Review: Did You See Melody?

Did You See Melody? by Sophie Hannah
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Pushed to breaking point, Cara Burrows abandons her home and family and escapes to a five-star spa resort she can't afford. Late at night, exhausted and desperate, she lets herself into her hotel room and is shocked to find it already occupied - by a man and a teenage girl.

A simple mistake on the part of the hotel receptionist - but Cara's fear intensifies when she works out that the girl she saw alive and well in the hotel room is someone she can't possibly have seen: the most famous murder victim in the country, Melody Chapa, whose parents are serving life sentences for her murder.

Cara doesn't know what to trust: everything she's read and heard about the case, or the evidence of her own eyes. Did she really see Melody? And is she prepared to ask herself that question and answer it honestly if it means risking her own life?


Judging by the reviews on Goodreads this is a bit of a Marmite book. You either love it or hate. I enjoyed it although the overworked description of the spa resort at the beginning of the book was a challenge to get through.

It's told in the present but there are flashbacks in the form of written testimony that reveal the details of how Melody went missing and how her parents were subsequently charged and found guilty of her murder, even though her body was never found.

The uncovering of the mystery is a bit far fetched at times but there is a plot and there are twists. It kept me engaged and there is a sinister revelation at the end that will get you thinking.

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