that all about? How could that even work?" They're all so ludicrous in their resolutions. But fun!
The Other Half Lives distinguishes itself by most of the characters being truly awful. Ruth Bussey is a nutter. Aidan Seed is creepy. They don't really improve over the course of the novel - I never empathised with Ruth. The resolution to the mystery is completely crazy. I speed-read this book because I was desparate to see how it ended, and then I just wanted to go out and get another one of her books. See? Sophie Hannah-fest. It has to end soon though, because she hasn't written all that many books. It's the JD Robb-fests that are much more time consuming.
The Other Half Lives distinguishes itself by most of the characters being truly awful. Ruth Bussey is a nutter. Aidan Seed is creepy. They don't really improve over the course of the novel - I never empathised with Ruth. The resolution to the mystery is completely crazy. I speed-read this book because I was desparate to see how it ended, and then I just wanted to go out and get another one of her books. See? Sophie Hannah-fest. It has to end soon though, because she hasn't written all that many books. It's the JD Robb-fests that are much more time consuming.
October 24, 2013
Seems as though every time I pick up a book lately that sounds interesting it ends up being part of a series. Perhaps if I had read the first four books that featured Charlie and Simon then I would not A.) Hate their characters and B.) Feel like I was left out of a private joke. What a terrible couple. They seem to be detectives who can't stand each other and have the most dysfunctional, ridiculous relationship ever. They're engaged but have never slept together or said I love you and are basically rude and un-supportive of anything either one of them does. Oh yes, let me PLEASE cheer on this couple! :-/ Neither of them have any endearing qualities and I felt zero emotion for either of them through the entire book.
The author did a terrible job of filling in the holes from the previous books so I felt totally out of the loop and left behind. Apparently Charlie dated a serial rapist and somehow this ruined her career- but at no point does the author say how/why. Simon I guess has built up emotional walls and won't sleep with Charlie or tell her he loves her, but somehow they managed to get engaged. As a woman, I hated her for having zero backbone to dump this clown. Their whole relationship was annoying and completely ruined the story for me.
In addition to that, the story could have actually been cool, but instead led the reader along for 350 pages with random pieces of information that were nearly impossible to string together. When it finally summarized the chain of events at the end, you find out the author has basically been holding her cards pretty close and just decides to toss in relevant information that no one could have put together unless she had actually divulged it throughout the story. It was like she got as tired of the story as I was and just decided to wrap it up.
The characters sucked- pretty much everyone was an @ssh@le or pathetic or simply too weird to even comprehend. I like strange characters, but c'mon, you've gotta have a few that seem semi-normal or identifiable. This book had none.
All in all, I am so disappointed. This books from beginning to end was a wild goose chase- except the geese were tripping on acid.
The author did a terrible job of filling in the holes from the previous books so I felt totally out of the loop and left behind. Apparently Charlie dated a serial rapist and somehow this ruined her career- but at no point does the author say how/why. Simon I guess has built up emotional walls and won't sleep with Charlie or tell her he loves her, but somehow they managed to get engaged. As a woman, I hated her for having zero backbone to dump this clown. Their whole relationship was annoying and completely ruined the story for me.
In addition to that, the story could have actually been cool, but instead led the reader along for 350 pages with random pieces of information that were nearly impossible to string together. When it finally summarized the chain of events at the end, you find out the author has basically been holding her cards pretty close and just decides to toss in relevant information that no one could have put together unless she had actually divulged it throughout the story. It was like she got as tired of the story as I was and just decided to wrap it up.
The characters sucked- pretty much everyone was an @ssh@le or pathetic or simply too weird to even comprehend. I like strange characters, but c'mon, you've gotta have a few that seem semi-normal or identifiable. This book had none.
All in all, I am so disappointed. This books from beginning to end was a wild goose chase- except the geese were tripping on acid.
November 28, 2010
Set against the backdrop of the London art scene, "The Dead Lie Down: A Novel," by Sophie Hannah, almost immediately grips the reader with a spellbinding mystery enmeshed in a web of secrets, lies, and twisted motivations.
