This is a mystery wrapped in many others - but feels like a gripping g tale about a very human, kind girl who's life was blighted when she sneakef out tp a party and discovered a body.
It twists so much its pointless guessing because there is so much more yet to be unearthed
It is really good.
Whilst I hated been called away from reading it I was also reluctant to finish it.

Omg talk about a roller coaster read wow this book kept me on the edge of my seat threw out I just couldn't put it down this writer keeps you hooked and once your hooked your not letting go I found this book thrilling the characters were fantastic and well thought out and the little clues all the way threw keep you guessing until the end this book stays with you long after you close the book this book is well worth the read I promise you wont be disappointed

Absolutely loved this book, Dorothy Koomson writes so well, her flawed but brave heroines are so relatable. I was gripped.

A review for this book originally appeared in Good Housekeeping upon publication.

This book had a great premise and started out really well but it seemed to then lose its way and I struggled through it.

What a fab read love this book i read most of her book i just get pulled onto the plot from the first page i love how Dororthy writes in a way the hook you into the pull and you do not want to leave i love it all

Another book that’s been gathering dust on my NetGalley shelf for no good reason.

Dorothy Koomson has been on my radar for the longest time but I’ve never gotten around to reading any of her books, until now.

What a fantastic read The Brighton Mermaid is, I’m really kicking myself for not getting around to reading this sooner.

The narrative is split between the past, when she found the Brighton mermaid and the unforeseen consequences and twenty five years later when it’s still unsolved.

What I relished about this book was the fact there was never a dull moment, the pace was constantly pulling me along.

I’m not usually a fan of first person POV but I really appreciated getting into the minds of both Nell and her younger sister Macy. They were so realistic. You can’t help but feel for them both. Nell seems tough and strong but won’t let anyone get too close, guided by her guilt she keeps digging into the Brighton Mermaid mystery regardless of the consequences. Macy on the other hand is much more fragile, I felt she was on a knife edge really at any moment her mental health issues might swallow her whole.

I also enjoyed the setting of Brighton which may not be a place I’ve ever been to but I could really picture the seaside town.

This book also covers the subject of racism, specifically back in the nineties. It was an utter disgrace that the police in general were allowed to get away with what they did and treat people like that.

The Brighton Mermaid is a fantastic twisty read that I just couldn’t get enough of.

This was a strangely entertaining novel! Never thought I would love a tale about a mermaid found on the beach rocks. I couldn't put this one down, and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Recommended.

The Brighton Mermaid by Dorothy Koomson:

Fast-paced and thrilling, The Brighton Mermaid explores the deadly secrets of those closest to you

Another excellent story by the wonderful Dorothy Koomson. She draws you into her books right from the first page. As recommended as ever!

As young teenagers, Nell Okorie and her friend Jude find a body on the beach - an unidentified young woman dubbed by the press “The Brighton Mermaid” thanks to her distinctive tattoo. Shortly afterwards, Jude too goes missing. The repercussions of these events - not least, a mistrust of the police who spent years persecuting Nell’s family - will be long lasting both for the resourceful Nell and her more fragile sister, Macy. Twenty-five years later, while both have to some extent moved on with their lives, the effects of what happened have never really gone away... and Nell has never stopped trying to find out what happened both to the “mermaid” and to Jude. But as she steps up her efforts, it seems danger isn’t far away and Nell doesn’t know who to trust...

It took me a while to really get into the story - there seemed to be a lot going on, and I did find it a bit confusing to begin with, particularly with the now-obligatory jumps in the timeline. (Does anybody write a novel any more which starts at the beginning and finishes at the end?) To be fair, once past events have been established most of The Brighton Mermaid does take place in the present, and once I got my head around things a bit it turned into a very intriguing story (with some memorably awful characters, including a racist and misogynist police officer who just won’t go away).

I liked Nell, who is a strong, determined and independent protagonist - in fact all the characters are believable (unfortunately so in some cases) and the plot compelling if perhaps a little over-complicated at times. This is quite a haunting story, darker than I expected, with some disturbing secrets at its heart.

