I read Next of Kin by Kia Abdullah (see my blog on Take it Back) on my way to a week of walking the south west coastal path in Dorset and it was gripping from start to finish.

It centres around two sisters and their husbands. Leila is the eldest and is a hard-working, successful business woman married to Will. Her younger sister Yasmin lives around the corner with her husband Andrew and their three-year-old son Max.

Leila is on hand to help her younger sister with money and babysitting, but has separated from Will after the pressure of four miscarriages and a disagreement over adoption. It’s in this context that one morning Andrew rings her up to ask her to take Max to school.

Horrific consequences quickly unfurl and the four are left reeling and facing crushing guilt.

There is always something hovering beneath the surface and when the plot twists come thick and fast they are simply breathtaking. The weight of the final realisation is shocking and stayed with me as I kept returning to how beautifully it had been set up.

A highly recommended holiday read.