By Annabel Pitcher, published by Indigo (Orion)

I’ve done something wrong. Not even a little bit wrong or even quite a bit wrong. What I’ve done is awful. And do you want to know the worst thing?

I’ve got away with it.

Zoe is fifteen. She’s an average girl, but one thing is eating at her from the inside and she needs to tell somebody. She can’t confess it to anyone. It would be too hard. But when she finds a site where you can become pen pals with people on Death Row in America, Zoe sees criminal Stuart Harris and begins to write him her shocking story. She locks herself in her shed with a jam sandwich, and a pen and paper, and writes a series of letters, containing everything from love and lies, hope and fear, to humour and heartbreak.

This story, just like Annabel’s debut novel, is everything I hoped for. The characters are perfect: They’re three-dimensional and make strong emotional bonds with the reader, especially the unique character of Zoe, whose life story is mostly heart-wrenchingly sad!

Annabel Pitcher, as all of you who have read her debut novel ‘my sister lives on the mantelpiece’ will know, has an extremely brilliant talent at creating realistic, unforgettable storylines and plots, and this has really shown through yet again in her long-awaited-for new novel! The book is expertly told from the perspective of a fifteen year old girl, and even though there is so much packed into it: The romance, the heartache, the murder, this story is so believable!

Overall I really loved it. The murder mystery with an essence of romance in a unique, one-sided letter conversation is very appealing to me and I’m sure that it will be enjoyed by crime lovers, as well as Romance fans.

 This story is a special one, from an author who I can tell has an extremely bright future ahead of her. Keep writing Annabel! I can’t wait for more amazing books to come from you!