Keep Her Safe audiobook

For me, "Did You See Melody" by Sophie Hannah is one of the better 5 star books I have read in a long while. In my opinion this story is an excellent example of psychological crime thrillers at its best. Cara Burrows flees her home and family in England to fly to the five star spa resort hotel called "Swallowtail" in Arizona to spend time by herself and help sort out her future. On arrival at the resort she is mistakenly sent to the wrong room where she stumbles across a man and a teenage girl. Once settled in her now upgraded 'casita' she begins to realise the girl she saw was the most famous murder victim in the country, Melody Chapa, whose parents are serving life sentences in jail for her murder. Did she really see Melody? Did YOU see Melody?I truly loved everything about this story including the many varied and diverse characters and the interesting and entertaining plot line. I did find the fact that Cara was prepared to spend a third of her family's life savings on an unnecessary trip to help sort out her problems a little unbelievable but that aside I found the whole premise of the book original and compelling, especially with TV interviews used as a method of relating the facts of the 'murder' case.I did sort of realise where the story was going towards the end and I wasn't far wrong but it did catch me out on the last couple of pages and think that the author had got it perfect in the amount of twists in the plot and it was highly intriguing to see how the author was taking the story to its finale.From what I've read of reviews from fellow readers this appears to be a bit of a marmite book which I find very surprising but I personally really enjoyed it and found it an impressive book from the first page in. This is the first novel I have read by the excellent Sophie Hannah and I'd have no hesitation in reading more of her works in the future.

**Copied from Blog Review**So I’m going to be taking one book out of my well loved previous or recent/early advanced reads that I have loved and recommending it each week – these novels will always be available now and may be old, new or somewhere in between the two.This week I’m going with “Did You See Melody?” the latest twisted thriller from Sophie Hannah – I read this a few months ago but it is now out there in the world and if you are a fan of the hard to see resolutions and the twisted path to the truth of the matter then you could pick up almost any Sophie Hannah novel to be fair, but Did You See Melody was definitely, for me, one of the most addictive.This story follows Cara, who has (rather childishly I felt but that somehow made it all the more compelling that she ended up stuck in an enigma wrapped up in a mystery) run away from home. Wanting peace and quiet and time to think, she ends up at a relaxing resort. A mix up on the first night finds her in the wrong hotel room and seeing people who don’t want to be seen – but was the girl she saw REALLY the supposedly murdered Melody Capa or just someone who has a remarkable resemblance to said girl. Should Cara say what she has seen? Oh what to do…As usual Sophie Hannah peppers her cast with a diverse range of characters, often hard to like ones, then mixes them all up, making everyone seem suspicious at one point or another, draws out the background to tell you everything you need to know but then blindsides you with something you didn’t think about. It is clever writing, I mostly love how I spend the entire time trying to second guess the author, who never ever makes things easy for me.Added to that of course is the sheer vitality of it – once started pretty much not put down – I devoured this one in two quickfire, immersive sittings, predicting some things and absolutely not predicting others. As usual Ms Hannah explores some dark themes but makes it just as entertaining as it is thought provoking and makes it almost impossible to second guess. Obviously occasionally you need a slight suspension of disbelief during but then when it all comes together in her Christie-esque way, you go AH THAT is what that was all about – and give a nod to the genius thinking.With the poetic prose and intrepid plot construction that is her trademark, Sophie Hannah gives us yet another twist fueled, character driven, intensely intriguing psychological thriller and I will continue reading them as long as she continues writing them. Bring on the next challenge, I anticipate it eagerly.#ISawMelodyRecommended for: Fans of psychological thrillers with twists you are actually unlikely to see coming.

So good!!! I was so excited to get this from the library and it did not disappoint me at all. Great story!

