A really good physiological thriller!

I found this a fast paced twisty book full of surprises and people who are not whom they seem to be.

Dee discovers the body of her neighbour in the road outside the house. It seems like she was run over. Nearby is the pram of her 2 year old boy but he is missing. BUT..... all is not as it seems. It turns out the body is not that of Katie. It is the body of someone who has never had a child. What happened to Katie and her son Jake. Who is Jake and who's body was it?

A gripping book that hooks you from the start.

Thank you to Netgally and Canello for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I went into this story blind; I hadn’t even read the summary. I found that within a few pages I was hooked and needed to find out what had happened to Katie.
In the interest of avoiding spoilers, I will have to be very careful with this review.
The story progresses in two time frames, Dee’s struggle to come to terms with her friend’s death and Katie’s past. Each flashback tells us a little more about the hard life Katie endured, growing up in her father’s pub. When we return to the present day, we see that Dee’s life is equally dark as she deals with the aftermath of a failed marriage and her reliance on alcohol.
Sheila’s storytelling is compelling, she manages to create tension as she reveals more and more from each timeline. This book kept me awake as I had to finish it, the desire to learn the truth was simply overpowering.
It is a while since I’ve read a thriller, I Could be You didn’t disappoint. I particularly liked the way that Sheila made Dee so vulnerable yet strong.
I’ll be looking for more from this author.

Mistaken identity, lies, secrets, and revenge culminate in murder on the narrow road near the shingle coast on the outskirts of Eastbourne.

When ex-journalist, 51-year-old Dee Doran, finds the dead body she immediately recognizes her as neighbor and friend, Katie Hope. Instantly she's concerned because Katie has a two-year-old son, Jake, whose buggy is broken and twisted by a ditch. But Jake is not there. It looks like a hit and run, but where is the little boy? The police get involved and during the course of their investigation they discover that the dead woman may not actually be Dee's tenant and friend after all. But who is she, then, and where is the person that Dee had befriended? NO SPOILERS.

This is a convoluted tale of jealousy and hatred that stems from the past. The story is told from the points of view of 3 different women and shifts in time. The central characters are all actually unlikeable and the twists fairly predictable. It is fast-paced and easy to read in a single sitting as the details and clues are dangled like crumbs for the reader to follow to the inevitable conclusion.

Thank you to NetGalley and Canelo for this e-book ARC to read and review.

This story is full of lies, mystery, twists and turns. It didn't take me long to read this edge of your seat mystery. As I wanted to know what the heck was going on and who exactly was the body on the beach.

Dee Doran, now she was a great character to head up a mystery story. Let's just say she isn't the most reliable of characters. When she found the body outside her house, she was a little bit hungover and can't actually remember much of the previous nights events. She is currently unemployed, and is a little bit lost in life. She definitely doesn't enjoy where she's living and hankers for London life. As her previous job was a journalist, when the investigation into the body on the beach starts to become more twisted and mysterious. Dee uses her skills and contacts (which she has plenty in the journalist world) to uncover the riddle of who is the woman?

This story is told mainly from Dee's point of view in the present surrounding the case. However, we get flashback chapters from Katie, the missing friend (who Dee first thought was lying dead outside her house) from these flashbacks we can start to piece together what has happened to build up to the present day murder.

Along the way we meet a variety of characters that add to the mystery. Believe me you need your wits about you to keep up with Katie's story and realise who is involved.

A tale of infatuation, obsession and jealousy all twisted up into a great thriller that culminates into a thrilling showdown. Perfect reading.

The impact a child can have on your life can be profound and everlasting. Even if that child isn’t yours. A child can lighten up the darkest of lives. They have an infectious way of melting even the coldest of personas. A child and their impact have a way of shaping your life, usually for the better. Family isn’t always determined by blood, it is the connection that we make with a kindred soul. What happens when that tie is severed? It feels like we are literally missing a part of ourselves. It’s an irrevocable wrenching of the heart. I instantly signed up for this blog tour for its intense cover and a synopsis that is dripping in mysterious intrigue.

