9780062571816
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Dear Amy audiobook

  • By: Helen Callaghan
  • Narrator: Michelle Ford
  • Category: Fiction, Psychological
  • Length: 10 hours 52 minutes
  • Publisher: HarperAudio
  • Publish date: October 18, 2016
  • Language: English
  • (7014 ratings)
(7014 ratings)
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Dear Amy Audiobook Summary

In Helen Callaghan’s chilling, tightly-spun debut novel of psychological suspense, a teenage girl’s abduction stirs dark memories of a twenty-year-old cold case…

Margot Lewis is a teacher at an exclusive high school in the English university town of Cambridge. In her spare time, she writes an advice column, “Dear Amy”, for the local newspaper.

When one of Margot’s students, fifteen-year-old Katie, disappears, the school and the town fear the worst. And then Margot gets a “Dear Amy” letter unlike any of the ones she’s received before. It’s a desperate plea for rescue from a girl who says she is being held captive and in terrible danger–a girl called Bethan Avery, who was abducted from the local area twenty years ago…and never found.

The letter matches a sample of Bethan’s handwriting that the police have kept on file since she vanished, and this shocking development in an infamous cold case catches the attention of criminologist Martin Forrester, who has been trying to find out what happened to her all those years ago. Spurred on by her concern for both Katie and the mysterious Bethan, Margot sets out–with Martin’s help–to discover if the two cases are connected.

But then Margot herself becomes a target.

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Dear Amy Audiobook Narrator

Michelle Ford is the narrator of Dear Amy audiobook that was written by Helen Callaghan

Helen Callaghan was born in California to British parents, and her early years were spent in both the United States and United Kingdom. She was a fiction specialist and buyer for Athena Bookshop, Dillons, and Waterstones for eight years. She read archaeology at Cambridge University, a subject she is still passionate about, and works in IT.

About the Author(s) of Dear Amy

Helen Callaghan is the author of Dear Amy

More From the Same

Dear Amy Full Details

Narrator Michelle Ford
Length 10 hours 52 minutes
Author Helen Callaghan
Category
Publisher HarperAudio
Release date October 18, 2016
ISBN 9780062571816

Subjects

The publisher of the Dear Amy is HarperAudio. includes the following subjects: The BISAC Subject Code is Fiction, Psychological

Additional info

The publisher of the Dear Amy is HarperAudio. The imprint is HarperAudio. It is supplied by HarperAudio. The ISBN-13 is 9780062571816.

Global Availability

This book is only available in the United States.

