Blog Tour: Five Fatal Flaws – Louise Mangos

A missing baby. A dead councilman. Five suspects.

When psychotherapist Trudy’s baby disappears one afternoon, the individual motives of four members of her post-trauma therapy group are gradually revealed. But when the police begin investigating baby Benny’s disappearance, the seemingly unrelated death of a local councilman brings each member of the group under firm suspicion, along with Trudy herself. Five Fatal Flaws is a psychological whodunnit with a #MeToo thread.

Louise Mangos writes psychological suspense, historical mystery and short fiction, which have won prizes, placed on shortlists and been narrated on BBC radio. Her novels are set mostly or partly in Switzerland where she lives at the foot of the Alps with her Kiwi husband and two sons, enjoying an active life in the mountains. The psychological whodunnit Five Fatal Flaws is her fifth novel.

My thoughts: Trudy dozes off in her back garden, only to wake and discover that someone has taken her son Benny from right beside her. A parent’s nightmare, and the police think the members of her group therapy sessions might be involved. 

I’ve done group therapy and it wasn’t anything like the group here, who bond a little too intensely, and share details that lead other members of the group to do things they really shouldn’t.

As the story rolls back and we learn more about Trudy and the group’s members, their stories, the reasons they’re in therapy, and the way they bond, there’s moments when it could be any of them that took baby Benny from his home.

It is quite dark and Rachel’s story was particularly grim, although none of them were exactly having a lovely life. An interesting, intelligent read.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.