When Daniel was 10, he witnessed a man throw a bag from his narrowboat into a canal - a bag he believes contained the body of the man's son. With a highly superior autobiographical memory, Daniel can recall every detail of his life. While most of worry about our memory failing, he worries about what he cannot forget.
After losing his job, his girlfriend and his apartment in a day's time, he decides to track down the boat, the "Golden Serpent" to confront the memory which has stunted his life.
Poppy has decided to walk along the canals to raise money for Alzheimers, the disease which has claimed her beloved grandmother, As both Daniel and Poppy are camping along the way, they eventually meet., For the first time, Daniel is at total ease with girl. HE is interested in what she has to say and she is the same with him. After hearing his story, Poppy decides to join him in his quest for the "Golden Serpent".
Although this is positioned as a thriller, I found the book to really be about facing and releasing fears. The fears that hold us back and retard our ability to continue our personal growth, The fear of loss and letting go, desperate to hold on to the past and those who are gone. It is about choosing to move forward, even when it is difficult. The hunt for the murderer and the threats to their safety were merely the McGuffin for the story of personal growth, overcoming adversity, and embracing and accepting oneself.
My thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Losing your memories would feel like losing apart of yourself but what if you could remember everything that ever happened in your life so clear in your mind it was like watching a movie?! That’s what Daniel struggles with everyday since he was 10 years old. Also image at the age of 10 witnessing your friend being murdered by his father and his body being dumped in the canal. Terrified of his friends father and scared he wouldn’t be believed, Daniel tells himself it was all in his head.

Now in the present, Daniel is plagued by this memory he can’t seem shake the horrible scream of his friend and the splash of something heavy hitting the water. What really happened that night?! Daniel sets out to find out and his new found friend Poppy promises to help him find out!

Although this story is a psychological thriller, it was different than the others I’ve read. In the beginning it was a slow read and I wasn’t sure if I could finish it but it got more interesting. I love the relationship between Daniel and his sister Lauren. She accepts him as he is and through his struggles she helps him and loves him for who he is. I loved the realness of Daniel’s character. He not only deals with so much loss in the beginning (his job, his gf, and the place he lives), but also suffering with his anxiety and depression. He was so lost in the beginning but I could see the hope shining through in the middle. I also love how Poppy is so open and understanding! This was a good read.

This ARC was gifted to me from NetGalley to be read for my honest review and feedback. I would like to thank #NetGalley #JoffeBooks and the author #SusannaBeard for this ARC.

Grateful to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the chance to read the ARC of The Perfect Witness.

Daniel is plagued by constant memories which infiltrate his life and make him seem uninterested. Unfortunately one day he looses both his girlfriend and his job due to this memories.

Unfortunately I DNF as 20% in nothing of note had happened and I found myself disengaging with the plot.

29 year old Daniel is having a very bad day when he loses his job, his girlfriend and his flat. He knows why. He is badly affected by the memories of the day he saw his friend being murderer by his dad or did he??. Daniel decides enough is enough and he moves back home to his parents house to sort out his recurring bad memories. A very slow start, then the story begins to pick up. A good read if you persevere.

This was the first ARC I’ve read and it’s been so great! 4/5 Stars!
It was such a sweet story with just enough mystery and suspense to make it a really nice read! I’m big on psychological thrillers so this was obviously a good one for me. Besides the obvious thriller aspect I really enjoyed following Daniel and Poppy’s individual growth.
Daniel and Poppy are each on their individual journeys to finding themselves and figuring out how they fit into the world. I feel it’s a journey we all go through in one way or another at some point so I found this book to be thought provoking and relatable at times. The writing and the mystery and character development in this book really pulled me in. Of course there’s lots more to this book but you’ll have to read it yourselves to find out!!

THE PERFECT WITNESS
by Susanna Beard

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC and provide an honest review.
Sorry, but it was not at all suspense or a Perfect READ, It was mostly long-winded and just not one I cared at all for. I almost gave up, all in all I saw no point.

