The secrets she keeps by Michael Robotham

Hachette Australia, 2017. ISBN 9780733638015
(Age: Adult - senior secondary). Recommended. Psychological thriller. I always pick up a book by Michael Robotham and this one is every bit as compulsive as previous novels. It is a stand alone crime, told in two voices: Agatha who works in a supermarket stacking shelves and Meghan, a wealthy mother of two who has a blog. Both have secrets which they have to conceal.
Agatha is very jealous of Meghan, who appears to have everything that she has ever wanted - two healthy children, another on the way, a successful husband and beautiful home. Meghan's life appears to be perfect to Agatha, but everything is not as it appears, her marriage is strained and her third pregnancy was unplanned. Then Agatha meets Meghan in the supermarket, making a bond as they are both pregnant and things escalate from there.
This is a psychological thriller that will keep the reader gripped to the end, as they follow the lives of Agatha, Meghan and Baby Ben. Robotham has successfully got into the minds of the two women, especially Agatha's as she is desperate to have a baby and a husband. The secondary characters of Jack, Meghan's broadcaster husband and Hayden, the sailor that Agatha hopes to marry are fully realised as they become embroiled in the disaster.
Many twists and turns and secrets uncovered create a suspenseful read while the reader is able to empathesise deeply with the two women even though they are very flawed characters.
Pat Pledger