Welcome to my review of The Stepson By Jane Renshaw. I loved the last book I read by Jane Renshaw (Watch Over Me – Review here) so I thought I would give this one a try and it was awesome! It’s a great premise for a book and I enjoyed the writing style and characters. It also has an especially good ending!
Psychotherapist Lulu is sure she’s the luckiest woman alive. She has a wonderful job and is married to the love of her life, Nick – who also happens to be ridiculously handsome and fabulously wealthy.
But now a shadow has fallen on her perfect life.
She can see that Nick is struggling with demons from his past. When he was sixteen his entire family disappeared without a trace and Nick has always insisted thathis stepmother – whom he hated – was to blame, that she did something terrible to his beloved father and baby sister. And that trauma has left him feeling that anyone he loves is in danger, might vanish in a heartbeat.
So now he is obsessed with Lulu’s safety. He needs to know where she is 24/7, insists she carries a can of pepper spray, is constantly watching for any potential threats.
Lulu can see that this extreme anxiety is wearing Nick down. And as a therapist, she knows the only way to heal a trauma is to confront it. So she persuades him to return to the country house from which his family vanished.
But soon after they arrive in this sleepy rural community, another person disappears.
As Lulu is forced to question everything she knows about Nick and his missing family, dark secrets emerge from the past. The certainties of her old life fade away and are replaced by a horror she could never have imagined in her wildest nightmares.
Taken from Jane Renshaw’s Website:
Having discovered early in my ‘career’ that I didn’t have what it takes to be a scientist, I shuffled sideways into scientific and medical editing, which has the big advantage that I can do it while watching Bargain Hunt.
I now live in the north-east of Scotland, by coincidence just half a mile or so from the tiny hamlet in which my great-great-grandmother Jane Renshaw, the wife of a shoemaker, brought up her eight children and where she is buried under a lichen-covered headstone in the graveyard. I hope she would not mind my borrowing her name.
Visit her at www.janerenshaw.co.uk
I chose The Stepson because I had read Jane Renshaw’s work before and enjoyed it. The blurb was interesting.
An Australian psychologist, Lulu, has recently married Nick after a very brief relationship and moved to London to live with him in his beautiful apartment. She enjoys her new life and being with Nick even though he can be challenging. She knows this is due to anxiety around his past. However, lulu probably should have been more concerned about his controlling nature undercover as protective of her safety.
The story is told from two perspectives. The first, set in 1997, is told by Maggie, Nicks stepmother, and the present is described by Lulu, Nicks new wife. Lulu and Nick return to his childhood home to help him process his harrowing childhood where his whole family just disappeared one day. But this turns out to be far from what Lulu thinks it will be. So instead, we learn more about why Nick is the way he is and what has shaped his life.
This is a quick read with a fast pace, a lot is going on, and it’s very intriguing. You don’t know where this is going a lot of times. Is Maggie telling the truth, or does she just despise her stepson and want her new husband to herself? She has a sketchy past and could just be trying to paint him in a bad light.
Likewise, is Lulu too trusting and naïve for jumping into a deep relationship so very soon, or can she genuinely help Nick become less oppressive and a better husband?
The characters were all well rounded and described. Nick is brilliantly written. He is creepy, disturbed and even more so as we go through the story. Lulu is naïve but lovely; she feels she may have rushed into marriage too soon and wants to ensure that she hasn’t. Duncan is the most devoted father anyone could ask for but is he naïve as well or just protecting his son Nick for a good reason? Maggie was my favourite. She has a sinister past; she is feisty, somewhat dodgy and knows what she wants and will stop at nothing.
The book’s conclusion was great, a strong ending that I didn’t see coming.
I loved the characters and the way this story is told. It’s very well written with an intriguing plot and a surprising ending. I enjoyed reading this and got through it in two short sittings: one to curl up on the sofa with a hot chocolate and read straight through.
Many thanks to the publisher, author and Netgalley for an Advanced Review Copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own and are not influenced in any way.
| Title | The Stepson |
| Author | Jane Renshaw |
| Series | N/A |
| Format | eARC |
| Page Count | 326 Pages |
| Genre | Mystery & Thriller |
| Publisher | Inkubator Books |
| Release Date | 9th December 2021 |
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