Broadribb & Arlidge…. The perfect pairing

Murder & supposed negligence… drugs and drama.

Perfect for those who enjoy:
- Crime thrillers
- Police investigation fiction
- Historical cases
- Searching for a killer

With thanks to Orion Publishing Group and Netgalley for an ARC copy in return for an honest review.

This was a good little thriller. I loved the storyline of the FMC going back in time reliving her high school years.

Being a teenager is so hard and then feeling like you have true friends in high school is even harder. I loved the way this read told the current story of the investigation into a missing teenage girl from years ago and how it also told the story of the POV from high school.

This was an overall good read!

Thank you Orion Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC for my honest review.

#TheReunion #NetGalley #OrionPublishing

Years ago, Jennie Whitmore was about to leave home with her best friend Hannah, but Hannah never showed. Jennie returned home dejected, and stayed in White Cross - where she became a Detective Inspector. Years after Hannah's disappearance, her friends reunite to commemorate the school's demolition, but when the remains of a teenage girl are found by the workmen, a case that could be very close to home opens. Can Jennie find out who committed a murder, and can she hide her connection long enough to still be able to stay on the case?

This is the second book in MJ Arlidge's "Writers' Room" series and it did not disappoint - at 300 pages long, it keeps a very rapid pace. I must admit - there are a few moments where I called the characters idiots for their actions when reading along, but that isn't necessarily a rare occurrence! An easy 5*.

Another great read from MJ Arlidge. Jennie has never got over the hurt of her best friend Hannah not turning up on the day they’d promised to run away from home together, just before the start of their A levels. The book starts with a school reunion, where the group of friends who used to be into photography come together and remember the 30 years since Hannah vanished.
When a body is found, the main suspects are Hannah’s volatile father and the teacher she was suspected of having a relationship with. Jennie wants to be on this case in order to lay her friend at rest, although she will have to keep her professional life separate from her friendship she had with the victim.
This book was easy to get into, and gave interesting backgrounds into each of the characters. Highly recommended for a great summer read.

Really enjoyed this book.
This author writes really well and I look forward to reading more.
Thank you for letting me read.

The Reunion is a quick paced read with twists and turns, secrets, lies, deception and atmosphere that had me looking over my shoulder.

A body is discovered at White Cross Academy and as fate would have it, the old building is to be demolished the morning after a reunion.

A reunion of school mates like no other.

Jennie a DI attended that school and she fears the body might belong to her good friend that went missing many years ago.

By all means Jennie should exclude herself from the murder team but she is determined to find out the answers.

She is surrounded by a great team but it's hard to keep a secret that big.

The class mates are all hiding something, they all are unreliable witnesses.

The tension mounts with every page, you suspect everyone and you trust no one.

The Reunion was cleverly plotted, well paced and an excellent read .

I love M. J. Arlidge's books and together teamed up with Steph Broadribb they are force to be reckoned with. Hope they collaborate together again soon.

Thanks to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group /Orion for the opportunity to read and review The Reunion.

Immersive Mystery..
A school reunion followed by a demolition is the catalyst which sets in motion this compelling murder mystery. With an historic murder to solve which is far too close to home, police officer Jennie needs to keep her wits about her. With a well crafted cast populating a pacy plot with a well imagined and atmospheric backdrop, this is an immersive read from an interesting collaboration.

Jenni Whitmore is called to the discovery of a body/skeleton under a concrete floor in a building where she used to go to school. She’s. now in the police. She recognises the gold chain around the neck as that of her best friend Hannah, who everyone thought had run off to be a model in London. Jenni had to interview all her old ‘friends’ but it seems she never really knew them at all. And there is trouble at the police station with a colleague. Then another death smiling the friends. But was it suicide? Will Jenni solve the case? It’s a masterful piece of writing I couldn’t put it down. Brilliant.

The reunion makes for a compelling read. There's the perfect amount of intrigue and wonder and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I found certain elements to be a little predictable at times but it didn't take away from my enjoyment. The plot progression was a decent pace and I didn't feel bored once throughout the reading of this.

Thanks netgalley for this book, which I enjoyed.
Jennie was waiting for her best friend, her soul mate, they were going to run away together Jennie to be a photographer her father taught her everything she knows, and Hannah to beva model.
But Hannah never turned and Jennie broken hearted went back to her life with her mother and carried on with her life at school.
Thirty years later Jennie returned to her home town her mother died and she went back to her childhood home to find out her old school was going to be demolished, and a body was found under concrete In the cellar.
The body they found was Hannah and Jennie now a detective was given the job of finding out what had happened, so Hannah never turned up as she was murdered.
Hannah got involved all because she came back to her home town for a reunion of her school friends.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read and review this one. I've been a huge fan of Steph Broadribb for ages so I was excited to read this new departure for her.

Overall I enjoyed this one - a great book for a beach holiday. The plot centres around Jennie Whitmore, who is reunited with friends at a school reunion. Jennie lost touch with her old school friends after the disappearance of her best friend, Hannah - an event that almost destroyed Jennie. The reunion has been organised in honour of Jennie's old school, White Cross Academy, which is due to be demolished the following day.

However, as the builders get ready to pull down the building, they make a gruesome discovery. A body has been found buried in the basement. When the body turns out to be Jennie's missing friend, Hannah, she resolves to find out how her friend died and who killed her. Because these days, Jennie is a police detective. As long as she's able to hide how close she really was to Hannah, there's nothing stopping her heading up the investigation into her murder.

