Keeper by Jessica Moor

 

Keeper by Jessica Moor.

Published in paperback 21st January 2021 by Viking/Penguin UK.

From the cover of the book:

He's been looking in the windows again. 

Messing with cameras. 

Leaving notes. 

Supposed to be a refuge. But death got inside.

When Katie Straw's body is pulled from the waters of the local suicide spot, the police decide it's an open-and-shut case. A standard-issue female suicide.

But the residents of Widringham women's refuge where Katie worked don't agree. They say it's murder.
Will you listen to them?

An addictive literary page-turner about a crime as shocking as it is commonplace, Keeper will leave you reeling long after the final page is turned.

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I think Keeper may be easily the best novel I have read that explores domestic violence and coercive control, while rolling it up in a thriller/police procedural that keeps you guessing the whole way through.

It starts with the apparent suicide of a young woman called Katie Straw, who seems to have thrown herself off a bridge into the river, in the picturesque village of Widringham. It looks like an open and shut case to the police, but the residents of Widringham's women's refuge, where she worked, are convinced that she would never have taken her own life.

The book plays out in two time lines - 'Then', which delves into Katie's past, and 'Now' from the moment Katie's body is found, swapping back and forth in each chapter to slowly build the picture behind why Katie was in Widringham in the first place and the police investigation into her death.

Interestingly, both time lines give us plenty to get our teeth into as Jessica Moor uses her characters to take a good hard look at the reality of domestic abuse and how it affects the women who have been targeted. The 'Then' parts form a chilling 101 guide to coercive control, as we are treated to the history of Katie's relationship with her boyfriend Jamie, and the 'Now' parts give us a glimpse into the experiences of the women who have found themselves at the refuge, those that work with them, the police and even, in part, the men who have abused them.

Big chunks of this novel are going to make you feel sad and angry about the state of the world, and the unfairness of the legal system, but this is not a vehicle for a feminist "I hate men" rant. Instead Jessica Moor pulls apart the emotional complexities of the situations these women have found themselves in - there is plenty of awful detail about violence and insidious control, but she also looks at the reasons why women find it so hard to leave abusive relationships, and even why some women go back time and time again. In addition, she shines a spotlight on the fact that it is not always partners perpetrating the violence... and abuse does not always mean physical actions.

There are plenty of scenes here that are going to be triggering for some, but there is so much to take away from the stories of these women, and the parts about how terrifyingly easy the insidious creep of coercive control can take over your life should be a must read for all.

This book is a great read. It will open your eyes, as well as entertain you with a thrilling story, which makes it a brilliant and accessible way to look at the subject of domestic abuse, and the ending makes for a unsettling cliff-hanger that will leave you wanting more. I need to know what happens next here in Widringham, as there are ghosts that need to be laid to rest, so I really hope Jessica Moor writes a sequel!

Keeper is available to buy now from your favourite book retailer, or from Bookshop.org HERE.

Thank you to Georgia Taylor at Viking/Penguin UK for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Jessica Moor studied English at Cambridge before completing a Creative Writing MA at Manchester University. Prior to this, she spent a year working in the violence against women and girls sector and this experience inspired her first novel Keeper.