Daniel has struggled for years with a memory that won’t let him forget. It interferes with relationships and jobs. He can recall exactly what happened to him and the exact date for every event small or large. He starts the book losing his job, his girlfriend, and his apartment all in the same day.
Unfortunately, then nothing happens for the rest of the first 40% of the book. So that 40% could probably have been reduced to four pages. A girl named Poppy appears in various chapters dealing with her grandmother’s failing health due to Alzheimer’s, but we have no idea why she’s even in the same book as Daniel. She seems to be a random, extraneous character.
What I liked: Contrasting memory issues of different types gave the book some cohesiveness.
What I didn’t like: Slow, boring, and repetitive start to the story.

THE PERFECT WITNESS
by Susanna Beard
Pub Date: 30 Mar 2022
3/5 Stars

The premise of this book sounded so interesting. A young boy believes he has witnessed the disposal of his friend’s body by the boy’s dad. Nineteen years later he has debilitating anxiety from his perfect memory recall. After losing his job, his girlfriend, and his home, he decides to take a walking trip along the canal system to spend time alone and possibly find the boat belonging to his friend’s father.

The downside is the narrative was so slow moving at first, I had a hard time getting into it. Once Daniel started walking the canal trail the story finally began to move along. The real action didn’t happen until the last third of the book so I wouldn’t exactly call this a “thriller”.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #JoffeBooks for this direct reader copy.

I read Susanna Beard's debut 'What Happened That Night' and her second novel 'The Girl on the Beach' a few years ago. Both of those were excellent.

The Perfect Witness is similar in tone to the former - a mystery unravelling with little indication of where it's going to go. Beard writes at a particularly slow pace on occasion, and this novel is no exception. For some people it will be too slow, but I'm not too turned off by this style as long as the content is interesting.

Unfortunately I found this book lacking compared to the previous ones I had read. While not bad, I certainly found it to be less interesting and less of a page turner. It lacked the freshness of her earlier novels, or maybe I just enjoyed the story less. There have been a lot of books title 'The Perfect ...' and even '... Witness' lately, so I fear that my recollections of this one will be lost to time in short course.

It could have been such a great story but it was a terrible slow start which made me not get into this book. Read until about 49 procent of this book and by then I wasn't giving it more of my time.
Thanks Netgalley for the Arc.. It wasn't my kind of book unfortunately.

Very slow to start. Nearly gave up several times. Lots of filler.
Stuck with it to 48%
He hasn't even meet his new girlfriend by then. I was intrigued as to whether his memories were false or not, but by 48% very little had happened and I realised I want even that interested by then. Sorry, this book was not for me

What's the book about?

Daniel was nine years old when he witnessed a traumatic event that he constantly replays in his mind. The events of that night haunt him, and he is terrified of everything. He decides to go camping in order to heal his mind. He meets Poppy, who quickly becomes his girlfriend. She and her beloved three-legged rescue dog want to help Daniel in finding out the truth. With each new piece of information they discover, they wonder if some things are best left hidden beneath the surface.


My thoughts:
I enjoyed the suspense because it kept me reading. Loved Poppy and her storyline. I kept thinking there would be more of a bang or action when the truth came out but overall I'm happy with the way the story progressed. This one was a really enjoyable read.

The Perfect Witness is one with the perfect memory, right?! Daniel is a young man with a fascinating memory, he remembers EVERYTHING and relives his memories everyday which disrupts his ability to be a functioning adult. However, one memory in particular is especially haunting to Daniel and after his life is completely disrupted, he decides to investigate this memory further to hopefully give him peace. Poppy, on the opposite end of the spectrum, recently lost her beloved grandmother to Alzheimer's disease and is on a mission to raise awareness and funding on the effects of memory loss. Poppy and Daniel meet along their adventure and join forces to get answers to what really happened on the day that Daniel can't stop reliving while others are out to make sure that the truth doesn't come out!!

