In 1993 Nell and her best friend Jude find a dead body on Brighton Beach at 3am whilst they are walking home from a party.

Teenagers Nell and Jude find the body of a young woman and when no one comes to claim her, she becomes known as the Brighton Mermaid. Nell is still struggling to move on when, three weeks later, Jude disappears. The years Pope victimized, and bullied Nell and her family were made possible by the inherent attitudes of the police. Pope’s attitudes not only effected the girls but also had long lasting effects on both parents as well.The writing is fabulous, I was drawn completely into the story and had my own thoughts as to how it would pan out and I was wrong. I am utterly convinced that Dorothy Koomson gets better and better with every single book, and this is no exception. My only regret is that I read it so soon after getting it so that I now probably have another years wait for another book from this superb author. The Brighton Mermaid is in no way an easy book to read, as well as dealing with murder it also covers severe anxiety, abuse and consistent racism. This last topic was one of the most interesting aspects of the book and particularly well written. We were both staring at her. She looked soft, lying there on top of the pebbles, half in, half out the water, her face serene. Even with the foamy tide continuously nudging at her, trying to get her to wake up, she was still; tranquil, lifeless.”

Mum had been ‘good’ and polite and had kept away from trouble her whole life. She’d experienced racism and prejudice but she – like the rest of us people of colour – had been lied to, had been sold the promise that good behaviour, obedience, never causing trouble or fighting too hard for your rights, would keep you safe, keep you protected. That promise had been broken in the most violent, pugnacious and cruel way, and mum had never fully recovered from that trauma.”Before reading The Brighton Mermaid my favourite book by Dorothy Koomson was The Chocolate Run but now my favourite book by her is The Brighton Mermaid.

As the anniversary draws closer Nell’s search becomes more dangerous and it is clear someone is trying to put her off. He could see I wasn’t going to give in. ‘You two are a couple of those dirty girls aren’t you,’ he said quietly. ‘You all act good and prim for the parents, but really you’re always out, catting about. You can’t keep your legs shut. You’re dirty girls. Dirty little sluts.”

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Whilst Jude is away Nell can’t help but notice the dead girls distinctive tattoo, a tattoo that will eventually lead to the press calling her ‘The Brighton Mermaid.’

Koomson is the queen of the big reveal, and takes her time slowly building the tension in this truly gripping read’ ( The Sun) The Brighton Mermaid is a split-narrative tale told from the perspective of Nell in the present and in the early 90’s, and also from the perspective of her sister Macy. The story begins twenty-five years ago; it’s 1993 in Brighton Beach and Nell and Jude are teenagers. They’ve sneaked out without their parents knowledge to go to a party thrown by a local boy. They are making their way home in the early hours when they discover a body laying on the sand.Macy has a lot of resentment towards Nell from that night and because of a secret she must keep from her and has kept from her for almost 25 years. We were going to find out that she had been murdered. That her last minutes were awful, full of terror and pain. I looked into the faces of the police officers, saw how angry they were that we were wasting their time like this, and knew our lives were never going to be the same again.” I’ve never seen such violence before…. All I could do was watch as dad’s facial muscles were tautened by torture, his body twisted and held in unnatural ways, blood spilling from his mouth. This was brutal and horrifying, cruel and inhumane.” This will creep its way under your skin and stay there long after you finish the final few gut-twisting chapters. Brilliant’ Heat The Brighton Mermaid by Dorothy Koomson made it onto our list of New Books to Look Out for in May 2018. The reason it made this list initially is that I love Dorothy Koomson’s books and I always read her new books. Having read it I would promote it to the top of my list of books to read this year let alone in May.