Book review: To Catch A Creeper - Ellie Campbell
Cathy is riding high in her brand-new job at a (surprisingly bitchy) top London advertising agency working with best friend Rosa. But when Rosa’s pregnancy goes amiss and enemies sabotage her new career, she finds herself leading a chaotic double life of lies and deception, hiding a shameful secret from all, especially husband Declan who appears in the throes of a nervous breakdown.
Meanwhile she’s agreed to unmask the notorious Crouch End Creeper, a burglar terrorizing their neighbourhood. Little does she know that her meddling, assisted by fellow mothers (the Wednesday Once Weeklies) and the Neighbourhood Watch, will lead their dangerous opponent to murder. And that it's not only the tall elegant transvestite who is placing herself at risk...
My opinion.
Cathy and the other characters are introduced in Ellie Campbell's first novel Looking for La La. Although it's not necessary to read both books, I do recommend it. I don't think I would have understood the characters and the situation as well if I hadn't read Looking for La La first.
I really enjoyed reading Looking for La La, as you can read here (I gave it 5 stars!). I struggled with Cathy, the main character, but I was very relieved it didn't stop me from really enjoying the book... I'm afraid I cannot say the same about To Catch a Creeper. I got really annoyed with Cathy and I had a hard time connecting with her. I felt she was even more superficial, naive and socially awkward than she seemed to be in book #1.
In Looking for La La Cathy struggles with finding her own identity again. After being a stay at home mum for so many years, she seems to have lost her true self. She was desperate to find herself again as an individual, and how she fit in her marriage. In To Catch A Creeper she seems to have succeeded most of that. Until everything, of course, goes completely wrong. Her "2 day old career" is falling apart and she no longer recognizes the man she married. The story has a lot of twists and again you catch a glimpse of 'day to day life' in a London suburb. Cathy's friends are a very diverse, very mixed group which adds to the story because they all bring something very different. I would have liked to have read more about her relationships with Dec. and Rosa. The story hints at their problems and how these relationships will eventually evolve, but Cathy's (ridiculous?) search for the Creeper overshadows both.
About the author(s)
Ellie Campbell is the author name for two sisters, Lorraine Campbell and Pam Burks, who write together collaborating by phone and email from Surrey, UK and Colorado, USA. They have published three books, How To Survive Your Sisters, When Good Friends Go Bad and Looking For La La.
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Check out Looking for La La
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Thank you to Lorraine and Pam,
for giving me the opportunity to read
both "Crouch End Mysteries"!
Thanks so much for your honest review. It was really interesting to hear your thoughts on this, even though you preferred Looking for La La. We are in the process of writing our third Crouch End Confidential Mystery, we would love you to review this when the time comes. :)
ReplyDeleteReally wished I'd liked it better - felt bad about it! But I'd like to read the third Crouch End mystery, thank you :-)
Deletexxx Mary