Belinda Bauer weaves a dark, atmospheric and bleak crime story in the style of the darkest of fairytales, set in the West Country in Somerset. It is inhabited by a Goldilocks burglar, a child so traumatised, that he is drawn to homes with their pictures of happy families, living their lives of security and love, the antithesis of his own sorrowful, despairing and traumatised life. He is known for sleeping in children's beds of the homes he breaks into. On a sweltering day in 1998, 11 year old Jack, his younger sisters, Joy, and toddler, Merry, leave their broken down car to see what is keeping their pregnant mother, who had set out to phone for help. There is no sign of their mother, until days later when her discarded body is discovered stabbed on the side of a road. The impact on the family is harrowing, unbearable and devastating, the father descends into a pit of pain and grief that he loses his job, losing his bearings that he cannot cope with looking after his children, and never returns home after leaving to go the store.

The burden of looking after his siblings falls upon Jack, as he schools his sisters to pretend that their father is still in their lives in an effort to avoid being split apart by being taken in by social services. It is 2001, and Jack is now 14 years old, tasked with trying to feed his sisters, and handle the outside world. Their home is filled to the rafters with walls of newspapers, amidst which the children burrow and live. The hairless saviour, fence, thief and liar, Louis Bridge proves to be an invaluable help to the young Jack, as Jack finds himself living on the edges of society, surviving and providing for his family by acquiring the skills of a cat burglar. That is until the day he sees the incriminating knife that he is convinced killed his mother in the home of the pregnant Catherine While. Jack doesn't care about being caught, he wants his mother killer to be arrested much more. DCI John Marvel has been banished into the wild backwaters of Taunton Police after transgressions committed in the London Met. He is certain he can return to his former life if he was to succeed in solving high profile murders. He sees his path to glory by solving this cold case murder and makes a deal with Jack. The two join forces as they chase down the maker of magical knives in their search for evidence to bring down the big bad wolf, a ruthless killer.

It takes a little while before the multiple threads in the narrative begin to connect, so please persevere because this a story you do not want to miss. Bauer writes a hugely compelling novel, impressively plotted, with original and eccentric characters from Louis Bridge to the unassuming character creating the unique magical knives that clients hunger for. At the heart of it all is a family, drowning in misery and unrelenting pain, their future crushed by the inhuman act that deprives them of a loving mother and wife. The courageous and brave Jack holds his family together against all the odds, driven by a fury and determination to see justice for his beloved mother. A brilliant and beguiling read of a quest to nail a killer and keep a family and its sanity together. Highly recommended! Many thanks to Random House Transworld for an ARC.

Belinda Bauer, Snap, Penguin Random House/ Transworld

Sometimes authors really do burst upon the scene; I remember the year Belinda Bauer seemed to pick up a bouquet of prizes at the CWA awards dinner. From me, she gets the Humane Detection award many times over, and Snap, her latest book, is at her confident best. Like Mick Herron, she can tell a story, take the point of view of her characters, and—wonderfully—seed them along the way so that they can flower.
A very pregnant mum is driving her three children along a motorway when her car conks out. She pulls over to the verge, gets out of the car, and heads off to the nearest roadside rescue phone (remember those?). Her children are worried when she doesn’t return, and set off to try to find her, but they never see her again. Her widowed husband can’t cope and deserts them; his oldest child (Jack, eleven) takes over, calculating that the only way to keep his siblings out of Care is to man up and be mother and father to them. This involves him becoming ‘Goldilocks’, the cat burglar with over a hundred break-ins to his name, and a target for the local police. He keeps the home fires burning as best he can, but over almost three years becomes increasingly distraught about his inability to be a grown-up who takes charge. He is fourteen before he succeeds in turning himself in. In the course of his thieving, he only takes food that is good for him and his siblings (‘no McDonalds’, as one of the cops points out). Desperate for help, he turns to a very pregnant woman and writes her threatening notes intended to provoke her into ringing the police. But she doesn’t.
Quite by coincidence (well, it is crime fiction after all), he has stumbled upon the man who killed his mother, and has taken the man’s precious knife. Meanwhile, a quiet nick morphs into something more or less incredible, as the cops try to find the source of the murder weapon. What follows is so complicated that the cops need to recruit Goldilocks to help them track down the killer (because he’s a skinny boy with cat burglar credentials). Additionally, some of the twists are hiding in plain sight. It may be necessary for readers used to the addict’s full cracking-on to dog-ear some of the pages (OK, of course not if you’re using an e-reader, but you see what I mean). I have to leave you now, for all the traditional no-spoiler reasons. Nevertheless, it’s quite something to have a young teenager at the heart of the matter.

