A young social worker, Kit Goddard, is assigned a high profile investigation into the family of a well-connected and respected man in Sandbeach, South Wales. The case involves historical sexual allegations against Matt Cooper -- in fact the incidents were said to have happened over 17 years ago. Now, Matt is married to Annie and they have 3 children -- one of whom is a several disabled daughter. Kit is meant to decide if the children need protection or further action should it be found that evidence will take Matt to trial. Matt has been removed from the home as the interested parties perform due diligence but Kit is convinced that more is going on than the current accusations. Is Matt guilty or has an innocent man been unfairly targeted? NO SPOILERS.
The narrative was interesting and the protagonist engaging, but this story seemed to move way too slowly so it took me a long time to read. The other issue was that the plot was complicated by Kit's baggage and events that happened to her family many years prior. Having a social worker as a main character was a different tack and definitely readers will have an opinion about their role and whether the power they have to disrupt a family can be seen as overstepping or if they often don't do enough to provide the necessary protection. We all read the news so know that mistakes can be made and are often blamed on budgets and staffing and the sheer volume of incidents that require some sort of intervention. So, in the end, this novel was not about Matt Cooper per se, but was more a vignette of how a social worker interacts and works with a particular situation and carries the day through her persistence.
Some reviewers have indicated that this will be a series and I don't know if I'll continue or not. Also, am curious to find out if this author's name is a pseudonym. Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus Books riverrun for this e-book ARC to read and review.
This may be the first in a new series.
Genre - domestic drama, sexual abuse, social worker
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