It all begins when an art framer named Aidan Seed confesses to his girlfriend Ruth Bussey that he killed a woman several years ago. A woman named Mary Trelease. The only problem with his story, other than the fact of the murder itself, is that Ruth knows a Mary Trelease—an artist she met a few months ago—and she is very much alive.
Enter Sergeant Charlene "Charlie" Zailer and DC Simon Waterhouse, a very quirky couple who also happen to have their own issues and secrets and the stage is set for a very absorbing tale indeed.
Suffice it to say that the meandering pathways that finally lead to the resolution of this case will be confusing at best and convoluted at worst. Add to the mix a couple of superior officers who are seemingly determined to thwart Zailer and Waterhouse at every turn, and you have a case that almost doesn't seem solvable.
Having read other books by this author, I was prepared for the inevitable thrill ride, and I wasn't disappointed. The characters, from Zailer, Waterhouse, and their crew to the artists were all wonderfully fleshed out with flaws and quirks that set them apart and made them memorable. Then the plot was so twisted at times that I couldn't even begin to figure it out until the final moments.
The unexpected turn of events had me reeling for a bit, which added to my enjoyment and led me to award this story five stars.
It all begins when an art framer named Aidan Seed confesses to his girlfriend Ruth Bussey that he killed a woman several years ago. A woman named Mary Trelease. The only problem with his story, other than the fact of the murder itself, is that Ruth knows a Mary Trelease—an artist she met a few months ago—and she is very much alive.
Enter Sergeant Charlene "Charlie" Zailer and DC Simon Waterhouse, a very quirky couple who also happen to have their own issues and secrets and the stage is set for a very absorbing tale indeed.
Suffice it to say that the meandering pathways that finally lead to the resolution of this case will be confusing at best and convoluted at worst. Add to the mix a couple of superior officers who are seemingly determined to thwart Zailer and Waterhouse at every turn, and you have a case that almost doesn't seem solvable.
Having read other books by this author, I was prepared for the inevitable thrill ride, and I wasn't disappointed. The characters, from Zailer, Waterhouse, and their crew to the artists were all wonderfully fleshed out with flaws and quirks that set them apart and made them memorable. Then the plot was so twisted at times that I couldn't even begin to figure it out until the final moments.
The unexpected turn of events had me reeling for a bit, which added to my enjoyment and led me to award this story five stars.
September 30, 2017
Ugh, I can't take another second of reading about the two main detectives in this series. They are both just pathetic. I really, really enjoyed the first 3 books in this series and was really excited to read this one but the characters of Charlie and Simon have become unbearable. Their relationship doesn't even make sense. I'm so disappointed. I think the author is talented at creating a great thriller but I just can't read them anymore. Read about 50% and then DNF.
August 18, 2010
I must have had some mental block while reading this book because it was like water torture.
August 3, 2020
What an amazing, dark and complex mystery (as we expect from Sophie Hannah). Seriously watching the author unpick this was mesmerizing. I have not read any of the earlier ones in the series but this works great as a stand alone. I am really interested to follow these main characters now though. I love that Hannah takes these "impossible" scenarios (here a man adamantly confesses to killing a woman who is very much alive and living in the house where the alleged murder took place) and then pulls her reader along that journey of doubting your own sanity and then finally giving the "logical" explanation. I think Ms. Hannah is a truly brilliant writer.
April 17, 2011
I bought a copy of The Other Half Lives a couple of years ago. I started reading, and then I stopped. Because even for Sophie Hannah, queen of the seemingly impossible scenario, this one just seemed a little too unlikely.
In a London hotel room Ruth and Aidan agree to share their deepest, darkest secrets.
“It doesn’t have to be everything. Just … as much as we can … “
She tells him that years ago she did something wrong to a woman and a man. She was punished excessively, and she has never recovered from it. She is too distressed to say any more.
He tells her that he killed a woman.
She is stunned.
He says that her name was Mary Trelease.
She is confounded. She has met Mary Trelease and she knows that she is not dead.
So why does Aidan insist that he has killed her?
