The One Who Fell by Kerry Wilkinson and Narrated by Helen Keeley is the first book in the new A Whitecliff Bay Mystery series and it was an excellent start to a new series especially as it was packed with great twists and turns throughout that will have you hooked from the beginning till the end. I loved the main character Millie.

This was a audiobook once I started listening to it I could not put it down.........I highly recommend this book.

The narrator Helen Keeley was excellent throughout and she just drew you in.

Big Thank you netgalley, Kerry Wilkinson and Bookouture for my audiobook for exchange for an review,

I first thought it was a psychological thriller, but it is actually a mystery.
This is the first book in the 4-part Whitecliff mysteries (don't know if there will be others)
Millie, Guy, Jack and Rishi were interesting characters. Can't say the same about Millie's ex, Alex and his Fiancée Rachel. I don't get why Millie did not confront Alex with his secret.

Millie is infamous because everyone in the town suspects her of killing her parents, thanks to the nosy reporter, Guy. She is angry with him, but he turns out to be a friend. They start sleuthing together to solve the mystery of the 'Girl who Fell', and succeed. There are other mysteries like the wild cat sighting and the mystery of her parents' death, which are not solved in this book. The next books might have the answers, so i did jump to the 2nd book immediately.

Recommended for those who like short mysteries. This is not taxing to the brain. So the rating is 3.5* +, as I was in the mood for a light mystery.

<i> Thanks to NetGalley, the Publisher and the Author for the ARC</i>

This series is rather moreish isn't it? I demolished this, the first in the Whitecliff Bay series in less than twenty four hours.

Whitecliff Bay...to me it's a small coastal area on the Isle of Wight where I originate from, so throughout the book I found myself picturing this for the backdrop to scenes.
Millie is a great lead character, having already been accused of a heinous crime herself, she knows how it.feels to be the accused.

Well plotted, entertaining and a promising start
to the series.

Many thanks to Bookouture for my tour spot.

Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Interesting small town mystery. Staring little slow but ,intriguing and fascinating storyline. Millie is hated by everyone in her town due to a certain scandal in the past. Now, she tries to solve a murder and her secrets threatened to destroy her. Part of the series and result in cliffhanger. Overall a good past time book.

"This is the place."

The book begins with Millie and Guy going with Kevin Ashworth, who has been imprisoned for thirty years after two young boys went missing. He has agreed to tell them where their bodies are buried. While they do not find the bodies of the missing boys, they find something that has them asking more questions and wondering what this means. As he goes back to prison, there are more questions than answers.

As Millie speaks to the families in Whitecliff, she learns things that change everything. Millie and Guy have also been asked to help a local celebrity after a large nude portrait of her has gone missing from her home.

The Ones Who Are Buried is the third book in the series and my favorite thus far. With each book, more is known about the characters, their relationships, private lives, and their thoughts. I have been enjoying the character development. As with the other books, Millie is continuing to deal with her ex-husband and his finance or as I like to call them Jerk1 and Jerk2.

I enjoyed how everything played out. This book was gripping from the very beginning and kept getting better as more was known. This one kept me on my toes and turning the pages! Kerry Wilkinson has done a fabulous job with this cozy mystery series. Each book leaves me wanting more and wondering when the next book will be out!

Gripping, mysterious, well written and kept me on my toes. Fans of mystery series, cozy mysteries, and Kerry Wilkinson will not be disappointed.

Millie Westlake lives in Whitecliff, the town where she grew up. She makes her living as a dog groomer & volunteers at the local nursing home. Her business is struggling due to some bad reviews related to her parents' deaths as, thanks to a newspaper article at the time, many people think Millie was responsible. Her marriage to ex-husband Alex broke down after she had an affair (there's a hint of a revelation to come about Alex but we don't find out until the last moment) & he has moved on with Rachel, & Millie is only allowed partial custody of their son.

Whilst she is at the nursing home one day playing a sedate game of Guess Who?, her opponent, Ingrid, suddenly announces that the night before she saw a young woman get pushed off the roof of one of the houses nearby. Millie is sceptical but wanting to put Ingrid's mind at rest, she noses around the outside of the house & speaks to the owner, Dean Parris, who says he is the only occupant. Outside Millie finds a loose roof tile on the floor of the alleyway but doesn't think too much of it, until it seems that Parris has started following her & she thinks she sees his van outside her home before he suddenly drives off when he thinks he has been spotted. Has Millie put herself in danger?

