By Daney Parker https://daneyparker.co.uk/ @daneyparker
Published independently through Amazon Publishing
283 pages ISBN 9798391803829
Publication date 19 April 2023
I was sent a paperback copy of the novel to participate in its Blog Tour. Many thanks to the Author and Team LitPR https://www.literallypr.com/ @literallypr for allowing me to participate in the tour.
The cover
The paperback cover captures a dark slightly brooding river scene, at sunrise or more likely sunset, but is perhaps a little too generic. The eBook version is much brighter with a riverboat scene and works much better for me.
My thoughts
Grace is a reporter on a local weekly newspaper, she is bogged down with the mundane. You know the kind of thing, arguments at the parish council, fly tipping and the local summer fete. Hardly worth all the training and college work to report on this kind of thing. Until one day she is given the assignment of investigating the death of a cyclist. The cyclist was run over by a bus on a wet and windy day, the driver was distraught and there was a suspicion that the cyclist may well have been pushed into its path. An old lady pulling a distinctive shopping trolly was seen in the vicinity, surely she couldn’t be a callous killer? Grace is reluctant at first because memories are being rekindled, back to her wedding day when she became a killer… Could such a small-town harbour two killers, living merely streets apart?
Just what did happen on the river cruiser on Grace’s wedding day? She’s convinced she became a killer that day. After bottling things up for so long she decides to write down her thoughts as a form of confessional. The reader must ponder over whether it is to clear her mind, to come clean with the police or will it become a suicide note.
When Grace’s friend Ruth’s cat Boris goes missing, they search and put up ‘missing cat’ posters. An old lady rings Ruth telling her she has found Boris so all is well. When Grace’s cat Miro also goes missing and is also found by an old lady, Grace’s journalistic senses are twitching. It turns out to be the same old woman, Iris who claims to have a knack in finding lost cats and keeps a folder of her successes. Grace sets out to discover whether Iris is a mysterious ‘cat whisperer’ or whether there is something more sinister at play?
The story is told through two timelines an historical one which covers from college to marriage and one two years later when Grace struggles with the past and writes her ‘confession’. Each chapter starts with a short press cutting with Grace’s byline to give a sense of how mundane her job is, and most have sections of the confession. This structuring works well, both strands each progress towards the events of the fateful day as it happens and as Grace remembers it in conversations with Ruth. This holds the reader’s attention and builds up suspense, though we are aware that answers will be revealed when we reach the wedding day, a day which holds several surprises.
We quickly become aware that Grace is a troubled young woman. Her father died when she was very young and her mother is rather cold, issuing strong punishment for ‘stealing’ biscuits out of the tin (and it was only a custard cream not a chocolate one!) This leads to Grace internalising problems, brooding over them and generally making things worse. The sort of person that people seem to treat badly she takes these slights to heart. Her mother, husband Conrad and friend Skye have all treated her badly and an emotionally hurt Grace might have killed one of them the reader realises. Which one? The problem is that Grace has managed to dwell on it so much, replaying events in her mind like a video so often, that like a rerecorded video tape become fuzzy so do her recollections. Each iteration changing the telling very slightly like a game of Chinese whispers with herself.
Ruth is the sort of best friend that we all should have sensible, stoic (well she has boisterous young twins) and caring. It is Ruth who endeavours to save Grace from herself. She tries to draw her into the reality of the current day whilst also confronting her demons. Personally I found Ruth a more engaging character that Grace with all her insecurities.
This is a story of perspectives and recollections. That three people can experience the same event whilst in proximity but each have a different perspective of what happened. Time makes matters worse as recollections dim or can change over time. So, the reader can never be certain what the truth is for much of the story.
This is a relatively short novel, so the story progresses quickly, and the added switches of timeline keep the reader hooked. The suspense that is built is one more of curiosity and intrigue rather than one of shock and horror, even though we know of at least one body. Once the journey is commenced you will be convinced to remain on board to its ultimate destination, the truth. Or is it just another distorted recollection? Who is The Push Over?
The Push Over is a suspenseful tale of confused recollections.
The Push Over can be purchased from Amazon here
The author
Daney has enjoyed working with words for as long as she can remember. Her career has mainly been working as a journalist for magazines, but her passion is making up stories. There is always some truth in the novels she writes – for example, in The Push Over the wedding reception is held on the same boat that Daney had her wedding reception on. Thank goodness, though, no one died during the real wedding party.
As well as writing, Daney likes chatting and has a habit of getting people to reveal their deepest, darkest secrets. So if you ever meet up with her, be careful what you reveal.
Daney writes in the Isle of Wight, has two children, one husband and two cats.
Source: Amazon profile
Don’t forget to check out all the other great reads on this Blog Tour:
Peter turns the page 