Slow burning mystery with a nice adventure and great backstory/character building! It started off a little slow but still pulled me right in! Can’t wait for the next in the series!
I had the audiobook version and the narrator was awesome!

this book was an extremely slow burn and I tried but I could not get interested and had to DNF. The narrator was very good but the storyline just didn’t grab me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This was a slightly odd thriller as I could not fathom all the talk of a panther being sighted in an English town. The book was a decent thriller and I wanted to know more about Millie’s parents deaths, but maybe in the next book we will learn more.

A town full of secrets. Some so big that reputations are on the line. But what happens when the shunned join together to help those in need? And unlikely hero emerges. This book is full of twists and turns that keeps the reader on their toes. I wasn’t completely enthralled until about half way through. Now I am anxiously needing the sequel to get some more answers!

Thank you NetGalley, Bookouture Audio, and author Kerry Wilkinson for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this story and how Millie took her own personal tragedy and used it to fuel who she wanted to become.

Rather than sitting around, wallowing in her misery, she opted to volunteer at a local old folks home, where she could do some good. But while there, a resident tells her of seeing a young girl pushed from a rooftop across the way.

At first, Millie doesn't know what to do with the information but decides to do a little harmless checking around, especially if it can help set the resident's mind at ease.

What she uncovers instead is a bizarre situation that begs some explanation. And it's the task of solving this mystery that helps bring Millie back to life, despite the locals' whispers behind her back and the not-so-hidden stares and glares from others.

I look forward to the next book in this series!

Thank you to Kerry Wilkinson, Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

This is my first book by Kerry Wilkinson and I loved it! I wasn't sure about it at first as it started quite slow, but as I listened I got more and more into it, and so intrigued by the story that I couldn't stop listening! The main story involves an elderly resident in a care home who swears she saw someone pushed from a roof opposite the home. But there is no body. The protagonist, Millie, is a woman with a murky past who volunteers at the home. Along with an ex journalist she starts to investigate.

I loved Millie and was very fascinated by her back story. I think we're going to be drip fed snippets about her past life, and what really happened to her parents, in future books. She and Guy, the ex-journalist make a great pair. I also loved the small town (where everyone knows everybody else's business) seaside setting. I am definitely looking forward to the next in the series. I would give this book 4.5* (because of the slow start) rounded up to 5^.

The narrator, Helen Keeley, was excellent.

Well I wasnt sure what to make of this - at the beginning there were so many strands and I really didnt think I would get into it, but it was a standard slow burn and it really worked. I would describe ti as an intelligent read working out how things tied into together. The narration really worked as well.

I was given an advance copy by netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely my own.

The narrator is awesome, they brought a lot to the story. I enjoyed the plot but felt like it dragged in the beginning. All in all, I think this is a good start to a new series and I will definitely read the next in the series!

3.5 stars
The blurb for this book excellently sets the stage. What happened with Millie’s parents? What happened with the girl Ingrid saw from the roof? The characters were well developed and the mystery kept my interest from start to finish (no spoilers). It was a good first book in a series and does a great job setting the characters/stage for the next to come. The highlight for me was the narrator— excellent job!!
*Thanks to Bookoutre and NetGalley for the advance audiobook for review.

a great start to a new mystery series that’s made me excited for more! i loved that this was slightly more slow-paced than other mysteries and the reader gets so much background on millie, the protagonist, too. understanding her personal relationship to the case and the town more generally made the story all the more gripping for me!

3.75 stars

This book was a wild adventure. It wasn’t my favourite in the genre, but it had some interesting twists and turns, and for the most part, I enjoyed it. It was a quick, intriguing little read.

A very promising start to a new book series by Kerry Wilkinson.

Millie Westlake is the centre of gossip in the small community of Whitecliff Bay, having faced a trial by media following the death of her TV presenter father and her mother, a year or so previously and again after her affair with a local politician was exposed. Finding herself stared at wherever she goes, she tends to keep a low profile.

Millie volunteers in a care home and is partly humouring Ingrid, one of the elderly residents, when she agrees to look into her claim that a young woman fell off the roof of a nearby house, the previous evening.

Finding a fallen roof tile, Millie realises there may be something in Ingrid’s tale and she is quickly drawn in to the mystery of who jumped, and why.

The main story has a fairly slow pace, as the plot is also entwined with the introduction of Millie’s friends, ex-husband, ex-lover and Godfather, setting out
unanswered questions to be continued in the sequels to come in the Whitecliff Bay series.

At one point, I thought I had worked it out - of course, I was wrong!

I listened to an audiobook version of this and really enjoyed the narration by Helen Keeley.

4 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

What's going on in the book?
An old nursing home resident sees a young woman being pushed from the roof of a pretty high house. She tells a volunteer about it, the latter asks the owner, who gives her the creeps by the way, and here we go!
The plot
I would say it's a simple one, with predectible events and ending, still, the author did a great job building some kind of tension throughout the book.
The characters
One of the things I liked are the realistic, very well developped characters, main or secondary. I usually don't like female amateur sleuths, especially when, and because it almost always happen, they make very stupid almost fatal decisions and Millie was no exception. But strange enough, it didn't bother me. True, I wanted to slap her more than once, but still, I really enjoyed her company.
The pace
I found it to be a bit slow, but the book being the first in a series, it's more of an introduction to the town, the people and an opportunity to know about the character's background, so, as long I didn't get bored, it's fine for me.
The writing
Fluid and alive, it sucked me up in the story and I had the impression of being a part of the amateur investigators (I'm not an amateur investiagtor, just to be clear).
Verdict
A good read, 3.5 stars rounded to 4, a still going story, layers we need to unrap in the next settings, so, a series to follow for sure.