Millie has a nice friendship with Jack (who also works at the nursing home) & his partner Rishi, & it looks as if a bit of a double-act with Guy, a retired journalist who was close friends with her parents, may be in the offing. His contacts help Millie solve the mystery & he has a really cute dog named Barry. Cute dogs aside, I found this to be very slow-going & almost DNF'd it. I carried on as I was intrigued enough to want to find out what had happened but I can't say I'd be in a rush to read the next one. 2.5 stars (rounded up)

TWs: death of parents, infidelity.

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Bookouture, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

I just got approved for three books by the same author in the same series. That always means there is a new one coming out, so I wanted to read them all together. I knew I was making a commitment. I almost regretted it at first. I had a lot of trouble really liking the tone of this book. I didn’t really like the characters in the beginning. I found that when I had time to stop listening and start reading, I enjoyed the characters much more.

Millie’s life is a mess. She did it to herself. She didn’t do it alone. Once again we have a woman taking all of the blame and letting the men off easy. They just go along and live their lives. And there is always a really overly vindictive new woman. These were my initial problems with the characters.

Once I got away from all of the unpleasant people in her life, we got to see Millie’s actual friends. She she hears about a woman falling, or being pushed, off a roof, she starts to make connections with others to find out what happened. She starts to get her life back. The mystery itself is mildly interesting. I was more interested in the network of people Millie was starting to put together. I was more interested in putting Millie’s life back on track than on the fairly obvious mystery.

The book ended on a cliff hangar of sorts. It would have been annoying if I didn’t have the next book. It still was, because of the nature of it. Still, I quickly read this book and dived into the next.

The One Who Fell by Kerry Wilkinson is the first book in the Whitecliff Bay Mystery series.
As this is the first book we are introduced to a lot of characters and the situations are set up for us.
Many of these characters have secrets and back stories, some of which are told and we are introduced to.
Millie Westlake is a divorced woman after it was discovered she was having an affair with a man of importance. Unfortunately, she has also lost custody of her son but will not fight it until she feels she is in a better position to do so. Making ends meet she works at an elder care home. Nice friendly older folks you would think, especially an elderly woman with dementia who says she saw a woman being pushed from the roof of a house next door last evening.
Can she even be trusted to remember what she saw or is she remembering a television show she saw years ago replaying in her mind? Millie isn't sure but she knows she needs to investigate.
Millie's life is covered in scandal, will anyone want to help her? The town is small, everyone knows everyone's business and secrets. Millie has gone through a public marriage breakup, lost custody of her son and experienced the death of both parents which many are blaming her for.
A very interesting story opener that had me glued to the pages. I will need to read more of this continuing mystery with its many twists and turns to learn all the reveals. Recommended!

Pub Date: 17 Apr 2023
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Kerry Wilkinson has given us a rather quirky personality in Millie as the “sleuth” in this new series. Millie is often abrasive in her encounters with the citizens of the small town of Whitecliff Bay. Many in the town believe she is responsible for killing her parents just months after she is outed for an affair with the local Member of Parliament. Millie has lost custody of her son and her previous career as an event organizer. She connects with a former journalist and she and Guy try to determine if a young woman was pushed off the roof of a house across from the retirement home where Millie is volunteering. Great plot, and some wonderful characters!

Thanks to Kerry and NetGalley for allowing me to read The One Who Fell before the publication date.
It was an easy read although a bit slow to start with.
As the first book in a series, the characters are still being introduced and the relationships defined.
There is obviously a lot of history to be revealed.
Most have secrets that they would like to keep which is difficult in a small town where everyone knows everyone else and what they don’t know, they make up as they go along. The rumour mill propogates the gossip until it becomes fact.

Millie Westlake is living in the house she inherited from her parents. She was thrown out of her marital y home when it was revealed in the media that she was having an affair with a married MP.
Now divorced, she is only allowed limited access to her 7 year old son.
As a volunteer in a care home, she spends time with 89 year old Ingrid, who is living with dementia.
When Ingrid tells Millie that she saw a figure in a white dress being pushed off the roof of a nearby house, Millie decides to investigate, placing herself in danger.