Dorothy Koomson is one of my favourite writers and I had high hopes for The Brighton Mermaid. I was not disappointed. Koomson started out writing chic lit but has written excellent psychological thrillers for years. I was blown away by this book. The storyline is non-linear for the most part, moving back and forth between Nell’s current investigation and the life-altering events 25 years before. This works really well, holding my interest and building tension and suspense. Nell and her sister Macy are brilliantly written, complex characters. I loved them both a little. The book gets pretty dark as well especially when Nell and the people helping her are targeted. Things get dicey as Nell discovers the truth about the body she found all those years ago, a truth that tears her and Macy’s world apart. The Brighton Mermaid is gripping and I loved it. I look forward to Koomson’s 2019 novel, already pre-ordered. I got this book months ago from NetGalley and regret that I waited so long to read it.

Great storyline with good strong characters. Very well written. I would recommend this book to anyone.

Already love this authors work so was happy to see a new book was out, gripping read that had me hooked, never fails to have me holding my breast!

Three and a half star rating.
The Brighton Mermaid is an unidentified young girl found on the beach by Nell and her best friend Jude, setting off a chain of events for the next 25 years. An engaging story, part thriller, part mystery, keeping the reader avidly turning all the pages and there are a lot of pages to turn! (Definitely one for the suitcase). Nell is feisty and refuses to give up until she discovers what had happened all those years ago. I loved her sparky character and the setting of East Sussex, but not quite so keen on her sister, Macey. Another best seller from Ms Koomson!

My first Dorothy Koomson book;definitely a page turner full of intrigue and nice references to Brighton but not quite as I expected. The middle section became quite confused wih unnecessary details and diversions. I would try another book by this author

Jude and Nell are typical teenagers whose lives are overturned when they stumble across a horrific scene whilst on a night sneaking out from home. A body of a young women washed up on the beach becomes a life consuming burden for Nell who hopes above all to discover her identity. Jude disappears shortly after without trace and Nell and her sister Macey find the first get it accusation is pointed at their father. Life changes for the family and we move through timeframes past and present as we follow Nell and Macey as they hold back secrets and try to find peace. However there are dangers closer to home that neither is aware of and the last chapters raise the peace and will keep the reader up late into the night to reach the conclusion. I enjoyed this story. A good thrilling holidays read.

Nell and Jude are two typical teenagers when they are out at night when they are not supposed to be and discover a body washed up on Brighton beach. The body is not identified and becomes known as the Brighton mermaid......... and then Jude disappears. Nell is distraught and the tragedy drastically changes her life and she spends years trying to solve the mystery and find her friend. After 25 years still affected she decides to give up her job and look into it full time....... but is she putting her own life in danger by doing this?

Another great story by this author as well as the great storylines and characters she always manages to combine so many other elements like race and strong women into her stories without making into into a big deal....I always look forward to reading her books

This is the first Dorothy Koomson book I have read and I really enjoyed it - I was expecting it to be a love story but it isn't. Nell and her best friend Jude discover the body of a girl on a beach , after a lot if investigation the culprit was never found. Jude dissapears never to be found again and Nell spends the next 25 years trying to figure out who the Brighton Mermaid was and also trying to find out what happened to her friend. There are some good twists and I didn't guess the ending overall I would say this is a good holiday read.

For years I have been a fan of Dorothy Koomson and not once has she ever disappointed me with her books, surprised me granted and perhaps more so with The Brighton Mermaid. It is much more of a murder mystery than I was expecting for some reason, though perhaps this is explainable by the fact that merely seeing her name on a book makes me automatically reach for it rather than bothering to read the blurb!