Volunteering at the local nursing home is Millie Westlake’s one escape from the rumours that swirl around Whitecliff about her past. But speaking with elderly resident, Ingrid, as they play board games, Millie gets chills at her strange story about a young girl being pushed from a roof, somewhere across the valley. Everybody thinks Ingrid is confused: but Millie knows how it feels to not be believed. Her parents died a year ago, and the residents of Whitecliff – such a quiet place, other than crashing waves and cawing seagulls – are convinced Millie killed them. Desperately searching for evidence to find the girl Ingrid saw, a broken roof tile could prove Ingrid was telling the truth.
I started this series starter a couple of weeks ago & reached about a third of the way through & nearly gave up, then I listened to the audiobook & found the more I listened the more I wanted. The narration of the audiobook hits the tone of the book really well & Helen Keeley brought Millie to life. I’m glad I continued & now look forward to the next two books. I found Millie grew on me & I ended by liking her & found her to be one strong woman. I also liked that I could either listen or read depending where I was
My review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

This is a character-driven amauteur sleuth mystery.

I wasn't particularly gripped by this read as there wasn't quite enough action or intrigue in it for me. That's a matter of taste though, and plenty of readers looking gor a quieter mystery will love the characters of Millie and Jack.

This is the first in a series of books set in the town of Whitecliffe Bay and I can see that the author has withheld some information for future novels. As a stand-alone book however, the ending did feel a little unsatisfactory.

The audiobook was nicely narrated and added to the characterisation. I've given this audiobook an extra star for the narration.

The One Who Fell by Kerry Wilkinson

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Blurb

In the seaside town of Whitecliff, everyone looks out for each other. Everyone knows your name. And everyone knows your secrets…

Moonlight falls on the figure of the girl standing on the red-tiled roof. Her white dress and blonde hair flutter in the freezing night wind. And suddenly – she is gone.

Volunteering at the local nursing home is Millie Westlake’s one escape from the rumours that swirl around Whitecliff about her past. But speaking with elderly resident, Ingrid, as they play board games, Millie gets chills at her strange story about a young girl being pushed from a roof, somewhere across the valley…

Everybody thinks Ingrid is confused: but Millie knows how it feels to not be believed. Her parents died a year ago, and the residents of Whitecliff – such a quiet place, other than crashing waves and cawing seagulls – are convinced Millie killed them.

Desperately searching for evidence to find the girl Ingrid saw, a broken roof tile could prove Ingrid was telling the truth. But when strange footprints appear in Millie’s garden, she’s certain someone out there is watching.

My Opinion

This was a nice, quick mystery. When a resident in the nursing home announces that she had seen a girl fall from the roof across the way, Millie wonders how she could possibly have survived the fall. Is Millie's digging into who jumped from the roof going to get her in trouble? Will we ever find out what happened to Millie's parents? You will have to read the book to find out.

This is the fist book in the Whitecliffe Bay series and I already have the next book lined up.

Rating 4/5

Two residents from a local nursing home claim that they saw someone fall/ being pushed from a far off building. While one says fall, and the other says pushed Millie Westlake's curiosity increases and she starts asking questions. All the questions becomes uncomfortable for Dean, the home owner and he starts to mess with Millie's life.
In the small town of Whitecliff, where everyone knows about every little secret - Millie's life has been filled with a lot and her affair with a politician which came to light causing her life to go upside down is already taking a toll on her life.

Millie is very adamant in solving as to who was the person who was seen by 2 different people on that night. All her investigation opens up more mysteries.
This was a good book, kept me interested till the end. Thanks to Netgalley, Bookouture Audio & Kerry Wilkinson for approving the ARC in exchange for honest review.

Thoroughly liked the narration by Helen Keeley too.

Truly spectacular narration by Helen and while this wasn’t a fast-paced nail-biter I did enjoy the methodical piecing together of a mystery. This story is very light on the violence and bloodshed and ended up feeling adjacent to a cozy mystery. It gave me some similar vibes to a show called Broad Church, which I loved!

Thanks to Bookouture Audio and Netgalley for the alc in exchange for an honest review.

With thanks to the author, publishers Bookouture Audio, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of the audio version of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

A cast of everyday characters of the type that most readers have probably encountered in their own home towns make this a storyline that readers will relate to and be easily drawn into. I felt there was a touch of the Thursday Murder Club about the whole thing, with the mystery initiated by independent testimony from two residents of an old folks home, and the two amateur sleuths being a dog groomer named Millie and a retired journalist named Guy. I am a big fan of that series though, so in my eyes this is certainly a compliment.

The author did a great job of taking the reader behind the doors of the various characters in the town, and gradually revealing details of their chequered pasts to allow the story to slowly develop, building the tension and suspense along the way. I particularly enjoyed how the relationship between Millie and Guy developed and changed as the story progressed.

I also enjoyed the author’s note at the end of the story giving some background to where the idea for the story came from, and his own sense of humour, which shines though in many places throughout the book, is also evident here.

Delighted to see that this is the first book in a series, and the snippet of the second book included after this one has certainly whet my appetite to see where the series goes next.

The description of this book pretty much sets the scene and paints a good picture of what this book is about so I won't repeat any of it here but what I will say is that the narrator made the book for me; she was brilliant and really brought to life the characters and the overriding sense of building tension.

The One Who Fell is the first in the series and a pretty good opener I think to a set of mystery books. The characters were really strong and believable and the plot was intriguing; the side story of the panther was a bit odd at first but was weaved into the main story pretty well at the end.

Overall, I quite enjoyed this audiobook; it was a little slow to begin with but as the tension built, the pace increased to a satisfying conclusion and thanks must go to Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for enabling me to listen to and share my thoughts of The One Who Fell.