The Devil’s Work by Mark Edwards

The Devil’s Work was described as a psychological thriller so I was on board.  At first I wondered about the description as the characters seemed fairly normal (with the exception of Simon).   Our main character, Sophie Greenwood,  was recruited to work at Jackdaw Publishing, her dream job.

Initially I felt Sophie bordered on boring with her constant checking up on her daughter and husband.   She was a stay-at-home mum for 4 years so perhaps that worry and concern is meant to be conveyed.  Edwards nailed that perfectly.

Once I got into the novel it was clear there were a few mind games going on.  There was a split time frame shifting to Sophie’s college life, explaining her obsession to work for Jackdaw Publishing.

In the college time frame you see how Sophie met Jasmine and how they became very close.  It was later discovered Jasmine was the granddaughter of Franklin Bird, head and founder of Jackdaw Books.  (He’s a bit creepy there in the beginning and didn’t get much better as I progressed through the novel. ) Sophie never traded on her friendship with Jasmine to get introduced for employment opportunities with Jackdaw, instead steering clear of the subject since Jasmine was clearly troubled by her family connection and her grandfather in particular. Stay tuned for that once you read this book.

So, first day of work for Sophie and the mind games slowly begin. She is immediately introduced to Franklin Bird and he’s just weird.  I share his enthusiasm for a gin and tonic but otherwise, let me steer clear of this guy.  Sophie asks one of her team members about access to the basement library and hears a story about a suicide and haunting.  More creepiness.

Her predecessor, Miranda, left with no notice and there is a mystery about that straight away.  If you read mysteries or thrillers you’ll think something is fishy about a person who flat out disappears.  Sophie is assigned to Miranda’s desk and a locked drawer reveals very old food and loads of cockroaches. Cassie, one of the people Sophie supervises, appears to be sabotaging her with her ambitious and aggressive manner, leaving Sophie out of the loop on important issues.  The list goes on.

The story ramps up more with accusations of sexual harassment, a hacked Twitter account and offensive post portraying Sophie’s husband in a very bad light, a stalker, arson and more.  This book has it all including a chilling wrap up.

I read this book with the Kindle British Mystery Book Club, also as for my New Author challenge.

Linking up with Girlxoxo for the October theme of psychological mess-with-your-mind games and Joy for British Isles Friday.