Second time around I read this opening more carefully. I saw that both Ruth and Aidan were complex, damaged characters. That both had clearly left much unsaid. I was intrigued.
Both Ruth and Aidan approached the police. She went to Charlie Zailer and he went to Simon Waterhouse, and so Sophie Hannah’s recurring characters from the Culver Valley Police Force were drawn into the story.
Those recurring characters have grown on me, but the balance between them and the particular story never seems quite right. Once the main story gets going it’s not an issue at all, but this isn’t the first time I’ve noticed a rather long diversion away from the main plot early in a novel, that hasn’t added too much value.
But after that diversion the story was off and running, and I was very definitely hooked.
The continued existence of Mary Trelease was swiftly proved, but she was a very strange woman and both Charlie and Simon was both sure that there was something amiss. And so, although there was no case to investigate, investigate they did.
Their stories are mixed with Ruth’s first person account to fine effect.
Initially the story moves slowly, with the case focused on Ruth, Aidan and Mary. I couldn’t say that I like any of them, but I believed in them and I was intrigued. It was clear that all three had secrets and I wanted to know what those secrets were.
Eventually the story opened out and all of those secrets would be revealed.
A positively labyrinthine and perfectly paced plot twisted that way and that. Eventually it built to a very clever ending. An ending that explained everything, and it was psychologically complex and true.
I have deliberately said very little about the plot, because there is nothing I can say without giving too much away. But I think I should warn that it is very dark in places.
Sophie Hannah has pulled off her usual trick of making me believe the unbelievable because her characters are psychologically spot on. And because as the revelations came I could understand each one a little better.
Three distinctive, flawed, complex characters. One in particular will haunt me.
Fine writing and excellent plotting held everything together. The book was long, but there was always something to keep me hanging on, keep me turning the pages.
I spotted a few of the author’s trademarks. I spotted quite a few cliches of the genre. But it didn’t matter.
An unbelievable story held me, because it’s author made me want to believe.
In a London hotel room Ruth and Aidan agree to share their deepest, darkest secrets.
“It doesn’t have to be everything. Just … as much as we can … “
She tells him that years ago she did something wrong to a woman and a man. She was punished excessively, and she has never recovered from it. She is too distressed to say any more.
He tells her that he killed a woman.
She is stunned.
He says that her name was Mary Trelease.
She is confounded. She has met Mary Trelease and she knows that she is not dead.
So why does Aidan insist that he has killed her?
Second time around I read this opening more carefully. I saw that both Ruth and Aidan were complex, damaged characters. That both had clearly left much unsaid. I was intrigued.
Both Ruth and Aidan approached the police. She went to Charlie Zailer and he went to Simon Waterhouse, and so Sophie Hannah’s recurring characters from the Culver Valley Police Force were drawn into the story.
Those recurring characters have grown on me, but the balance between them and the particular story never seems quite right. Once the main story gets going it’s not an issue at all, but this isn’t the first time I’ve noticed a rather long diversion away from the main plot early in a novel, that hasn’t added too much value.
But after that diversion the story was off and running, and I was very definitely hooked.
The continued existence of Mary Trelease was swiftly proved, but she was a very strange woman and both Charlie and Simon was both sure that there was something amiss. And so, although there was no case to investigate, investigate they did.
Their stories are mixed with Ruth’s first person account to fine effect.
Initially the story moves slowly, with the case focused on Ruth, Aidan and Mary. I couldn’t say that I like any of them, but I believed in them and I was intrigued. It was clear that all three had secrets and I wanted to know what those secrets were.
Eventually the story opened out and all of those secrets would be revealed.
A positively labyrinthine and perfectly paced plot twisted that way and that. Eventually it built to a very clever ending. An ending that explained everything, and it was psychologically complex and true.
I have deliberately said very little about the plot, because there is nothing I can say without giving too much away. But I think I should warn that it is very dark in places.
Sophie Hannah has pulled off her usual trick of making me believe the unbelievable because her characters are psychologically spot on. And because as the revelations came I could understand each one a little better.
Three distinctive, flawed, complex characters. One in particular will haunt me.