Thank you to #Netgalley and #Bookouture for the copy of #TheOneWhoFell by #KerryWilkinson.
Millie Westlake has had a rough couple of years, divorce, losing custody of her son and the death of her parents. Everyone in town talking about her and suspicious of whether or not she killed her parents.
A resident at the care home Millie volunteers at she she saw a young girl fall from a roof.
It took me a while to get into the book but then I was totally hooked.
I’m looking forward to the next one.

Read near enough everything this author as written
So could not pass up reading the 1st installment of the whiteboard bag mysteries
found book 1 an easy read, plenty happening, plenty of secrets, plenty of twists and turns you know you are in for a treat

Thank you netgalley, Kerry Wilkinson and Bookouture

There's something appealing about amateur sleuths that always makes me think of the Enid Blyton mysteries I adored as a child. It is somehow more exciting when the characters have to sneak about in the dark for information rather than knocking the door down and producing a search warrant. This book is full of intrigue and the author cleverly drip feeds a little more about the characters as the book progresses. From elderly ladies who may or may not be imagining things to infamous divorcées who are the subject of local gossip the characters here are wonderfully portrayed. Thankfully this is only the first book in new series so we will be able to read more of the exploits of Millie, Jack, Ingrid et al.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

For me, the name Kerry Wilkinson is synonymous with psychological thriller. I’ve only read five of his books, but that’s all it’s taken for me to ignore the synopsis and auto-read his latest book. With the exception of one, they’ve all been five-star reads.

When I noticed he’d written a 'feel-good romance' last year, I shook my head and passed. Ugh.

Then I noticed he’d started a new cozy mystery series and had the first three available at once. I almost passed on the opportunity, but then realized that despite his success in one genre he was still willing to try something new and different. I’m presuming he didn't want to be pigeonholed and suddenly I wanted to be a part of something new. I’m always in awe of someone who wants to push boundaries and test abilities. Knowing his affinity for mountain biking and enjoying the open horizons with unbounded possibilities, I could see that he was strengthening his competence in his literary craft. I needed to experience it.

I’m so glad Wilkinson stepped out of his comfort zone and was willing for an adventure. I loved this first installment and am looking forward to book two. One of the things I dislike about a series is waiting a year or more for the sequel; Wilkinson had taken away that excuse. While I’ll always prefer his signature psychological thrillers best, his new cozy mystery series is still one I’ll read and recommend.

I was in awe of his plotting. He reeled me in and kept my attention. I binge-read it in one sitting because I needed answers.

I’m making the phrase ‘a proper barney’ my own from today onwards! I’m also relying on Jack’s explanation of his eating habits to get me out of trouble when I’m caught out snacking after a meal! On a side note, I won’t be able to pass the cheese aisle without thinking of Millie.

Put your reservations aside. Trust Wilkinson’s ability. Take a chance. You won’t be disappointed.

I was gifted this book by Bookouture and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

This is the first book in The Whitecliff Bay mysteries in in it we meet Millie Westlake she is a year out of being accused of murder in almost 2 years out of being caught having an affair with the local MP. The affair is how she lost custody of her son and only gets to see him every other weekend she lives in her family home by herself until recently has had a very lonely life with the exception of volunteering at the local home for senior citizens this is where she is when One of the residents Ingrid tells her about the woman she saw fall off the roof from her room at the care home because Ingrid is not always plugged in to modern day Millie doesn’t know if this is a memory or something she really saw the night before so she goes with Ingrid to her room and the elderly lady shows her the house where the woman fell intrigued in for reasons Millie cannot determine she decides to go and check the house out only to meet it’s creepy owner standing in the front yard it isn’t until that night when the man Millie blames for putting her name all over the newspaper shows up asking about a black panther and white Cliff Guy what’s the local reporter for the wipe cliff paper for over 40 years and at one time was her dad‘s best friend something Millie didn’t know until recently guy isn’t the only ghost from her past that’s going to creep up though not to mention year after being accused of her parents murders she has another run in with the police but is it because she is investigating the woman who fell? Between guy and her best friend Jack they worry about her and tell her to let it go but for so long Millie hasn’t had anything that excites her like solving this potential Crime does. I loved this book I love Jack and Richie I love the guy I love everything about this book I thought it was cleverly done I can’t wait to read the next one which I have any other ones that’s in the Siri‘s I find Millie so likable and the best thing about her is she is like a normal person without all the high born habits most characters have I love her and cannot wait to read more in the future. I received this book from NetGalley and Bookoucher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

This is book #1 in the Whitecliff Bay Mysteries series. We begin this new series by meeting Millie Westlake. Millie volunteers at a local nursing home, and when one of the residents one night tells her that she saw a woman fall from the roof of the house opposite, Millie decides to investigate herself.