Goodreads Reviews

Judy

November 13, 2016

4.5 Stars * Set in Cambridge, Helen Callaghan’s hauntingly atmospheric debut, DEAR AMY- spins an intriguing mysterious tale of a current teenage girl’s abduction, with a twenty-year-old cold case of evil and desperation, and a woman of secrets. A novel of contrasts. Good and evil. Darkness and Light. In order, to solve a mystery and help the victims, the complex protagonist must return to the underworld, her haunted past with an intense unwavering strength of will. There is a lot here beyond the surface, as the complex layers are unraveled. You do not want to miss a single thing! Margot Lewis is the agony aunt (a columnist who gives advice when people write in with problems) for The Cambridge Examiner. Her advice column, ‘Dear Amy’, gets all kinds of letters; but none like the one she’s just received. Dear Amy, I don’t know where I am. I’ve been kidnapped and am being held prisoner by a strange man. I’m afraid he’ll kill me. Please help me soon. Bethan Avery Margot is unhappy in her marriage (Eddie), unable to have children and a teacher at an exclusive high school in the town of Cambridge, as well as the advice column, Dear Amy. Her personal life is not going well, and she often has panic attacks.As the book opens a teenage girl, Katie Brown, age fifteen, is packing, leaving for good. It is raining. She has had enough. She is second guessing her decision. She does not like Bryan, her mom’s boyfriend which has worked his way into their lives. Her mom was always taking her side. Telling her what to wear. She will go to her real dad's house. She is running. Escaping. She was always angry. A car pulls up next to her. An older man. She does not know him. The man is calling her name. How does this man know her? The youth club. She has not been her in two years. He offers to give her a lift. A responsible person. It is pouring rain. His car looks warm and dry. She is exhausted. Maybe she can go back home. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Margot soon learns Katie is missing. One of the students at her school. Something does not seem right. Soon thereafter, Margot receives a Dear Amy letter. A desperate plea from a girl, Bethan Avery who says she is being held captive and in terrible danger. The Cambridge postmark was mailed the day before. The girl says a man is holding her in a cellar and will not allow her to return home. She could only imagine rape, torture, and murder. Something about this letter is disturbing. Her mind goes to the scholarship girl, and swimmer, Katie Brown. She was worried for Katie. She goes to the police station. Shocking. This girl Bethan Avery, was abducted twenty years ago and never found. How is this possible? Additional letters appear, and the investigation shows similarities in the handwriting of the letters as compared to the diary of the Bethan Avery. What happened to Bethan Avery? She had been forgotten. Is the letter for real? Margot is completely drawn into this chilling mystery. An obsession. At first she thought it could be just a crazy letter; however, the girl continues to say she is being held a prisoner in a dark cellar, crying out for help. When more letters start to appear, and further investigation reveals startling similarities between the handwriting and that in a diary of the supposed author, Bethan Avery, Margot finds herself totally immersed, which will have life changing consequences. Told from perspectives of both perpetrator and victim, you hear the desperation of a terrified girl trapped by a monster, and Margot’s unquestionable mental state. At the same time, we also hear from an evil abductor. In the meantime, a criminologist Martin Forrester shows interest in the case, and joins Margot in the investigation. How are the two cases connected? He states this has happened six times since 1998. Has Katie replaced Bethan? Why did the letters come to her? A scam?Had she survived for the last seventeen years? The ongoing mystery: Why is Margot receiving the pleas for help as Dear Amy? She was presumed abducted and murdered in the nineties. How is this happening? Answering this question may cost Margot everything. She is also tormented with fear while reading the letters, and through these letters, Margot may learn the truth that threatens to tear open the fissures in her own history. Haunting, Twisty, and Chilling! The usage of elements: rain, a gated home reflecting isolation, garden, the setting, imprisonment; snow, magpies, shapes, darkness, and Greek myths — all add a layer of mystery and compliment the experience. On the surface, Margot is a successful woman, teaching Classics and English at a prestigious school and married to an ambitious man before he was unfaithful. She also was the woman behind the advice column. However, Margot appears to be hiding something. Memories repressed. She could be fooling everyone. Lies. She could be hurting herself, and causing her life to unravel. Horrors. A secret lurking in her past. Would she risk exposing herself trying to help others? At the same time, her own husband may betray her. I listened to the Audiobook and the narrator Michelle Ford delivered a suspenseful spine-chilling performance! Callaghan’s writing is intense, and spellbinding at times with vivid settings, and scents- drawing you in, while the reader is glued to the pages trying to solve the complex mystery of these women. Thought-provoking. I enjoyed learning why Callaghan set her novel in Cambridge, (a place of contrasts) as it supports the contrasts in the heroine’s life. Author Helen Callaghan discusses the dilapidated fictional manor where chilling crimes take place. "The Grove." I found this quite intriguing and true. When I invest time in a book, am always intrigued by the author’s inspiration and topics behind the book. I enjoy researching further and enjoy sharing with other readers. A nice interview with the author: Helen Callaghan and Gilly Macmillan. Note to readers: I noticed a few reviewers did not finish the book. Be patient. Would encourage you to go back and reread. This is not a book to be rushed. A twisting plot worthy of Alfred Hitchcock. Delving deep into the horrors, creepiness, murkiest and darkest corners of the human psyche. A strong female heroine!Helen Callaghan is an author to follow! An absorbing debut, and looking forward to seeing what’s coming next. Fans of unreliable narrators will enjoy this well-crafted cleverly constructed suspense thriller, as well as those who enjoyed The Good Girl and Mary Kubica's psychologically rich hypnotic writing. (My favorite). JDCMustReadBooks

Maxine

December 25, 2017

This was a cracker of a read. I was sucked into the plot pretty quick and read this fast, eager for more. It’s got a lot going for it!Full review on way!

