This is a totally different book to those I've read of Sophie Hannah's and I really enjoyed this.
Cara leaves her husband and children in the UK without telling them where she is going. She books a two week holiday in Arizona, USA as she is at a crossroads in her life and needs to get right away from everything.
Once there she hears an elderly guest telling the receptionist that she has seen Melody Chapa at the hotel, a young girl who was murdered some years before, but no-one will believe her. Cara realises that she has also seen Melody and sets out to unravel the mystery of Melody's murder and reappearance.
The book is well written, I could imagine the hotel and characters as they are well described and it's quite humorous in places!
Well recommended.

What happens when you see someone that shouldn't be? when is a murder not a murder?
This book starts with Cara a british pregnant woman going at it alone in a resort in the USA.Leaving her family behind to try and work out what she wants in life a wrong room number leads her into a murder mystery years old.
This book is brilliantly paced, humourous in places and I didn't want it to end. The big reveal I didn't see coming and the twist at the end left me wanting more! I hope Sophie Hannah does have a follow up in mind for this, what happens to melody and her parents and I'm also interested in reading her other works!
I loved it and have told anyone who will listen to read it!
#Isawmelody

It took me a little while to get into the book, up to where she realised she'd seen melody, but once I did I read it at a rapid pace wanting to know what would happen.
The characters were believable and I liked the parts that were written as TV reports as this added a lot of the background information into the story.
I would certainly recommend this book and would read more of the authors work

I would like to thank Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Did You See Melody?’ by Sophie Hannah in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
Cara Burrows leaves her home in England and flies to Swallowtail Resort in Phoenix, Arizona, to take a break from her family. Arriving late at night she’s given the key to her room only to find that it’s already occupied by a man and teenage girl. The next day she identifies the girl as Melody Chapa whose parents are serving life sentences for Melody’s murder, but Cara’s positive she saw Melody alive and well!
I’m afraid I didn’t enjoy this novel at all, I didn’t like the characters and couldn’t empathise with them, and the plot was so totally unbelievable as to be senseless. I’m sorry Sophie, your novel just wasn’t for me although I’m sure many readers will enjoy it.

I feel very undecided about this book as I'm uncertain whether it is a satire on the U.S. justice system and trial by media. In which case I'm unsure why one of the main characters is an english woman who has spent a large amount of her family savings running away to a 5 star American resort because she feels her husband and children don't want her to keep her baby. Or alternatively it's a very complicated thriller involving large numbers of characters with interesting back stories which are never really fleshed out ( e.g. detective Priddy and agent Kirschmeier) and some frankly unbelievable coincidences such as the jury service link of the main protagonists. Either way sadly I didn't enjoy it.

I have read all Sophie's books and enjoy her writing style. I mostly enjoyed this book and thought the ending was good. I did find the script style writing less enjoyable, as they felt a bit dragged out at times.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an advance copy of Did You See Melody, a stand alone novel set in a luxury resort in Arizona.

Cara Burrows takes herself off on a holiday without telling her family to mull over some problems. Tired and miserable when she gets there she rushes into her room only to find 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.

I am new to Ms Hannah's writing so I had no idea what to expect and found the first 25% slow going. After that it really picked up and I found it compulsive reading until the end where a couple of really good twists really blew me away and made it a 5 star read for me.

The crime element in the novel is good but I get the impression that Ms Hannah's main preoccupations in the novel are press sensationalism and its ability to manipulate public opinion and the interpretation of "truth". As these are topics which interest me I found the novel fascinating. Cara arrived in America never having heard of Melody Chappa so when her interest is aroused she takes to the Internet, especially the show Justice with Bonnie, where ex prosecutor Bonnie Juno almost singlehandedly got Melody's parents convicted. Much of this is reprinted verbatim in the novel. As I said it is fascinating how Bonnie twists the facts to suit her agenda and bullies her interviewees into agreeing with her. It is a recognisable technique taken to extremes and is incredibly well done.

I liked the characterisation as well. Cara is well drawn and believable. Her problems might be a bit first world but are real to her and something most of us can identify with. Tarin and Zellie Fry, the American mother and daughter she meets are a hoot. Tarin is an overconfident florist from Kansas with an opinion on everything, often what most of us would like to say but don't and Zellie is her sarcastic apologist. They steal the show although Cara has her moments. I didn't expect the novel to be funny but it is and it's done naturally and well.