There are of course the usual strengths of character and superb writing style evident throughout. Told in the voices of Nell and Macy, and flitting between the past and the present, at first I did have to remind myself which sister was which. Though of course this is totally my fault for not paying attention properly, and in any case once I was in the depths I'd sorted myself out and all was clear! The sisters are, as you'd expect from a Dorothy Koomson novel, likeable and enchanting; from Nell with her streak of feistiness to Macy's displays of OCD, they become fully-formed characters pretty early on in the book. Shaped as they are by Nell and Jude's discovery of the Brighton Mermaid on the beach as teenagers. The ripples of this discovery echoing through their lives and those of their family and friends.

The novel manages to tackle issues like mental health and guilt in a completely natural and organic way, examining them without becoming preoccupied by them. The story is as satisfying as the characters of course and as I started by saying, is a bit Agatha Christie-ish in its essence. It goes without saying that it is as engrossing as all her previous novels and if you enjoy trying to solve a little detective problem you'll certainly enjoy this one. After all who doesn't like a Whodunnit to curl up with? Though even if, for some bizarre reason you don't, there's more than enough of a family and relationship storyline to keep you more than happy.

I could go on and on but it's just a thoroughly enjoyable read, and goes once again to show why Dorothy Koomson has a loyal band of fans, of which I'm most definitely one. Terrific!

Thank you Netgalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone Century for an early copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review!

Watch out for spoilers!

The Plot

In 1993, whilst sneaking out late, Nell and her best friend, Jude, find a body of a young woman on the beach. The woman, who cannot be identified, becomes known as the ‘Brighton Mermaid’, due to the tattoo she has on her arm. When women keep washing up on the beach, it is suspected that a serial killer is on the loose. Nell finds it difficult to cope, especially when her father is one of the prime suspects, but when Jude disappears, she knows she will never get over what has happened.

Twenty five years later Nell quits her job to find out the truth but when she starts getting closer to finding out the truth, her life and the lives of others around her are in danger.

The Review

This book is a good thriller. It is. I wanted to keep picking it up again and again and even fell asleep a few times reading it in bed, which I haven’t done in a long time. It keeps you gripped and is mysterious enough for you to be guessing what is going on, who the mermaid is, and who the killer is.

There are a number of good things about this novel and a number of bad things so let me start with the good.

The cast of characters are diverse. This isn’t some white-washed, straight-washed book that we are so used to, especially when it comes to thrillers. Most (nearly all) of the main players in the book are black, including our protagonists and the Brighton Mermaid. This is not explicitly used as some major revelation or some social justice trick, it’s just there and you realise very quickly and it is no big deal. I like that. I’ve read a few books in the past years that use this as some big ‘hoo-ha’ to say ‘oh look how diverse I am as a writer’ and they make a BIG effing deal about the race they are portraying. Isn’t it better to not completely go on and on about it so that it is natural and people don’t see this as some unusual thing. Yeah I don’t know…pet peeve of mine. But yeah, the characters are not all white and it isn’t a big deal and this makes it great!

There are only a few female characters though, which can suck but I only liked one of the female characters in this book anyway! (Onto that soon).

There was romance in the story but it wasn’t some big, gooey deal. It was awkward and real. There was no magically falling in love or anything and no perfect happy ending. That, to me, was good.

I found all of the characters pretty intriguing and I wanted to know more about them but there are some things the author just never reveals to us, which is okay. It’s a mystery/thriller, we’re not always meant to get the whole picture – as long as the murders are solved in the end. That being said, I wanted to know more about Zach and Shane, but also, why on earth do nearly all of these characters have some form of childhood tragedy? Not all people or characters have some tragic backstory to them. Some just grow up and nothing ever happens but it seemed like everyone involved here had some childhood trauma. It seemed a bit like sloppy backstory writing to me.

One thing good I will say about the reveal at the end is that it was not predictable. I normally can guess the endings of these kind of novels but I could not guess who the villains were going to be. The only thing is that their motives were ridiculous. They were just really boring and didn’t seem to fit with the story. I felt that the author didn’t even know why these people were murderers. I thought it was disappointed and ruined what had been a good thriller. It had been a great read until then.

I recommend if you like a good thriller to get your teeth into! 3 stars from me – who isn’t really a thriller lover!