Fine writing and excellent plotting held everything together. The book was long, but there was always something to keep me hanging on, keep me turning the pages.
I spotted a few of the author’s trademarks. I spotted quite a few cliches of the genre. But it didn’t matter.
An unbelievable story held me, because it’s author made me want to believe.
September 1, 2012
‘The Other Half Lives’ by Sophie Hannah
Published by Hodder & Stoughton, February 2009. ISBN: 978-0-340-93313-8
When I first started reading this book I really couldn’t see where it could go. Aiden Seed confides to the woman he loves that he killed a woman called Mary Trelease. After struggling with this momentous piece of information, Ruth Bussey finally goes to the police and tells Sergeant Charlie Zailer. But when they check out the address they confirm that the Mary Trelease at that address is alive and well.
Then it begins to get complicated as Charlie Zailer and DC Simon Waterhouse try to discover why a man would confess to murder. What sounds straightforward on the surface conceals a troubled past. We are someway into the book before Ruth’s story is revealed, and that is traumatic. All the characters are dysfunctional with pasts they conceal, and as I gradually found myself drawn in I found it difficult to sort out what was real and what wasn’t. Even the characters I thought I could trust I found that I couldn’t.
This is a psychological thriller such as I haven’t read for a long time. At one point some three quarters through the book I sorted out who I thought was a straight ace, only to discover I couldn’t have been more wrong. Fascinating writing, taking you into places you might not want to go, but you will be totally unable to stop reading. Does provide a satisfying conclusion. Recommended.
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Lizzie Hayes
Published by Hodder & Stoughton, February 2009. ISBN: 978-0-340-93313-8
When I first started reading this book I really couldn’t see where it could go. Aiden Seed confides to the woman he loves that he killed a woman called Mary Trelease. After struggling with this momentous piece of information, Ruth Bussey finally goes to the police and tells Sergeant Charlie Zailer. But when they check out the address they confirm that the Mary Trelease at that address is alive and well.
Then it begins to get complicated as Charlie Zailer and DC Simon Waterhouse try to discover why a man would confess to murder. What sounds straightforward on the surface conceals a troubled past. We are someway into the book before Ruth’s story is revealed, and that is traumatic. All the characters are dysfunctional with pasts they conceal, and as I gradually found myself drawn in I found it difficult to sort out what was real and what wasn’t. Even the characters I thought I could trust I found that I couldn’t.
This is a psychological thriller such as I haven’t read for a long time. At one point some three quarters through the book I sorted out who I thought was a straight ace, only to discover I couldn’t have been more wrong. Fascinating writing, taking you into places you might not want to go, but you will be totally unable to stop reading. Does provide a satisfying conclusion. Recommended.
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Lizzie Hayes
April 10, 2014
Made me want to buy the rest when I realised this was book 4! Back to number 1 onwards and hope they deliver what im expecting!
June 28, 2025
This book was not all that bad. I would recommend it.
May 24, 2012
I’ve read other books by Hannah and loved the complicated, non-linear nature of her writing. She has some recurring characters most notably Sergeant Charlie Zailer and DC Simon Waterhouse. The book seems to be about trauma and psychopathology. When the book is about Charlie and Simon and their quirky engagement, with Simon’s introversion and Charlie’s fear of commitment mixed with crazy parents, it is great. However, the overcomplicated plot is quite complicated, a women landscape architect whom over time we learn has been subjected to the torture of being fed stones, hooks up with a man who works as a picture framer was sexually abused by his dad, killed his stepmother and is now being stalked by a sick former lover who has taken the name of the stepmother. It takes 100s of pages for us to learn all this. And the psychopathology of the woman stalking the framer is beyond comprehension, and it takes a long time to work all this out, with the formulaic near death experience of the protagonist at end, makes for a meandering bizarre mixture. The pluses are the Edinburgh scenes and the development of Charlie’s character.
August 20, 2013
The story was interesting in that the characters were intertwined in unexpected ways, but this bordered on the unbelievable and contrived. I really couldn't get over being aggravated at how they wouldn't talk to each other or ask each other the most obvious questions. I found Charlie and Simon's relationship really weird, the only weirder relationship was that between Ruth and Aidan. In fact, I don't think anyone in the book has a healthy relationship with anyone. The bottom line is that this book is really strange and annoying.