I thoroughly enjoyed Did You See Melody and have no hesitation in recommending it as an excellent read.

I'm almost distraught that I just didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. I love Sophie Hannah's books with their clever little twists and couldn't wait to get stick into it,,but this one really didn't do it for me. The story seemed contrived and, even at the end, I still didn't really 'get it'. I didn't fully understand the motive for the crime, what happened to Cara or why all the characters were so invested in Melody's story. I had a feeling it was drifting towards some kind of cult, but the reveal was, for me, a real let down. I'm really not enjoying writing this review as I am such a big fan of Sophie Hannah, but I prefer her police procedurals and continuing story of Simon Waterhouse and Charlie Zailer. I couldn't warm to any of the characters in this book.

It's too soon to write a proper review, but I need to talk about this book!

Ms Hannah is certainly on form with this twisty, turny tale - it keeps you guessing right to the end!

If you're a fan of Sophie Hannah's books, I think you'll love this. Sending a big nod to the fairly recent trend of media hysteria surrounding missing children, Cara's tale starts with a simple mistake and escalates very quickly from there. Who is Melody? More importantly, where is Melody? Does the crazy old lady really see Melody or is she just a crazy old lady seeing things?

Although at times I felt the plot was a little more complicated than it needed to be, it succeeds in getting you thinking. This is a novel that grabs you by the imagination and sends your mind off in all different directions. A well thought out story with excellent characterisation and a very engaging writing style; at times I thought the shifting of narrative was going to make me scream with frustration - I'm not even going to talk about the ending!

I expect this to be a big success when it hits the shelves later this year.

What a brilliant, brilliant book!! The best book I have read all year. This novel kept me up till the wee hours of the morning as I was totally gripped. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. The storyline was great the characters too. A lot seems to be happening within a short space of time with this book, it had me wanting more though. The plot was gripping a little complicated at times, but a real page turner. I thought at one stage that I knew what was coming but with the twists had me in awe. Very well written. Would recommend it to all readers.

Sophie Hannah is back on top form with Did You See Melody?, a crime thriller that makes unapologetic reference to the hysteria surrounding child abduction cases and courts the public's need to believe in conspiracy theories in order to make heinous acts more palatable.

The novel centres around the fictionally-famous abduction of - wait, you guessed it - Melody; who went missing at the age of seven in 2010. Fast-forward to the present and the frustrated British mother flitting to America to escape her problems may have just given herself another. Has a late-night stumble into the wrong room led her to find Melody, whom practically all of America believed was murdered by her parents many years before? We follow Cara as she attempts to find out the truth about what happened to Melody and navigate her own personal turmoil.

This was a page-turner with twists aplenty! The comparison between the legal systems and trial media coverage of the UK and US also made for interesting and enlightening reading. Though the plot may have - at times - became a little more complicated than was strictly necessary; I enjoyed the journey to its all-important conclusion very much. I devoured this in a couple of days; but might have flown through it in a single sitting, had sleep not been an absolute necessity! Fantastic offering from the master of suspense that is Sophie Hannah and I, for one, can't wait for even more.

At her wits end with her husband and children's lack of understanding of how she is feeling, Cara escapes to a spa resort in Arizona where she unwittingly stumbles into the middle of a murder mystery. This was a riveting read that I really enjoyed, however there were parts of the story that I felt were literally only there to explain some of more far fetched twists. I'm not articulating myself very well here but I felt like the book didn't need as many twists as it had, it still would have been brilliant if it was a little more simple. However it was still a brilliant book - Sophie Hannah at her best!

I was kindly sent a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Did You See Melody? is the story of Melody Chapa, a girl whose parents are currently in prison for her murder. The thing is, she's been seen by a slightly eccentric elderly woman in a five star American resort. A woman who see's a new missing child every year. You'd be forgiven for not taking her too seriously.

But then Melody is spotted by someone else at the same resort; this time it's straight talking, super English Cara Burrows who waltzing into the narrative by sheer misfortune. Then she goes missing.

So what works?

It's an interesting story, and there are some fun characters in the form of a mother-daughter team. At points the story really flows and as a reader, you're encouraged to read on for just another page.

But, and it's a big but, I can't help but feel it's 150 pages too long and there is so. Much. Superfluous writing. There's a lot of legal repetition and I feel that if you took out all that excess, the story would lose absolutely nothing. But because it's all in there, at times it really drags.