Claire

June 03, 2016

"Wise men speak when they have something to say; fools speak when they have to say something." How true is that phrase? I can think of many this applies to...and not just men!! Dear Amy came up as one of THE books to read this summer - a debut to watch according to Deadgood Books so I knew I wanted to read. So I was made up when the publisher approved my request through Netgalley.Helen Callaghan definitely has a way with words. The way she described the head nun Mother Cecilia as a "female Gandalf" with a "hothouse brain" and "alchemy wizardry" conjures up such an image of the character. The first half story is sinister at points but not a goose-bump chilling thriller; but as the story unfolds, it gets darker, the tension builds and the twists start to appear.Helen Callaghan's debut is a brilliant read that keeps you guessing all the way. I did question and mistrust a number of characters throughout the story.Big thank you to Penguin UK, Michael Joseph and Netgalley for sending me an advanced copy of Dear Amy in return for my unbiased review.

Charmaine

January 09, 2018

Well I just loved it. It is a psychological thriller, and kept me on edge, couldn't see the twist comes. It was one of those books that I wanted to finish it but didn't want to finish it lol (I know, I am weird)Margot, is a classic teacher at St Hilda, and as a part time job writes a column in a local newspaper. It is called Dear Amy, an advise column. One day, when she was checking the letters, was surprised to notice that there was one with a childish handwriting, when she opened it she was shock to learn that this letter was sent to her by Bethan Avery. This can't be true, of course it must be a hoax, because Bethan Avery was kidnapped and presumably dead twenty years ago.Nevertheless, she felt uneasy with this letter so she went to the police station, and of course, they didn't took her seriously. Maybe she is losing her mind after all, but what if this letter is real and therefore can save others life

Laura

March 10, 2016

Dear Amy has been on my radar for a while and when I had the chance to review I was over the moon. I am such a lover of psychological thrillers and love discovering new authors in this genre so this book sounded right up my street. Dear Amy arrived in an amazing package with brown string tied around the book and two letters from the book which made me incredibly impatient to start reading! When Margot, an agony aunt in a local paper, receives letters to her ‘Dear Amy’ post box from someone claiming to be Bethan Avery, a teenage girl who went missing nearly twenty years ago and presumed dead, she gets drawn into Bethan’s world and starts trying to track down the girl. When the police aren’t sure about the letters, Margot takes it into her own hands and starts the perilous journey to find out what happened to Bethan Avery. Is she still alive? Are these letters really from her or is it a hoax? Why would someone pretend to be Bethan Avery? And, if she is writing them, where could she be writing from? Margot is determined to find out…OK, so this novel didn’t head in the direction I thought it would. In fact the whole sort of middle to end was very peculiar. Not in a bad way, just a ‘never would have seen that coming EVER’ way. And I can’t work out if I liked it or loved it. I definitely thought it was good but I just don’t know if I loved it. I think the main reason I’m unsure is that whilst it was thrilling and shocking and surprising, it felt a little unrealistic. For everything to happen and unfold as it did would have required the largest amount of fate and coincidence. And, well, it’s not to say it would never happen (!) But I just thought it was a little far-fetched. And yes, this is fiction and anything can happen in fiction, but when the story is so grounded in reality, it can be hard to look past that when something a little improbable occurs. However, aside from that, I really did enjoy this book. It was full of tension and mystery and had a great pace to it. Helen’s writing is enchanting and rather beautiful, even when it’s describing some rather macabre things! Her descriptions were second to none and gave me an impressively vivid picture in my mind of what was going on in Margot’s quest to find Bethan. I think my favourite aspect of this novel is that we see and understand everything at the same time Margot does. As the reader we don’t have any special insights or understanding of what’s going on until Margot does and I love books that make you feel almost like you could substitute yourself with the main character. I definitely felt a lot of emotion on behalf of Margot! I was scared, confused and shocked along with her and didn’t know how to deal with some of the reveals either!Dear Amy is a very well written, intriguing and fresh take on the psychological thriller genre. With characters you -think- you can trust and a narrative that spins you around multiple times until you’re left dizzy, it’s a book to have on your reading pile this year.

