The Matchmaker by Helene Fermont – mystery thriller that turned out okay for me

The Matchmaker was fast paced mystery thriller with fabulous beginning but then, for me, it turned out okay.

Synopsis

Perfect Lives Don’t Come Cheap.

Marcia Bailey has it all: a passionate marriage to a rich and handsome man who is utterly devoted to her; fame and success as London’s premier matchmaker; a beautiful home in a posh neighbourhood, and fabulous holidays in exotic places.

But her perfect life turns into a nightmare overnight when a mysterious caller suddenly threatens to reveal secrets from her past she thought she had left behind forever. Who is he and what does he really want? He says he wants three million pounds to keep quiet, and she’s willing to pay. After all, she has already sacrificed so much, and perfect lives don’t come cheap.

But Marcia has a hunch her caller wants more than money from her. He wants to hurt and humiliate her. But why?

As police investigate a brutal murder in a wealthy London neighborhood, they untangle a web of lies, violence, sex and jealousy surrounding Marcia Bailey and the group of wealthy and powerful men who have secrets of their own to keep.

The Matchmaker is filled with unexpected twists and turns — and characters that will haunt you long after you’ve read the last page.

Other books I read by the same author :

One Fatal Night

*** Disclaimer : I received e-copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review. ***

Review

Intriguing fast paced mystery thriller

The Matchmaker was a mystery thriller that revolved around The Matchmaker, Marcia Bailey, who got her perfect life at huge cost. This was about trust, lies, betrayal, past mistakes, secrets, drive to leave behind past for successful rich life, obsession and hatred.

TW- physical and emotional abuse, giving up child for adoption, sexual exploitation

I don’t know where to start this review. Synopsis made it sound really interesting and after reading One Fatal Night by the author I was really excited to read more books by author but this didn’t turn out as good as I was expecting. I know I’m not starting review on good note but I have mixed feeling for this.

Writing was easy to follow. Short chapters made it fast paced. It was written in multiple third person narrative. Setting of affluent area of London and community was interesting to read. Plot was character driven and I liked how it started.

Marcia Bailey had abusive past, had to find her own path in life that wasn’t all roses until she found financial stability. Leaving behind infamous past and all ties to it, moved to new city with new name and career that quickly turned into booming business, married to rich loyal husband and living perfect rich and happy life she dreamt of. But “Perfect Lives Don’t Come Cheap”- that tagline was perfect.

Now after 25 years demons of the past have resurfaced to haunt her. Someone was blackmailing her who claimed to know her real name and what she did to reach where she was now.  That person wouldn’t let her have peace until she paid huge sum of money but it was clear the caller wanted more than just money.

I was curious to find out who was the caller and what her past was, what exactly she did that she couldn’t even tell her husband whom she claimed to love. Some of the answers we got really quick with a shocking twist at 25%. I knew murder was mentioned in synopsis but wasn’t expecting that particular victim. What I thought was psychological thriller turned out to be a murder mystery.

Characters were complex, unreliable, and unlikable. I didn’t like most of them and what was revealed about each character was surprising. What they did in past was questionable but somehow, they all found a way to move forward and change who they were in the past.

Though story revolved around Marcia and her life, we actually know her through secondary characters. She was naïve and vulnerable in past but had turned to strong, successful and independent woman. The way her past was represented made me picture she must have exploited or murdered someone or something really bad must have happened to her but what was revealed gave different picture.

She was at fault up to some extent, her actions were questionable but what she did as 19 yrs old girl was perfectly realistic and it made me see her through different eyes. I could see why she wanted to bury it as society she was living in wouldn’t have accepted, not after her memoir and with all lies and secrets she kept. I admired her determination and instinct. It really left me thinking how would she have known who to trust or not and turned out right about it at the end.

Along with Marcia we meet many secondary characters who were related to her past. It was surprising they all lived in the same area and had same social circle, were even in touch with her husband and yet she somehow made it possible to keep her past secret. That was a bit unbelievable and didn’t surprise me with what happened.

Some turns were well written some I could easily see coming. Climax was surprising with what culprit did to other character making it obvious being a killer or accomplice. I liked how detectives and prosecutor worked after that. End was good.

Why 3 stars-

Main thing I didn’t like was the repetitiveness. Maybe because of multiple perspective. Every character was telling their side of story along with Marcia’s past and how they were related to her, then detectives trying to deduce who was the murderer… it all made the facts repetitive throughout the book.

There was no character depth. I didn’t feel anything for any of them. They made me annoyed or roll my eyes most of the time, even those detectives.

I think in first 25-30% of the book revealed so much about Marcia that I wasn’t much surprised for what came in rest of the book.

I could easily guess who was involved in the murder early in book, when detectives were interviewing characters. It was obvious that person didn’t tell the whole thing and waving flag to reader I’m involved. And it was really cliched.

Overall, The Matchmaker was fast paced mystery thriller with fabulous beginning but then, for me, it turned out okay. I liked One Fatal Night more than this one. If you like the sound of the book you, go for it.

Affiliate Links –

---

Thank you for reading! Let’s chat…

What do you think about this book and review?
Have you read any book by the same author?
Are you going to add this to TBR?
What is your favorite mystery thriller?

Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Goodreads

---

Just in case you missed,,,

• Weekly Wrap Up
• Finding Home by Kate Field (Book Review)
• 4th Blog Birthday

---

If you enjoy my posts and blog, please consider supporting me.

Sign up to receive email whenever I publish new post-

---