So there's that, and there's also the ending.

This is a spoiler so do avert your eyes if you don't want to know, which I would recommend if you intend on reading this book because it's going to render it useless.

Okay? Cool.

Sooooo, at the end of the novel we find out Melody is alive, and that her parents were emotionally abusive to the max which led the trio of warped vigilantes into kidnapping and "saving her" from a horrible home.

Everything gets tied up neatly, and you think okay, well, I guess that's the end.

But no, for some reason, in the last few pages Hannah decides to throw in a really annoying curve ball.

Melody basically whispers to Cara that she can't remember if any of the bad things which happened to her as a child actually did happen, she's just been going along with it. But she refuses admit this to anyone, and when Cara is like "What?!", Melody goes back to playing dumb.

So we don't know if her parents really were abusive, we don't know if the warped reasoning behind taking her had ANY justification, we don't know a lot of things. It's just such an annoying end to a long read. There's zero closure and it left me thinking what was the point?

RATING: ★★

Did you see Melody, Sohpie Hannah: On Amazon.

I'm really undecided on this book! I was a big fan of Sophie Hannah then found the little face series too contrived in the last books. This was a welcome break and was a definite pageturner. However, still a little far fetched, especially the reveal and explication. Cara was a really relatable character, tarin much less. The final twist was really interesting and somewhat changed my mind...A really great change for Sophie Hannah, i won't hesitate to read her next books.

Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this book at all and consequently I was unable to finish it!

I found myself quite gripped by this, especially at the start and the end, which is why I gave it four stars, despite some frustrating elements, such as the author's tendency to throw way more 'story' in than there needs to be - more of that later.

The tale starts as what appears to be a family drama, a mother escaping the pressure of a domestic situation and taking a two week holiday in Arizona. The unlikelihood of what transpires then is immaterial to me; if it's a great yarn, I'm all in favour. Coincidences, threads unravelling, more red herrings than a bouillabaiise: great, as long as it's entertaining! The cast of characters is appealing with some especially bold and vibrant women ( I loved Tarin Fry and her daughter) and an unusual and well-drawn setting. The ending was shivery and unexpected.

What didn't work for me? Side issues - even as late as 90% into the novel- were so detailed and developed that they seemed destined to mean something and then went nowhere. But I am quite capable of skim-reading when I sense narrative padding, so it didn't hugely deter from my overall enjoyment of this chilling story. Examples of what I mean are below but don't read on unless you have finished the book; the rest contains spoilers.

Detective Sanders and his history of corruption, his comeback, his relationship with his partner: in the end none of it really mattered or added anything. Did he get his comeuppance? No idea. Why change Hope's name to Hayley in order for her to play another role? Why couldn't the equally fictitious Hope have pretend cancer? The transcripts of Bonnie Juno's various TV interviews, while useful for backstory, were far too long - it felt as though I was enduring a one hour TV show just to get the exposition I could have got if Cara paraphrased what she had learned. The dog-loving Scottsdale woman and her napping dog was similarly drawn-out.

The book was rather muddled in its layout, but was still readable. I found the denouement rather far fetched.

To say this book is a riveting read would be an understatement, I read this book within two days because I didn’t want to stop reading.
Cara’s arrival in Arizona and the initial mystery that surrounded it hooked me and then as she becomes intrigued by the story of a missing girl so did I.
I felt like I was being pulled along as slowly but with perfect pacing the story unfolds and answers are given. At times I wanted to scream because of the shift in the narrative at a moment I thought I was going to find something out, but that’s all the fun of this type of book, it keeps you gripped to the page.

The story of the missing girl is told using transcripts of a TV show and articles which Cara watches/reads. I thought that this would put me off at first but it didn’t because I needed answers and found myself eagerly reading page after page.
I don’t usually read crime novels and I expected to read a plot driven thriller. But this novel has not only a gripping plot but likeable realistic characters; I even liked- to my surprise- the outspoken ‘Tarin’, (I think she’s my favourite).

Towards the end of the story my interest started to wane because the viewpoint changed-but I urge anyone not to be put off by this (if you are) because any negative opinions I had quickly changed by the time I reached the conclusion.
The solution to the mystery was very clever! And the ending: woah!
But you’ll have to read it and find out for yourself. I’m trying hard not to give the best bits away.
I need a breather after reading this book but I enjoyed it and will be reading more like it in future.