Christine

July 28, 2016

Oh I LOVED this! It is a dark missing child story, that is clever and a little bit different!Margot is a teacher, with a part time hobby as an agony aunt ‘Dear Amy’ for a newspaper. One day, she gets a mysterious letter from a Bethan Avery asking for help. The only thing is the girl went missing in the 1990s and no one has heard of her since. Margot is convinced that the letter is genuine. Local teenager Katie Brown goes missing, in the present day. We follow Margot, as she searches for answers and for the two missing girls. How are the two kidnapped missing teenagers, Bethan Avery and Katie Brown connected?I raced through this, utterly entranced by Margot. We find out a great deal about Margot, at the beginning. She is caring, yet has been through a great deal with anxiety and a past breakdown. She is divorcing her husband. We see her getting her teeth into the Bethan Avery case and being concerned for the fate of her student Katie Brown. The strength of this is that we start to understand Margot and what makes her tick. As she gets deeper into the mystery aided by Martin, a Criminologist investigating the historical Bethan Avery case, we start to see what is going on. The past unravels and the twist makes absolute perfect sense. Helen Callaghan cleverly only hints at the horrors suffered by Bethan and Katie.This is a story of trauma, of kidnapping and of survival. It is one of hope. No one could leave the book, without some kind of sense about the nightmare Bethan Avery has been party to. Worth a read, if you want a psychological story with depth. Recommended.

Elaine

June 12, 2016

This is a psychological thriller with young girls disappearing then clues being sent in letters to an agony aunt…Margot Lewis is a secondary (high) school teacher who also writes the agony column, Dear Amy… , for the local newspaper. She regularly has letters asking for advice, but has never had one like this before. This one claims to have been written by someone who has been kidnapped and wants rescuing. It turns out that the signature on the letter is of someone that was kidnapped but initially Margot was the only person taking it seriously. As one of her pupils has recently disappeared in a similar fashion, Margot won’t let this drop. As she becomes more actively involved in the search for the missing girls she also becomes more in danger herself . . .This was a brilliant beginning and I initially assumed it would lead on to Margot becoming the feisty lady detective who helps uncover and solve mysteries, which she sort of does, but not quite in the way I’d hoped! As the story unfolds, it gets much darker and you’re not quite sure who to trust any more. There are some different ideas in this story, some more plausible than others and additional one that just keep the reader endeavouring to decipher the clues to solve the case and rescue the missing teenager.This is a well crafted, surprising debut novel and I enjoyed the writing style of the author, I’ll definitely look out for more from her in future though I sort of hope her next will be more akin to an Agatha Christie Miss Marple type of mystery!Thanks to the author, publishers and NetGalley, too, for letting me read this in exchange for my honest review.