Reading I could be you can be described as looking into the mirror and for the first time being able to see something more than just you. All your flaws, past mistakes and your vision for the future are suddenly flashing before your eyes. There’s a figure in the background threatening to be revealed in all its glorious technicolour but what exactly will revealed? It fogs your mind, makes you forget. Your memories feel like a freezing fog, keeping you in the now and happy to keep you oblivious.

The opening is a friend’s, or family members worst nightmare. That is exactly where it should stay. Seeing someone you care about is harmed and no-one felt the need to stop and help. A crushed buggy and no sign of the precious little 2-year-old boy that you doted over, you babysat and most important of all, you loved, as if he were her own. It’s poignant, heart-breaking and left me imagining my own pain if it were one of my own boys. The impact of what has just happened finally enters my foggy brain and I’m left feeling bereft just like Dee. Her pain is apparent, and she starts losing her direction.

I was unable to prise this book from my hands and Sheila Berger knows just how to punch you in the feels. She forces you to dip your foot into the water and she sends you swimming from one raw emotion to another. It leaves you feeling wrecked and disorientated, but you know the only way is forward.

I could Be You deals with difficult tropes, but they are handled with dignity and tact. The grief of a missing child is a wrought cage of emotion. We see this nearly every day in the newspapers. Press releases. Emotional reaching out. Trauma lingering. Sheila Bulger gives this type of grief a form – it’s ugly but realistic and it inflicts a severe whiplash with its intensity.

Dee’s young friend is found on the side of the road apparently being ran over in a hit and run. The buggy is beside her and it’s empty. Her friend, Kate, would have had her son with her, wouldn’t she? Just where has the little boy gone? The police are called, and they start gathering evidence and information and it is quickly discovered that nothing is as it seems. It becomes very twisty and my head needed to be straightened several times during my read of I Could Be You.

When Dee discovers some mistruths surrounding her death she sets out to rebirth the Journalist in her. She gets help from her cousin, Louise who is still a Journo. Together they plot to get to the bottom of Katie’s past and any missing links to where the little boy could be. The story is told in the present and we have flashbacks to Katie’s past which strengthens the plot.

I Could Be You was brilliantly eerie. It was a true psychological thriller that has tons of pace and atmospheric brilliance. You need to push forward to decipher the twists.

4☆ A Taut, Twisty, Gripping and pacy thriller that will have you hooked from the first few pages!

I COULD BE YOU is a Twisty and Gripping Crime Thriller full of mystery, with an opening that will have your heart in your mouth!

It opens with a young Mum found on the side of the road involved in a hit and run, resulting in her horrific death. But there's more....there's also an empty pushchair with no sign of any child anywhere.
Dee who finds the young women (Katie) is her friend and tenant, and she also knows that her 2year old son Jake would have been with her too! So where is he?

The police are called, but as they start to investigate the Death and Missing Child, they realise things are not quiet what they seem!

Dee used to be a journalist and can't help thinking about Jake the little boy who's missing. She had become very close to them both and feels she owes it to them to find out why someone would want Katie dead! And just where is Jake!

What I loved about this story was there was so many juicy twists, just when you think you might be getting somewhere another one pops up. It kept me on my toes and gripped throughout, which is exactly how I love my Crime Thrillers to be!

The story is told in the present with the added bonus of flashbacks from the past, which strengthens the plot as it thickens.

I COULD BE YOU is a Taut, Twisty, Gripping and pacy thriller full of secrets, mystery, intrigue and investigation.
The Characters are brilliantly written, believable and at times flawed but they certainly made for a compulsive read.

Would I recommend reading this Engrossing book....... Without a Doubt.....100%.......YES!!

