Deep Family Secrets - review

When Joanne is woken in the early hours of the morning by her mum convinced her husband is having an affair, Joanne thinks her mum is just having another one of her ‘moments’. As they drive to where her father is it’s only when he emerges from a meeting with a male companion that Joanne’s mum accepts that she was wrong.

With Joanne trying to set herself up as a singer along with her boyfriend, she also spends time worrying about her parent’s relationship and therefore asks her dad straight if he’s having an affair. With him denying anything of the kind Joanne is happy, but when her mum later disappears and blood is found in her car, she’s not entirely convinced her dad didn’t have something to do with it.

As her worries escalate about her mum’s state of mind and her parent’s relationship, Joanne and her siblings Bobby & Lisa start to wonder whether their dad is capable of murder, but it’s not until Joanne digs deeper into the family that she realises just how many secrets have been kept.

This 80’s thriller drama was a good watch, but I wouldn’t bother watching it again.

It didn’t grip me or have me on the edge of my seat, but I’m glad I’ve watched it.

Hide and Seek by Jane Casey

As the start of the Christmas break begins, Jess Tennant finds herself at one of Port Sentinels many parties, but while she’s having fun with friends and looking forward to Christmas, she doesn’t expect the drama which unfolds when she witnesses an argument during the party.

A few days later, Jess is paired with Gilly Poynter for a school project and while Gilly is known for being quiet and private, Jess can’t help but try and find out what the argument was about. 

With Gilly giving nothing away, Jess tries another tactic and arranges for them to meet at the local library in order to do project research, but when Gilly fails to turn up and she’s reported missing the next day, her suspicions are raised.

As Jess’s detective skills kick in once again, she does all she can to work out why Gilly was upset, despite Inspector Henderson’s warning not to get involved. 

With Jess trying to adjust to her father moving to the area and the ongoing jealousy between Will and Ryan, she already has enough to deal with, but when she discovers Gilly’s hidden diary and learns there’s no end of people who could have had a hand in her disappearance, she finds herself doing what she does best - solving mysteries.

After reading How to Fall and Bet Your Life, I couldn’t wait to read the next Jess Tennant novel and it didn’t disappoint. On pre-order, I was ready to read it as soon as it was delivered and despite a couple of breaks (work etc), I found myself gripped right until the end.

Although I had my ideas about how the story would end, I enjoyed letting it unfold and hope another novel is on its way.

Justice for Natalee Holloway - review

To be perfectly honest, this TV drama didn’t grab me at all.

Based on a true story, this movie follows Natalee’s mother Beth as she continues her search for the truth about what happened to her daughter after she didn’t return from a school trip to Aruba in 2005.

Following both Beth and Joran – the main suspect in the disappearance – this movie had split screens showing both parties at the same time and jumped around from country to country and year to year making it difficult to follow.

With the case of Natalee’s disappearance still unsolved in real life, the movie didn’t have an ending which allowed you to fully understand what happened as no one actually knows, but it did show the heartache any parent must face when they don’t know what happened to their child as they don’t know whether to hold out hope or start to grieve.

While I understand this TV movie aimed to tell the story of Natalee’s disappearance from her mother’s point of view and get her story known, I was confused and bored throughout most of it - although it did make me look up the real disappearance, which was probably the aim of the movie all along.