December 23, 2018
Troppa carne sul fuoco, la trama è confusa e condita da una serie di eventi assurdi. Amo i thriller perché mettono in luce una nota stonata nella normalità tipica della vita di tutti i giorni. Nei romanzi della Hannah non è così. Tutti i personaggi hanno alle loro spalle un trauma e una vita particolarmente complicata (tutti!). Difficile trovarsi in sintonia con uno di loro o provare simpatia per uno di loro. Inoltre le prime 350 pagine sono noiosissime. Ho fatto molta fatica a finirlo. Fortunatamente il ritmo cresce nel finale, sebbene in modo prevedibile.
October 13, 2016
Avaliação correta : 4.5*
Minha opinião aqui:
http://anealecorvoliterarios.blogspot...
Minha opinião aqui:
http://anealecorvoliterarios.blogspot...
June 13, 2019
Listened to in audio format.
I am in the process of listening to the Spilling CID series. The Other Half Lives is the fourth book in the collection. If you are unfamiliar with DC Simon Waterhouse and his fiance DS Charlie Zailer, I suggest you start with the first book Little Face.
It was nice to catch up with Simon and Charlie again. The plot was interesting but very complex. I ended up having to listen to a couple of chapters again to understand the plot.
I also disliked the three main characters Ruth Bussey, Aiden Seed, and Mary Trelisk. Although Ruth had overcome a terrible attack years earlier, I thought she was a wimp. Aiden was also cold, I don't understand why Ruth was infatuated with him.
I didn't like Mary Trelisk but she was interesting to read about. Mary had attacked Ruth years earlier because she wanted one of her paintings. Mary definitely had illusions of grandeur.
Meanwhile Simon and Charlie are engaged. Although they are a mismatched Charlie loves Simon. I do hope they get married in the next book.
Although I thought this book was complex I do recommend this series.
I am in the process of listening to the Spilling CID series. The Other Half Lives is the fourth book in the collection. If you are unfamiliar with DC Simon Waterhouse and his fiance DS Charlie Zailer, I suggest you start with the first book Little Face.
It was nice to catch up with Simon and Charlie again. The plot was interesting but very complex. I ended up having to listen to a couple of chapters again to understand the plot.
I also disliked the three main characters Ruth Bussey, Aiden Seed, and Mary Trelisk. Although Ruth had overcome a terrible attack years earlier, I thought she was a wimp. Aiden was also cold, I don't understand why Ruth was infatuated with him.
I didn't like Mary Trelisk but she was interesting to read about. Mary had attacked Ruth years earlier because she wanted one of her paintings. Mary definitely had illusions of grandeur.
Meanwhile Simon and Charlie are engaged. Although they are a mismatched Charlie loves Simon. I do hope they get married in the next book.
Although I thought this book was complex I do recommend this series.
March 17, 2021
There is nothing I love more than being shocked by a twist! This book had me asking “what is going on?” from page one! I love the complex characters and the pace at which we learned their story. I could hardly wait for the next detail. I also loved the pace at which things began moving at the climax as Hannah switched between stories for frequently.
Awesome awesome read!
Awesome awesome read!
November 29, 2013
The problem with a really great, twisty, puzzling mystery is that it can sometimes be a little disappointing when it's solved. This is the second of Hannah's books where I've been thoroughly engrossed all the way through, only to feel a little deflated once the answers are revealed.
Two thirds of the way through, I had no idea how everything was going to resolve itself. Unfortunately, the mystery here is almost a little too convoluted for its own good, with several unreliable characters all having their own agenda. As is too often the case, the mystery would be solved much quicker, and have put fewer lives in danger, if people acted more rationally and didn't suddenly stop sharing or remembering information at a critical juncture.