Alja

December 15, 2017

Mindfucks guaranteed

Margaret

June 14, 2016

4.5 stars. School teacher, Margot, freelances as a newspaper agony aunt and receives some disturbing mail:Dear Amy,Please please PLEASE help me! I have been kidnapped by a stange man and he's holding me prisoner in this cellar. He says I can never go home. I don't know where I am or what to do and nobody knows I'm here.I don't even know how long I've been gone,but it seems like forever. I'm afraid that people will stop looking for me. I'm afraid he'll kill me.Please help me soon,Bethan Avery.Hand written, in childish scrawl, Margot fears that the letter may be genuine. Another school girl is missing and she fears for her safety. She passes on the letter to the police and discovers there was indeed a missing girl called Bethan Avery, but back in the 1990s. How is the recent disappearance of a schoolgirl related to this old case? Why is Margot receiving letters? How can she find a girl who has been missing for almost twenty years? With the help of Martin Forrester, a criminologist with Cambridge University, she delves farther in the past in an attempt to understand the present.This is one of the most twisty, turny novels I have read in a long time. From the first chapter, the author take the reader into veritable carnival-like attraction of distorted mirrors, hidden corridors and cloak draped stages. The letters received are heart-breaking yet confusing. How is the missing girl able to post them, yet not know where she is? Why has she chosen an agony aunt as her saviour? Does she read newspapers? Will a TV appeal help? Margot is already feeling pressure from her broken marriage and her vulnerability is now exposed even more. Turning each page brings more questions and before you know it, you are hurtling towards the final chapter.Helen Callaghan is an example of how returning to education can inspire a person to follow a dream. Studying as a mature student can shed a different light on a persons interests and talents; sometimes resulting in a new career; a new outlook on life and, in this case, a sharp, cunning debut novel. Callaghan's writing is pacy, vibrant and fresh. The narrative is strong and the page-turning factor is high. There are many, many crime writers out there who should look over their shoulders at this new novelist. Part thriller, part psychological drama, this cries out for a TV three-part drama. There are tastes of the writings of Ruth Rendell and Erin Kelly in here, as well as some similarities to recent televised dramas like Sky One's The Five and BBC4's Thirteen. This is a debut of note. Just don't expect to get much done once you start. It's one you won't put down easily.

Jemima

June 14, 2016

Dear Amy is a first novel by Helen Callaghan, and it deals with child abduction in East Anglia. For non-UK readers, there was a notorious child abduction in Fenland over ten years ago now (how can it be that long, it seems like yesterday), which gave rise to a number of new child protection laws and procedures. The girls and their abductor lived in Soham, a small village, so references to the Soham children, or murders, arise from that.What I was certain of as this story unfolded was: there had been a new child abduction, a teenager; there had been a very similar abduction some ten or more years earlier, which had never been completely solved i.e. no dead body, but evidence that suggested one might be buried in the marshes; the protagonist and narrator of the book, Margot Lewis, has a lot of personal problems, but she's battling on against them and life in general. She's a school-teacher, anxious about her students, and the pits that are our current educational system, and she does a weekly Agony Aunt column in her local paper, under the name of Dear Amy. There is an interest (who might become a love interest) who does academic research into missing children.The great strength of this book is that while the facts are there, you are never entirely sure of what really is a fact, because as Margot presents the tale, she starts to doubt herself, and thus you doubt yourself, too. As unreliable narrators go, Margot's a good one. Even when you start to realise what exactly is going on, there are still elements of doubt - have you read too much into it? Are trustworthy people just good actors? With the occasional addition of a first-person narrative from the currently-abducted child, this keeps you on your toes, if not the edge of your seat. There was one point when I got terribly anxious that the silly person was going to do entirely the wrong thing....A first-class psychological thriller that I really couldn't put down. One of those books that leaves you wanting more... and sitting thinking for an hour afterwards. Not for people with personality disorders.

Renita

December 23, 2016

Loved this thrilling book that kept me guessing until the end.

Melanie

February 14, 2016

I love this book, and I really want to tell you all about it, but I have been sitting here trying to think of things to say which could in no way, shape or form give the game away, and I am afraid that if I don't just keep my mouth shut I will utter a spoiler - and that is definitely NOT what I want. What I do want, is for you to pick this book up, and read it without having heard anything about it from anyone else - other than that they loved it too. In the interest of fairness, I should say that I was given this book in pre-publication proof form by someone who is part of the team behind it. I was not asked for a review in return. In fact, I am pretty sure I was supposed to just keep my mouth shut. But I can't always be counted on to do that.Oh wait, I've just thought of something I can tell you without spoiling anything. Something which becomes very clear from the back cover. There are secret letters in this book. Secret letters which, it turns out, are all about the secret.

Dannielle

January 19, 2017

Fantastic Twist! Such A Page Turner

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