Starting August strong with another blog tour!
Thanks to Bookouture for the ebook copy and having me on another blog tour
THE TAPES – Kerry Wilkinson (Releasing August 11th, 2025)
Book Description:
‘If you’re listening to this, I’ve been murdered.’
Eve is clearing her father’s house when she finds an old cassette player and a box of tapes. Though grieving, she smiles at the spark of nostalgia.
One tape is labelled ‘Eve’ – in her mother, Angela’s, scrawled handwriting. She disappeared for good more than ten years ago.
The tape whirrs. A voice crackles. ‘My name is Angela’. Tears fill Eve’s eyes at the familiar voice, at the thought this message is just for her. But the next words make her heart pound.
‘If they say I’m missing, I’m not. If you’re listening to this, I’ve been murdered.’
Desperate for answers, Eve has no one left to ask – only a box of tapes that could lead to the truth. But the more she listens, the more she realises she can never go to the police…
Because Eve’s mother had her own secrets. But what if her killer is still out there? And what if Eve is next?
An absolutely unputdownable psychological thriller that will have you racing through the pages late into the night! Anyone who loves Shari Lapena, John Marrs or Lisa Jewell will be totally addicted.
My Thoughts: This is my third book from Kerry Wilkinson and he’s quickly becoming a new go-to for thrillers! I will say, I almost always roll my eyes when I see thrillers advertising that they’re all “unputdownable”, but when you pick up a Wilkinson book, you better have some time cleared out because his books are just that. THE TAPES is no different. I loved the role the cassette tapes played in this story and how they helped drive the plot and unravel more and more questions throughout the mystery.
While going through some old boxes, Eve finds some old cassette tapes and one is labeled with her name on it. In the unmistakable handwriting of her mother, Angela, she immediately goes to listen to it. Angela disappeared more than a decade ago, never to be heard from again, and it has always plagued Eve with self doubt about whether or not her mother ever truly cared about or loved her. When the tape begins to play she hears her mother say, ‘If they say I’m missing, I’m not. If you’re listening to this, I’ve been murdered.’ I don’t know about you, but that would have me more than just a little panicked.
Eve finds herself going down the rabbit hole of the tapes and her mother’s other confessions. Some things don’t make any sense and her mother is the ultimate unreliable narrator as she is a known compulsive liar. Will Eve be able to find out what happened to her mother? This was a great and compelling read. I had a lot of fun with it and I really did love the inclusion of the cassettes. They were both a great point of nostalgia and made me feel old realizing how many readers might not have ever used them. Another win for me with Wilkinson and I can’t wait for more!
About the Author:
Kerry Wilkinson is from the English county of Somerset but has spent far too long living in the north. It’s there that he’s picked up possibly made-up regional words like ‘barm’ and ‘ginnel’. He pretends to know what they mean.
He’s also been busy since turning thirty: his Jessica Daniel crime series has sold more than a million copies in the UK; he has written a fantasy-adventure trilogy for young adults; a second crime series featuring private investigator Andrew Hunter and the standalone thriller, Down Among The Dead Men.
Connect with Kerry:
Jessicamap Reviews 