I am always thrilled to read a new Sophie Hannah book. Did You See Melody? is the latest standalone, from the Queen of Psychological thrillers. Quite simply, Sophie Hannah does it with style.With a plot faintly reminiscent of Agatha Christie, Did You See Melody? takes us to a posh five star spa resort in Arizona, USA. Cara arrives exhausted, after the flight from the UK. She has taken a well needed break from her family. Cara is directed to the wrong room on arrival, by the receptionist. This is the start of her stay at the spa going slightly skewiff. Cara sees in this hotel room, a girl who doesn’t exist. She sees Melody Chapa. Melody was a child infamously murdered by her parents. The case was massive in the States. Everybody knows who Melody Chapa is. Everybody has an opinion. Cara finds that she cannot leave it alone. She needs to work out what she saw. She starts meddling. Looking for answers. Researching.One of the great aspects of Did You See Melody? is the cultural differences. We see in Cara, a very British and self contained person. She is over-whelmed by the positivity of the Americans. She is hilarious, in the way she deals with it. Sophie Hannah always does create pretty some distinctive characters. Cara is wonderfully cranky. We also see the cultural differences in the legal systems. We follow Cara, as she tries to make sense of the Melody Chapa case. It is new to her. She watches lots of You Tube videos and reads information online. It really was a trial by media. One person in particular who hosts a legal talk show seems to have very strong opinions on the case. Everything about the case is openly discussed on television, prior to the trial. The parents have every aspect of their lives examined. In the UK, there are strict reporting retrictions in place, for cases going to trial.This is a super story; with a glut of glorious characters, an exotic location and some trademark humour from Sophie Hannah. Who wouldn’t want to be Cara, in a five star spa hotel at the centre of a bizarre and improbable mystery? I would love to be in that situation, lazily sipping cocktails by the pool. A perfect summer mystery. Recommended.

For full review please click hereCara Burrows flees from her family. She is ultra angry about something that’s not revealed to the reader. Wasting away a big chunk of their savings she flies away from her family drama to Arizona, miles away from her Hertfordshire home, to stay in a 5 star holiday resort. Then something really weird happens. (As it always does in Sophie Hannah novels) She is sent to a non-vacant room by mistake of the receptionist. In this room there is a teenage girl and a man. But things get even weirder. Cara discovers that the girl could be Melody Chappa- America’s most famous murder victim. Her parents are jailed, serving a life long sentence. Could this girl really be Melody? Cara is spiraled into this mystery…I think Sophie Hannah is brilliant at writing uneasy, psychologically heavy scenes and plotting extremely complicated scenarios. But her protagonists, are identical. They are always female, in some sort of trouble, middle-classy white British female living a similar sort of life, although pushed out of their comfort zone, they are always good girls. I still enjoy reading Hannah’s books though, despite the insane explanations in the end her novels are always gripping and hooks you in until the end. And her writing has good quality- no one will object that I guess. Most people who give her 1 or 2 star reviews are usually unhappy about the ending.I loved the ending of this book. I think the end chapter was the best part. Nicely done!

This is the 2nd book I have read by author Sophie Hannah the previous one been the Agatha Christie style novel and I have to say I enjoyed this one more. The main character Cara Burrows goes to Arizona on a spur of the moment holiday without telling her family to try and deal with her family problems. On her arrival she is taken to her room where she finds it occupied by a man and a teenager. The next day, after overhearing another conversation she realises the teenager might have been Melody Chapa whose parents are in jail for her murder. Her parents were convicted of her murder, despite her body never being found. There have been several sightings of Melody over the years but these were mostly ignored, but did Cara really see Melody?I found this book very enjoyable and well worth a read.I would like to thank both Net Galley and Hodder & Stoughton for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Cara Burrows needs an escape from her family for awhile so she decides to fly to America and stay in a fancy resort for a few weeks. After opening up her hotel room door, she soon discovers there has been a horrible mix up because the room is already occupied by a man and a teenage girl. The front desk receptionist apologizes for the terrible error and upgrades Cara to a more luxurious suite. When Cara becomes aware of a famous murder case that dominated the headlines in the United States, she realizes that the girl in the hotel room bears a striking resemblance to the murder victim, Melody Chapa. Did Cara really see Melody or has the stress of everything going on back in England caught up with her?This story had me captivated from start to finish. I've only read one other book by Sophie Hannah so I wasn't really sure what direction she would go with the story line. I didn't know if this was going to be like a traditional mystery, have a plot similar to Sixth Sense, or veer into mental illness territory. So I had a lot of fun coming up with one crazy theory to the next as I was reading. I also loved how the book touched on the topic of how the media covers criminal cases in the United States vs. other countries that have more restrictions with what they can report in the news. Some of the characters featured were unlikable at times and there were some plot holes but I was so entertained by the story that none of that made a difference in my enjoyment of the story. Judging by other reviews this book probably isn't for everyone as it looks like I'm in the minority when it comes to liking the story. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher but was under no obligation to post a review. All views expressed are my honest opinions.