Thank you to Compulsive Readers Tours and Canelo Publishers for this copy which I reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Dee isn't a woman who makes friends easily as she likes to keep herself to herself, but when her mum died two years ago Dee inherited her seaside home and a tenant in a mobile home. Katie and her two-year-old son had become a massive piece of her life since she met them. When Dee finds Katie has been a victim of a hit and run and Jake is missing she is determined to find the little boy. The more Dee, who is a retired journalist, digs and the more tangled the story becomes. She feels like she never really knew the real Katie.
I really liked Dee who had grown older but not particularly wiser with age, as it made her feel real. She was stubborn, knew her own mind and at times made bad decisions, especially if the wine was flowing. I smiled and cringed and was sure that Katie couldn't have a better friend than she had been.
The story falls back to the past when Katie was a young teen, her thoughts and the people that were in her life and the influence they had on her. As you learn about the past, things take off in the present too. The story is very well written with each chapter sparking more interest in this tangled web. This is a really taut mystery that makes you get involved in it. I always seemed like I was one step behind. Brilliant storyline.
I wish to thank NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book which I have reviewed honestly

Dee Doran is in her early fifties and a bit of a recluse. She’s moved back to Eastbourne after the breakdown of her marriage and death of her mother. She was an investigative journalist at the Daily Post in London but is now unemployed, after a career break to look after her dying mum, and lives alone in the house that belonged to her parents.

One sweltering afternoon, on her way to the shops at the harbour, a hungover Dee discovers the body of a woman lying in the road. She’s been run over in a hit-and-run incident and her body is badly damaged. Straightaway, she recognises the victim as her friend, neighbour and tenant, Katie Hope, who is a piano teacher and 27-year-old single mum of Jake, aged two. Shopping is strewn across the path and there’s a twisted pushchair with two wheels missing but no sign of Jake. Dee hunts for him, searching the beach, surrounding areas and the mobile home where him and Katie live, desperately calling his name.

Detective Inspector Ed Mitchell, a former school friend, interviews Dee about what has happened and the police get the story about the hit and run and missing child out to the general public and ask anyone with information about Katie or Jake to contact them immediately. Intriguingly, we discover that all is not as it seems and that Katie isn’t who she says she is.

As Dee helps the police with their enquiries, she also uses her investigative skills to try and work out exactly what has happened to Katie and hunt for Jake. As she searches for the truth, she draws upon her 20-plus years of experience and the help of useful contacts that she’s made, including old colleagues and her cousin and editor-in-chief of the Recorder, Louise, and she even speaks to her alcoholic ex-husband, Billy Morrison, who is also a journalist and desperate to try and scoop a story.

I quite liked Dee. She was lonely and drank too much but had had a tough time and seemed a bit beaten after her divorce and her mum’s death. She still seems to have feelings for her ex, who she was with for 16 years, despite his failings and the fact he is a ‘complete and utter waste of space’. She regrets never having children but has built up a nice friendship with Katie and adores little Jake. She was brave and foolish at times as she went all out to discover the truth.

In this well-plotted, dark and twisty book, we learn more about Katie’s past in flashbacks. She had a rather sad, lonely childhood; her dad ran the Railway Tavern pub in Hither Green in London but he didn’t spend much time with Katie. She wasn’t allowed to work behind the bar and he didn’t like her socialising with anyone. She makes some friends but the relationships are rather unhealthy and they treat her badly.

As Dee visits various places in her quest, we start to uncover the truth and the back story to recent awful events. There was some clever misdirection and we weren’t totally sure who was who in the book. Several of the characters were rather flawed and unlikable and I enjoyed trying to work out the motives for Katie’s murder and guess who was involved. There were a few suspects and clues as the story progressed.

I Could Be You is intriguing and suspenseful, and I was gripped and keen to find out exactly who Katie was and whether her son was still alive or not. Overall, I enjoyed this book and will definitely be checking out the author’s other novels and looking out for her future work.

The first page had me like oh my... what am I getting myself into?⁣
Katie with her 2 year old son Jake, are the tenants and friends of Dee. Dee is very close with them and loves Jake like he was her own son. But.. one day, Dee wakes up and finds Katie dead on the side of the road from an apparent hit and run. The buggy that she uses to push Jake in is overturned and empty. Jake is missing. As the investigation ramps up, all is not what it seems. Dee decides to launch her own investigation into finding Jake and what she finds is shocking.⁣
This story is told from 2 POV, the present with Dee and the past leading up to that fateful day by Katie.⁣
This book is full of twists, secrets, and suspense. I couldn’t get through this book fast enough to find out the truth at the end! I throughly enjoyed it and love a good fast paced thriller.⁣
⁣
Thank you to NetGalley and Canelo for the copy in exchange for my honest review.⁣