As it is, three of the lead characters solve the mystery more or less simultaneously. Two of them come to their conclusions in an organic, believable way (even if in one case it does require the villain(s) to decide to reveal lots of key details in the way that fictional villains always seem to need to do). The third, however, works it out in a way I still haven't fully grasped. One moment he/she is puzzling about things, the next paragraph he/she is suddenly telling us the key to everything that's happened.
Overall though, I did enjoy this novel. It's very twisty, Hannah certainly knows how to keep up the suspense as well as how to construct a range of believable and engaging characters. After having read her books out of order, I'm now caught up on the Hannahs I'd missed - I'm looking forward to continuing the sequence with Kind of Cruel.
Two thirds of the way through, I had no idea how everything was going to resolve itself. Unfortunately, the mystery here is almost a little too convoluted for its own good, with several unreliable characters all having their own agenda. As is too often the case, the mystery would be solved much quicker, and have put fewer lives in danger, if people acted more rationally and didn't suddenly stop sharing or remembering information at a critical juncture.
As it is, three of the lead characters solve the mystery more or less simultaneously. Two of them come to their conclusions in an organic, believable way (even if in one case it does require the villain(s) to decide to reveal lots of key details in the way that fictional villains always seem to need to do). The third, however, works it out in a way I still haven't fully grasped. One moment he/she is puzzling about things, the next paragraph he/she is suddenly telling us the key to everything that's happened.
Overall though, I did enjoy this novel. It's very twisty, Hannah certainly knows how to keep up the suspense as well as how to construct a range of believable and engaging characters. After having read her books out of order, I'm now caught up on the Hannahs I'd missed - I'm looking forward to continuing the sequence with Kind of Cruel.
May 7, 2014
I can say, in all honesty, that this book could do without 150 pages easy. The premise is there, the twisting plot delivers in certain points; but the constant repetition and the endless rambling makes this book a disappointing read in the end.
Ruth´s boyfriend, Adrian, confides in her by telling her that he murdered a woman years ago. Ruth is left speechless; but when she realises that the woman Adrian claims to have killed is very much alive and well, everything starts to fall apart. Detectives Charlie and Simon start doing some digging and things just get more confusing and complicated. After much reading, we get to the end, which is terribly delivered! It kept reminding me of when you are watching a bad movie and the killer starts confessing to everything at the very end so that it´s all crystal clear. Very poor closure. I recommend skipping this one.
Ruth´s boyfriend, Adrian, confides in her by telling her that he murdered a woman years ago. Ruth is left speechless; but when she realises that the woman Adrian claims to have killed is very much alive and well, everything starts to fall apart. Detectives Charlie and Simon start doing some digging and things just get more confusing and complicated. After much reading, we get to the end, which is terribly delivered! It kept reminding me of when you are watching a bad movie and the killer starts confessing to everything at the very end so that it´s all crystal clear. Very poor closure. I recommend skipping this one.
July 30, 2012
I really had a difficult time setting this book aside! I stayed up much too late to finish it, and what made me feel completely silly for doing so, was that I had actually correctly guessed the plot’s mysteries rather early on. So, it was hard to say just what it was that kept me so riveted to the pages. I did like the new characters introduced in this fourth installment of the series and the series regulars, Simon and Charlie, continued to frustrate with me their relationship. As of the moment, there is only one more book in the Spilling CID series, so I do hope that their relationship improves in it!
February 11, 2025
The one word that kept popping in my mind as I continued reading this book was "quirky" - the main characters, the story plot and the twists and turns throughout - all 'quirky'! The 'who-done-it' went to 'was anything actually done' back to a 'who did what to whom' back to 'who-done-it' once again. And half the time the reader can't help but laugh--or at least chuckle--at the 'quirky-ness' of all involved. Have to say I ended up really enjoying this book although right at first wasn't entirely sure that I would even like it.
May 3, 2013
The U.S. version of this mystery is called "The Dead Lie Down." This book is an exciting page-turner, perfect for an airplane or vacation read. I was hooked from page one, trying to put together the puzzle that Hannah gradually assembles. There were a few times when I thought the story line was a bit contrived, the writing more solid than phenomenal, but the excitement level bumped it from a 3- to a 4-star book for me.
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