This was a fist Sophie Hannah book for me so i didn't know what to expect. The setting is Arizona, and I went there with Cara Burrows. I traveled around the 5 star luxury resort, that is Swallowtail, felt the heat and craved a cocktail. I'm not going to give the plot away on this one but I will say that I expected an entirely different book than the book I read. You start with some family difficulties and your set up for a family saga, but then it transforms entirely. A mystery unfolds with good elements of who dun-nit and a dose of threat. Some of the characters are highly annoying but in a believable way. I'm not sure this book would have worked if the characters were all likeable. What struck me the most was the combination of humour and thriller/mystery. It's a hard combination to pull off and it works here, it keeps the book light whilst compelling you forward.Perfect read for long and lazy summer days by the pool.

Loved this book. As with all of Sophie Hannha's books, it was clever, twisted, complicated and thrilling. Loved Tarin Fry most of all and the interaction between mother and daughter.

When you pick up one of Sophie Hannah’s books, I’ve learnt it is best to expect the unexpected and she’s done it again, I was gripped by the mystery of the seven year old’s disappearance seven years ago, a disappearance that had gripped America from the start.As to be expected from this hugely talented author we have characters that are so memorable you’ll want to send them a Christmas card, or at perhaps cross them off the list, because,  some of them aren’t very nice at all!Cara Burrows has booked herself into a five star hotel in Arizona, miles from her husband and two teenage children, simply leaving a note to tell them she will be back on 24 October. It takes a while for the reader to understand how this seemingly nice woman could take such an action, or perhaps more importantly why. Patience is key, Sophie Hannah starts with a mystery which demands an answer but she makes her readers wait for them, but fear not, the answers are all given in good time. Cara arrives at Swallowtail resort late at night and is booked in by the receptionist. She makes her way to the room, only to find that it is already occupied by a father and daughter who she disturbs from their sleep. The receptionist is deeply apologetic and finds her a new room.Staying at the hotel at the same time as Cara is an elderly lady who has ‘seen’ Melody at the resort each time she has stayed there. Melody was a girl who was all over the news and excerpts from talk shows before the culprits were arrested are included in the novel. This platform is useful for discussing the very different ways that crimes are handled by the media in the UK and the US. In the US the talk show host Bonnie Juror is able to shout her beliefs from her chat show without threat of perverting the course of justice, something that simply would never happen in the UK, although of course it doesn’t stop individuals speculating when we see the sadly all too familiar media statements from grieving families.With Cara needing a bit of displacement activity she makes a very reserved British bond with two fellow sun lounger inhabitants, a mother and daughter both of whom had me in stitches with their brilliant one-liners with the differences in approach between the two nations accurately portrayed. Anyway between them they educate Cara on the full Melody story and encourage her growing suspicion that Melody is still alive and on the resort.Taken in parts this story is completely unbelievable but I really didn’t mind, the journey was so entertaining, the commentary that underlines the storyline on a number of different subjects is true which allowed me to believe in the right circumstances with a good handful of coincidences thrown in that this could be true…This is the perfect summer read although if you are staying in a less than palatial resort you may experience some envy, with brilliant characters, each one is so superbly drawn (and coloured in) with a fair bit of drama to ensure that a soothing massage I required by the time you turn that brilliant last page.

