A Shadow at the Door by Jo Dixon

 

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I bought A Shadow at the Door because I enjoyed The House of Now and Then so much. This one is a lot more dramatic, so much so that in the beginning I was starting to think the negativity was a bit overdone; however, balance was restored quickly and a splendidly compulsive story was underway.

The main character, Remi, is a former television star who, having divorced her wealthy and powerful husband and while recovering from a vicious physical attack, has undertaken to restore her once beautiful old Hobart home. A series of damaging events, including an online campaign to damage Remi’s income from her audiobook reading job, has eaten into her finances; and meanwhile, Remi’s ex, Simon, has a mortgage over his half of the property which formerly had been in their joint names, and he has started threatening Remi with foreclosure if she is late making payments. 

Reluctantly, Remi decides to rent out two of her rooms and so she meets Josephine and Emerson who become principal players; from this point on as the story progresses the suspense, the tension, the final build up are all riveting.

Tasmania is featuring a lot in books and movies lately, and Australia keeps producing world class writers. I’m now looking forward to Jo Dixon’s third book.

Published by Harper Collins