he sang as if he knew me

As soon as Charlie met Freya, he knew that it was over for him. In less than a year, they were married. Charlie was an up-and-coming chef and Freya worked as a higher-up in a non-profit in London. They were young and in love, and everything was perfect.

And then there was the accident. After that, nothing was the same.

Freya and Charlie had been having dinner with the owners of the restaurant where Charlie worked, and they were offering him an amazing opportunity. But Freya overheard Charlie talking to one of the wives, and she could tell they were having an affair. She started drinking, made a scene, and didn’t remember anything after that when she woke up the next morning. All she knew was that there was a police officer at the door, talking about a neighbor who had been hit with their car, and Charlie had a big bump on his head. And their perfect life was over.

They move from London to the country. Charlie opens a small restaurant and Freya helps part-time at a small non-profit for children with cancer. They vow to each other to stop drinking and go to weekly meetings. It’s at one of those meetings where Freya meets Tess, a fellow recovering addict, and they become friends. Charlie discourages the friendship, but Freya finds ways to spend time with her without Charlie knowing. Meanwhile, Charlie’s new restaurant is struggling, and he is underwater financially. And Freya starts to think that he’s cheating on her.

As the secrets start to erodes the marriage, their neighbor from London wakes from his coma. If he continues to get better, and he recovers his memory of that night, then he just may remember who it was driving the car that hit him. And that really would be the end. But as the pressure mounts for Charlie and Freya, it’s clear that someone is lying, someone is making dangerous choices, someone is trying to destroy them. But is it Freya, who thinks Charlie is cheating with Tess? Or is it Charlie, who took out a life insurance policy on Freya?

Killing Me Softly is the latest slow-burn thriller from Sandie Jones, about two people in a marriage with different stories, leaving it to the reader to try to figure out where the truth lies. It took me a while to figure out what was really going on and who the bad guy really was, but it was quite a reveal when it all came together. As the end was getting close, I was going back and forth on who was telling the truth and who wasn’t, so that final reveal hit hard.

I listened to Killing Me Softly as an audio book, narrated in turns by Anna Burnett and Matthew Biddulph. I thought both narrators did a great job with this story, but as most of the chapters were told by Freya, Burnett did an especially good job with her voice. And when the final reveal came. whichever narrator got to deliver that final punch, made a huge impact with that part of the story.

I enjoyed Killing Me Softly. I do think it was slow at first, but as the suspense mounted, I couldn’t wait to get to the end and find out the whole story. Readers who like a slower thriller will feel right at home with Freya and Charlie.

Egalleys for Killing Me Softly were provided by Minotaur Books and an early copy of the audio book was provided by Macmillan Audio, both through NetGalley, with many thanks, but the opinions are mine.