Book reviews on www.snazzybooks.com Ahh, another release from one of my favourite authors - Sophie Hannah! I kept this until I knew I had some time to really get into it, and I wasn't disappointed...This is definitely an odd book in some ways. It starts out as something that seems very different - I felt almost as if I were reading a book you'd class as (and sorry for the annoying classification here) 'chick-lit', but then it suddenly becomes more of a mystery/ thriller.Now, the main character Cara... I had mixed feelings about her. At first, I felt that she was just a bit of a demanding, selfish mother who'd ran off for a holiday away from her kids and husband (a holiday which, incidentally, cost a third of their life savings), and I can't say I warmed to her, but as you learn more about the events that led her to run off to America to this five-star resort, you're bound to feel more sympathy and understanding. She's determined, inquisitive and, at times, quite amusing in her observations of other people around the resort. I enjoyed reading about her, and she lived up to the convincing, interesting characters which Sophie Hannah is so great at creating, as did Bonnie Juno - definitely a hard character to like, but an interesting one nevertheless!The mystery around missing girl, Melody Chapa, is also rather strange and mysterious. I enjoyed the newspaper clippings and interviews which are interspersed with the plot, and 'missing person' cases always intrigue me. The plot didn't feel too dark or gritty like some of her other novels (particularly the Simon Serrailer series which I love but which is definitely far more police procedural-based); instead it felt like a bit of a roller-coaster of adventure featuring an entertaining main character (Cara) as she tries to find out who she glimpsed that very first night, with the help of some entertaining 'friends' (I loved brash American Tarin and her daughter - they are so much fun, if a little off the wall!).Did You See Melody is a fun, slightly wacky read which is very entertaining. I thoroughly enjoyed it, from first page to last (great ending, too!).Many thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for providing a copy of this novel on which I chose to write an honest and unbiased review.

I'm posting my review to the British version of the book, which has the original (and MUCH better) title of Did You See Melody? rather than the sanitized and bland as hell US version of Keep Her Safe. YAWN. What were you thinking, US publisher?This is one that's been on my shelves since spring 2018 when Sophie Hannah came to the Tucson Festival of Books as part of promoting it, and I got to escort her around campus. I'd never read any of her books, but she was on a mystery/crime writers panel*, that was very good if my memory serves, and I was intrigued to finally pick up one of her books that I'd been seeing around GR for years. I read her first book first, of course, Little Face, and thought it was weird and sort of wasted a good premise. I'm glad to say I liked this one much better so I will not give up yet on reading her books. *Her favorite crime writer is Tana French, which endeared her to me quite a bit.This book is actually set in AZ, as apparently Hannah had stayed in a resort or two here, and took the opportunity to stay in more as "research" (lol) for this book. We do have very nice, ridiculous resorts here. Unfortunately, she does get a few details mixed up about what kinds of things go on in which cities (Scottsdale and Paradise Valley are not hippy-dippy new age places*, do not care about vortexes or crystals, and do not offer Jeep tours — all of that is Sedona, which she also clearly visited, because the end of the book does take place there). She does also at the beginning of the book probably focus a little too much on the alien (to her and her protagonist) environment of AZ, and Phoenix in particular), although it was vaguely amusing to see the place I've lived for the majority of my life through outside eyes. Her American characters, especially at the beginning of the book, also didn't ring quite true in their dialogue, but as the book got going, I found myself ignoring or forgetting this kind of stuff, because the story became more and more compelling. *They are commercial places full of (sometimes extravagantly) rich people, cactuses, and the occasional environmentally unsound supremely green lawn.The premise here is that lifelong Brit Cara Burrows has fled England after a fight with her family. She just needs some time alone with her own thoughts, and chose the furthest place she could think of, a fancy resort in Paradise Valley, AZ. On the first night she's there, exhausted and jet-lagged, she's assigned to an already occupied room by mistake, where she wakes up who she at first thinks is a man and his teenaged daughter, but later realizes (after another hysterical guest claims to have seen her as well) that the girl was in fact, Melody Chapa, the most famous murder victim in the United States, whose parents have both been in prison for her murder for going on eight years. I appreciated that this book didn't just have Cara bumbling along trying to be a detective on her own. Her actions struck me as realistic, in the circumstances. I liked the cast of characters Hannah put together, particularly Tarin, the brash mom here on vacation who is more competent than anyone else there. I also loved the parts where Cara read up on the case, as she dug into old videos on YouTube, and write-ups of what happened. It was like reading a true crime story stuck inside of a fiction story. I also thought the book had just the right amount of twistiness.The very last page of the book was a bit weird, but it wasn't enough to put me off. I liked it![3.5 stars, rounded up]P.S. Here are some pictures of the Sanctuary Resort at Camelback Mountain, which the Swallowtail Resort in the book seems at least partially modeled on:

One of the most uniquely written books I’ve ever read. This story had so many twists & turns I never knew what the outcome would be. And the wit of Sophie Hannah shines through to epic proportions bc I laughed so hard at some of the phrases & wording she used. Awesome book!