Really good thriller. The twists in the plot kept me reading the whole way through. I wanted to know the truth. There are a lot of lies and some very dark and calculating people. It all comes together in a really good read.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Dee used to be a top journalist. But the death of her mother and the breakdown of her marriage, she has become a recluse. Dee has a tenant, Katie and her son Jake. After a murder takes place outside her house, Dee realises she didn't really k ow her friend at all. Kate had secrets.

This is a gripping and intriguing story. Its told in the present and the past. There are plenty of twists, some of them obvious. Its another book I don't want to say to much about as I don't want to spoil it. The book drew me in after the first few chapters and I could ot put it down. I needed to know what had happened. I loved this book.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Canelo and the author Sheila Bugler for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was in a sad, sad mood. I heard a knock

Me: Go away... I am sad

Stranger: Come on, open up. Just a little bit...

Me: I don't wanna

Stranger: I have come to your kindle. Just read a page..

Me: Just one page?

Stranger Book: Right

Me: Okay...

A few minutes later...

Me: Woah! There's a murder

Stranger Book: Uh-huh

A couple of minutes later...

Me: And a missing baby

Stranger Book: Yeah

Me: Whaaaat!! A missing identity

Stranger Book: Yessss!!

Me with stars in my eyes: Who are you?

Stranger Book: I'm - I Could Be You

Me with a big, big grin: Sheila Bugler is a fab writer

Friendly Book: Tell her that!!

And that's how I got to be reading this fantastic book by author Sheila Bugler.

A woman Katie found dead on the road by her landlord Dee and her 2-year-old boy Jake missing. The cops came out with a revelation about Katie not being who she was, and Dee started her investigation.

My first book by author Sheila Bugler, and I was blown away by the twists which started right from the first chapter. The author's writing brought me out from my doldrums, and spike in my heart rate was a welcome change. She made me react to the story with her writing, and I felt alive.

The afternoon was a witness to me just tapping my kindle, trying to read as fast as I could to get to the end. The twists were aplenty, and they forced me to follow the crumbs of the reveals. Written in twin timeliness, I got to know snippets of Katie's life too along with Dee's present investigation.

There was something magical about this book. It gripped my mind and kept it so engrossed for the three hours that it took me to complete it. The only niggle was that the mid-section could have been spruced up. But the end more than made up for it.

Overall, it was a book which invigorated me and kept my brain hooked to it.

This was an interesting and twisty story, which starts off with a bang when in the first pages, Dee leaves her house to find her neighbor and tenant, Katie, had been killed by what looks like a hit and run, and Katie's 2 year old son missing. From there, there are multiple twists and turns, one of which happens pretty early in the book and caught me by surprise. There are also some alternating chapters in the book told as flashbacks from Katie's perspective, leading up to the current timeline.

There were a lot of surprises in this book, and many people who aren't exactly who they seemed to be. The story did get a little convoluted towards the end, but once I digested that, it all came back together. I thought the loose ends were tied up nicely, but not so perfectly that it seemed unrealistic- there were still some unknowns on which the reader can make their own opinions of what would happen after.

I was torn on whether I liked Dee or not- I thought she was very human and real in some things, like her love for Katie's son and with the complex relationships she had with her ex-husband and her cousin. However, there were times where I didn't really understand where she was coming from, like the fact that she never tried to rebuild her career, why she never wanted children but loved Katie's so much, and in some of the risky actions she took when trying to figure out what happened to Katie. The juxtaposition between some of these things made me feel like I didn't really know her well and thus couldn't always empathize with her.

Overall, I would absolutely recommend this book- I love a story with surprise twists that I don't see coming, and that moves at this quick of a pace. I also enjoy books that go back and forth between flashbacks and the current time. This book will be a hit with those who like psychological and domestic thrillers as well as mysteries.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Dee Doran finds the body of her neighbour and friend, Katie Hope. A victim of a hit and run…..but where is her 2 year old son, Jake?