I really enjoyed reading about Daniel and Poppy's adventure on the canal, it was entertaining, gave great descriptions and kept the suspense on high!! My biggest hesitation in giving this book a higher review is the first quarter of the book describing Daniel's condition and Poppy's relationship with her grandmother. I get that the author was trying to set the scene in the contradictions of a perfect memory with memory loss but I could almost skip every other paragraph and miss nothing because of the redundancy. But once you get through that, it was a great book by a clearly talented author!

Daniel is such an exceptional character. Not only is he dealing with the down sides of life (losing his job, gf, place he lives, etc), he is also suffering with anxiety, depression and dealing with remembering EVERY thing in his life. He seems worn down in the beginning, but by the middle of the story he was my absolute favorite. Such a trooper! His bond with Poppy is unmatched and their worlds are forever changed after that. I loved the suspense along the way, kept me reading to figure out how it was going to play out. Absolutely enjoyed this one!

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC and provide an honest review.

Everything from the title of this book to the bio lead you to believe it is a thriller. However I would say this is more of a coming of age story with a sprinkle of romance and a dash of murder. My main issue with this book is that all of the action takes place in the first 15% and the final 15%. The middle is just filler. It does wrap up nicely but I never developed strong feelings about any of the characters.I

I found this a good interesting read but it did tend to drag on a bit in places in my opinion but still a good plot…

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Joffe Books and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Suspense, intrigue, thrills, it’s all here.

Daniel is haunted by images from his past of a childhood friend, Ryan, being killed and disposed of by his father.. After nearly 2 decades of being plagued by these images, Daniel decides to take matters into his own hands and find out what happened to Ryan and determine if these visions were actually real. Along the way, Daniel meets some new friends, gets in some scuffles and trouble, and finds answers to questions he didn't know he had.

While this book is marketed as a thriller, I found it to be more of a coming of age love story instead. The thriller aspect of the book was the most minor plot point of all. Sure the book was spent with Daniel chasing Ryan's killer, but the heart of it was determining what type of closure he was looking for and why.

I found the book to pretty slow paced and in all honesty it was a struggle for me to get through. I found the writing to be very drawn out and repetitive and the chapter formats were tough to follow. It takes about 56% of the book for Daniel to even meet his "new girlfriend" (as phrased in the description, though it seemed instead they were just pals) and for anything to really start happening. The dialogues seemed pretty amateur which is surprising since I know the author has written many other books. The end of the book is tied up nicely.

Overall, if you are looking for a quick read, this may be good, but if you are looking for a solid thriller, this is not it.'

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC and provide an honest review.

This one just didn’t do it for me. It was very drawn out. Like extremely. And I kept reading because I was waiting for something big to happen. It definitely built the suspense, I will give it that.

But it just wasn’t my cup of tea. It was anticlimactic. There was minimal plot development. It truly was just a story of a man on a mission to prove that he had witnessed a murder nineteen years ago. There wasn’t really much else to it. Even the romance storyline between Daniel and Poppy is underdeveloped. It just didn't feel complete in any way.

Thank you to Joffe Books and Netgalley for gifting me an advanced readers copy of this book in return for my honest review.

There are quite a few reviews detailing out the plot and characters of this story so I don't want to spend my time on this review doing the same. I enjoyed this book (enough to potentially look for more of the author's books) but also found it to be, in spite of the topic, a bit of a beach read.

Pros: Interesting concept, loved learning more about the UK from which my spouse hails, loved learning about the canals and "canal walking."

Cons: The characters seemed fairly one-dimensional and flat. Also, so very, very naïve (looking at you Poppy). The dialogue and descriptions really put me off because it felt like I was reading very early writing, and I know Susanna Beard has written other books. I'll probably check out another one if I need a quick and easy read, but if you are looking for a solid thriller, I'd give this one a pass.