What follows is a decent crime novel with just enough intrigue to keep the reader guessing until the end. I wasn't quite convinced by the idea that Jennie - as an old and close friend of the murder victim - could get away with leading the investigation, but that didn't take anything away from my enjoyment of the novel.

A solid plot with well-drawn out characters. Perfect for a holiday read.

Thank you to NetGalley, authors MJ Arlidge, Steph Broadribb and Orion publishing for the ARC and opportunity to review this book.

This was my first read by these authors and I enjoyed the book but it was very slow paced. I got to a point where I almost gave up on it. I’m glad I stuck with it because the storyline did get much better and the ending was well done.

I feel it fell a little flat for me though. I would liked to have seen more background into the friendship of the characters than the brief glimpses we got. There was so much ‘filler’ that didn’t need to be there that could have been replaced by more in depth details of the groups friendship.

The part about Officer Wright came out of nowhere and honestly didn’t go with the storyline at all. The authors never expanded on why it was put into the book not developed that plot line further. It just kind of appeared and then disappeared and in my opinion didn’t add anything to the book.

It was a solid 3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me. I’d recommend for readers looking for a slower suspenseful read and would like to read more by these authors to see if maybe this was just a one off.

A MJ Arlidge collaboration with Stephanie Broardribb. 5 stars for a compelling read. White Cross Academy is about to be demolished, but the construction workers find a body in the grounds. Detective Jennie Whitmore went to White Cross and wonders if it is her friend, Hannah who disappeared over twenty years ago and presumed a runaway.
Jennie doesn’t disclose her close relationship with her superiors and investigates the case. With insider knowledge of the friendship circle and the photography group that used the basement where Hannah’s body is found, Jennie is determined to finally unearth the truth of what really happened to her friend.
An excellent standalone read, gritty and fast paced, keeping you wanting to read one more chapter to find out the truth.

Jennies friend Hannah dissapeared 30 years ago when she was supposed to be meeting Jennie so they could go to London.

Fast forward to the present day and Jennie is now a detective and when remains are found are her old school it soon becomes apparent that Hannah wasn't just a runaway.

Can Jennie found out who killed her friend?

A fantastic read that I stayed up late into the night to finish as I was that invested in the story

5 stars

I am a big MJ Arlidge fan, but this was my first Steph Broadribb read and I was impressed. I love a good murder mystery and sped through this one.

Jennie Whitmore has always been haunted by her best friend’s disappearance 30 years ago. Now a police officer, she is the first call when a body is found under her old school as it is being demolished. Could she finally find out what happened to Hannah.

I really felt for a Jennie as she navigated through this case, having to learn some truths about her teenage years and people she believed to be her friends. I loved her determination to find the truth, whilst frying to hide her true relationship with the deceased in order to stay in the case. It was a quick and satisfying read.

Thanks to Orion Publishing for my advanced copy of this book to read. Publishes on September 5th.

I am a big fan of MJ Arlidge, having read all the Helen Grace books, so I was keen to get my hands on this collaboration. It’s a brilliant read, with a host of highly developed characters, a gripping plot, suspense, menace and plenty of twists and turns. It was these intense twists that kept me guessing and fully engaged to the very end, and end which, I have to say, was just perfect! A very highly recommended read.

This story had a great premise and was incredibly intriguing!

Unfortunately, for me, it just moved a bit too slow. There was too much filler and not a lot of action. I did like the outcome of the story and how that all came together.

I wished I got a little more background on all of the friends and how they interacted. I would have liked some flashback chapters and things like that to help move it along.

Overall, I enjoyed the story, but not the pace.

Really enjoyed “The Reunion” my first M.J Aldridge read and it certainly won’t be my last!
Fast paced and thrilling! I can see this becoming a brilliant tv adaptation! I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and every time I thought I’d grasped where the story was going, it threw me in a totally different direction! Had me hooked from beginning to end! Thank you to the publishers and to NetGalley for my ARC!
Highly recommended!

The Reunion by new to me authors M. J. Arlidge and Steph Broadribb, published by Orion Publishing Group is a masterpiece at writing a goosepump inducing crime/thriller.
A fantastic read that had me right from the start. Suspenseful, complex, full of twists that had me guessing til the last page.
Blurb: When Jennie Whitmore arrives at her school reunion, she immediately regrets her decision. Why would she choose to surround herself with people who were never nice to her? Who still aren't, even now she's a police officer? The only person who truly looked out for her all those years ago was charming, beautiful Hannah. Until the day she disappeared.
Jennie is ready to finally put White Cross Academy behind her, the old school building demolished the morning after the party. But with the demolition comes a call: remains have been found on the grounds.
The instant drop in Jennie's gut tells her that the remains might be Hannah's, but when she's called in to examine them, the truth becomes undeniable. Hannah didn't run away and abandon Jennie thirty years ago; in fact, she never left White Cross at all.
Suddenly, Jennie has a murder to solve. The murder of her best friend. But can she do so before her colleagues discover just how closely connected she is to the victim?

The second colab with MJ Arlidge I’ve read but I’ve not read anything by Steph Broadribb before.

Fast paced with lots going on! It felt quite similar to a thriller that I read years ago, but I can’t recall the name. So the story felt vaguely familiar, I did look if this was a rerelease of anything but it appears not.