Dee, a retired journalist, uses her skills to try and find out what happened and to find little Jake.

What she finds out is that Katie, her friend, had secrets. She was not the person she thought she was.

Told in the present day and flashbacks to the past, this is a gripping, twisty thriller that has you hooked for the very start.

Thank you to The publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this for free. This is my honest, unbiased review

This book has an extremely interesting premise that had me drawn in from the beginning. The great thing about this book is that from page 1, you are hooked to the story. The mystery is there and the story is there. The main character of Dee is at times unreliable but, on the whole, I really love her. What didn't really land for me was the last half. The story got a little confusing in the middle and by the end I was a little lost. When action ramps up, I tend to read extra fast which means I miss some things so I had to read the last 5 chapters 4 times to get the whole picture. For normal people who aren't psychotic like I am, this won't be a problem for you. Overall, it was a good sit down dinner with a good story line that can be a little hard to follow.

5* Excellent thriller, with a bonus of being set in the UK, and written by a Brit author.

This didn't have the slick gloss of some mystery/thrillers set in the US - thank goodness. Here, I got down-to-earth, nitty gritty stuff without a hint of a trope or repetition, and a storyline that worked.

The opening couple of pages threw me off track completely; not for a million years would I have thought that this was anything other than what Dee originally thought, but the author skilfully turned the tale into one of intrigue and lies, but not out-and-out inconsequential lies; these were deliberate lies that had led to deception and lives destroyed. I didn't hate 'Katie' but I did hate the person from her past who not only messed with people's lives, but was manipulative, a liar, vindictive, and worst of all in my book, killed an innocent Labrador as she wanted to get back at someone whom she perceived to have slighted her. That that person got their comeuppance was satisfying on more than one front.

For someone more than a little washed up in more than one way, Dee turned out to be an excellent character, and I think we only saw the real her once her instincts kicked in and she got back to being an investigator. She went from someone who didn't really like herself or see a future for herself, to a dog with the bone who won the day.

The side characters all served to add a bit of intrigue and misdirection, all very well done. Sheila Bugler is an author I'll be looking out for from now on.

ARC courtesy of Canelo and NetGalley, for my reading pleasure.

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Canelo for the ARC.
This is a rather complex but intriguing mystery/thriller, I could envisage it as an afternoon movie.
Dee Doran is 51yrs old, divorced and a currently unemployed investigative journalist. She's living in her parents' architect-designed home facing the shingle beach in Eastbourne. Isolated, but having a large mobile home on the land which is rented to Katie and her son Jake. Katie and Dee have become good friends and Dee loves Jake as much as she would her own child.
Late one morning Dee discovers the mangled body of her friend on the road - Jakes' buggy tipped over but no sign of Jake. She's been the victim of a hit and run - apparently, and Dee is desperate to know what happened to Jake.
DI Ed Mitchell - a previous school friend of Dee - is assigned to the case. However, Dee can't but help start her own investigation.
Gradually, Dee uncovers a web of lies and betrayals - Katie wasn't who she thought she was, and the situation becomes dangerous.
Told between the present investigation and Katie's past, moving forward from 11 yrs ago, the story unfolds.

This is a good story, well-plotted, with good characters.

2.5 stars rounded up

I actually quite like I could be you in terms of plotting and writing. I love the twist because by the time I got it, I already forgot what was it about (can't really write a spoiler here lol).
But.
But I don't like the main character. Dee was supposed to be your average neighbor/landlady, that kinda woman who hates everyone but wants to find what truly happened with her friend, Katie. However, she was unlikeable. I think the book was better through other POV than her.
Otherwise, a good book.

Very enjoyable thriller. Well written. Good characters. Plenty of suspense to keep me guessing. Great unexpected ending. Never read this author before but would definitely read her next offering. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.

This is an excellent, twisty, thriller, well paced with an explosive ending I didn't guess. I loved the female protagonist and all her secrets. My first novel by this author and looking at her GoodReads profile I have a lot of catching up to do! Recommended for all lovers of mystery/psychological thrillers.