This was an interesting read with a mixture of different characters that you either love or hate. I liked Millie’s character. She’s had a difficult life so far, being outed in a very public affair, a marriage breakup, losing her son and her parents dying in tragic circumstances. The town is fairly small, and everyone thinks they know everyone’s business, and Millie has found herself being held responsible for her parents' death by the town’s gossips. You can’t help but feel sorry for her! She has few friends, but she finds an unlikely ally to help her with the investigation into whether a woman did actually fall from the roof.

The book began a little slow, but it soon picked up the pace as the storyline moved on. There were lots of questions to answer and plenty of mystery surrounding what was going on. All the pieces of the puzzle begin to come together, and it was great watching as the story unravelled. Filled with lots of twists and turns, this is a great start to this new series, and I shall enjoy reading the following books in the series! Would recommend!

MIllie Westlake is spending time volunteering at a local nursing home. Her life is covered in scandal and everyone in the village of Whitecliff thinks they know everything about her. Her reputation is in tatters and she's lost custody of her son.
One evening while spending time with one of the residents Ingrid. Ingrid tells her she saw a girl standing on a roof in the distance. It was a fleeting glimpse of her in her nightclothes. Then suddenly she was gone. Has the old woman been imagining things or is there truth to the story. Did the girl jump or was she pushed? Did it actually happen?
Millie decides to look into Ingrid's story. After all she knows what it feels like to not be believed. Millie does find some evidence that there may be truth to the story but by uncovering it, is she putting herself in danger.
This is the first book in a series about Millie Westlake. The author has gotten off to a great start with this fast paced book. I look forward to the next instalment.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to see an ARC

REVIEW:
Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for this ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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This book was okay for me, I had some problems with it. I think that it's the kind of book, you'll come to love after reading the rest of the book. But, as a stand-alone, I was not satisfied
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However, I loved that the author partnered an amateur sleuth and an experienced journalist, it was realistic.
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I also felt like the whole of this book was more about Millie's personal life than the crime at hand so I wouldn't really call it a thriller.
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I'd still like to read another book in the series to get a feel of the characters, this first one was enough to interest me. Although, I was kinda annoyed at Millie she committed an act that I hate, and while I understood why she did it, I still don't like it. But, I liked Guy, he was okay.

When the book started off with the main character having a debate about cheese I had my doubts. After that bizarre opening scene the book unraveled into a multi-faceted delight. The book takes the reader on Millie's journey to discover truth behind what Ingrid believed she saw. As she investigates several other mysteries are unveiled. Each path that Millie followed led to yet another engaging aspect of the town and the people residing in it. The characters were complex without being obtuse. Wilkinson wrote a fast paced easy read. It will be interesting to see how Wilkinson expands on this first book in upcoming additions to the Whitecliff Bay mystery series.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

A brand new series from Kerry Wilkinson, The Whitecliff Bay Mysteries. This first book is set in this typical seaside town whose inhabitants know everything about everyone or at least think they do. In winter having nothing better to do than gossip and spread rumours it can have devastating effects on the victims of such mindless chatter. Knowing quite a bit about such places having lived in two seaside towns and a village during most of my life, I enjoyed the observations that tourists simply don’t see. The characters were a wonderful mixture of good, bad and those in between. In this first story we are introduced to Millie whose parents died recently in tragic circumstances and many in the town believe she was involved in their deaths. With few friends and also recently divorced she cuts a lonely figure spending her life avoiding the town’s gossips. An unlikely meeting with the man she feels is responsible for much of the gossip leads to an uneasy and unexpected truce. Millie volunteers at a local care home and while chatting to one of the residents who possibly has dementia, she mentions seeing a girl fall from a nearby roof. Something about the determined way she tells her story, makes Millie wonder if there is any truth in it. With nothing better to do, she visits the house in question and then begins a chain of events that could potentially endanger her own life. With plenty of revelations and back stories this series has great potential and I’m really looking forward to reading the next in the series.