This books starts with three children sitting in a broken down car. Their mum has gone to find a phone box to call for help. Eleven year old Jack has a new watch and it soon becomes evident that their mum has been a long time; an awfully long time. So he takes his two younger sisters and goes to look for her. They eventually find the phone but not their mum. The children are reunited with their father but it is not long until a body is found and he can't really cope anymore. Thus the fate of the family now all falls on Jack's shoulders. But he is only a child. What can he possibly do to keep them afloat? The answer comes from a strange place, a new ally who helps Jack with his task. The years go by and Jack starts to think more about his mother's death. How it is still an open case with no one paying for the crime. Then he discovers a clue. Can he do what the police failed on and actually find out what happened to his mother?
Meanwhile we have a heavily pregnant Catherine waking up to find a knife and a threatening note beside her bed. Husband Adam is working away so she is alone and a bit scared. Why is she reluctant to tell anyone about it though? I mean, we all know what happens in these books when there are secrets and lies...
Oh my, I really felt for Jack and his sisters with the hand that life had dealt them. But I also really admired the way that they had just got on with things. Doing what they need to survive, albeit it mostly outside the law, but with morals nonetheless. With how they looked after each other and how even though they were left devoid of parental care and guidance they still did pretty much OK for themselves.
Catherine and Adam however were a bit more complex. Well described and congruent within their personalities and roles within the plot but I can't say that I particularly liked either of them.
The other main players in the book were the police and they were all quite unlikable too. It was almost like they were caricatures and that didn't quite fit in well with me all the time. But, that said, it did fit in well with the plot so I guess it's all good. They did have some redeeming characteristics which were more prevalent towards the end of the book.
Pacing was slow but steady. It was more cerebral than action packed although it did have its moments there too. What I am trying to say is that instead of being all about wild twists and turns, red herrings, or sleight of hand, it was more what you see is what you get but I'm not going to show you the whole picture quite yet.
All in all, a good solid read that kept my attention nicely throughout and left me satisfied at the end. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I absolutely loved this book, in fact it is the best book I have read so far this year. It’s riveting, a real page turner and dealing with children always touches the heart.
On a hot summers day eleven year old Jack and his two sisters are travelling with their mother when the car breaks down. Heavily pregnant she decides to walk to the emergency phone, telling the children to wait in the car for her. She doesn’t come back and is found murdered a few days later.
Jump to three years later and Jack is trying to keep his family together, his father couldn’t cope and has left and Jack doesn’t want to have the family split up and put into care. At 14 he does the only thing he knows to do to feed his sisters, he steals. One of his burglaries doesn’t go to plan as the house is occupied, but he sees something that puts him on the path to finding his mothers killer.
Great story, fabulous characters a must read.

On a sunny day in the glorious sunshine are jack who is 11 year old and his mother says he is in charge because the car is broken . His mother goes missing and 3 years later he finds out about his mother .
I have ARC

One hot day Jack and his two sisters wait in their broken down car for their mum to come back from calling for help to rescue them, but she never returns.

Years later, a pregnant lady called Catherine finds her house has been burgled and a note is left beside her bed.

Jack however is still in charge of his sisters, his dad left years ago and he is hellbent in finding out the truth of what happened to his mother.

This story was a slow burner for me, there were however some good parts and some other parts which I felt dragged on a little.

An interesting and intriguing thriller,full of great characters. It took me a little while at the start to unravel all the threads of this story but once it got going I really enjoyed it.

Another cracking read from Belinda Bauer and an added bonus with the return of the truly marvellous Marvel. Bauer has the ability to write crime novels that are just that little bit different, with characters that are truly unique and with this book she gives us Jack Bright a fourteen year old dealing with raising his two sisters, living in a house with a hoarder and being a pretty good burglar on the side. I devoured this book and I suggest you do the same.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it had great characters, dark humour and suspense. I would recommend it.

This book was not what I expected, I thought it was going to be a straightforward thriller, but it was much more than that.At first I wasn't sure about all the characters I didn't think I liked any of the police team and thought they had been written to be unlikable, but then the penny dropped and I began to see that every character in the book was delightfully dysfunctional as the book progressed I began to appreciate the humour and the fact that all the characters were so flawed added to it, I loved the youngest sister what a little character, and I had every sympathy for the young lad trying to keep his family together, even if he wasn't exactly going about it in the right way I saw that his heart was in the right place.No spoilers but this was like reading an episode of MASH or One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest it was totally surreal and I loved it.It still had all the elements of a good thriller but with added extras and the characters became more fleshed out as the book progressed and I started to like them all, I think this is a totally original and rather wonderful writer.I would love to see some of these characters again although don't know if that will be possible but they are too good to leave behind.I can't wait to read more by this author and thoroughly enjoyed this book, and definitely recommend it. I think you have to accept that this is probably going to be more than you expected and as long as you can keep an open mind you should enjoy this hopefully as much as I did.Thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for an ARC.

A clever, quirky read with brilliant characters and a huge emotional punch.

Thanks Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book. I’ve read all of Belinda Bauer’s books and enjoyed them all so when I came across this one I had to read it!! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this,’it’s very well written and I really like Jack’s character. I’m not going to go into the storyline- I don’t see the point in reviews like that. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, it kept me interested the entire way through. Will be buying a copy for my bookshelf!

I would like to thank Netgalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for an advance copy of Snap, a stand alone novel set in Tiverton, Somerset.

The novel opens with 11 year old Jack Bright and his younger sisters sitting in a broken down car on the hard shoulder waiting for their mother to return from phoning the emergency services (it's 1998 so she doesn't have a mobile) but she doesn't return. Three years on and Jack is trying to keep the family together, DCI John Marvel is starting a new phase of his career in Tiverton after being forced out of the Met and a very pregnant Catherine While finds a strange knife and a note saying "I could have killed you" on her bed after chasing off a burglar.

I thoroughly enjoyed Snap, as I have with all of Ms Bauer's novels. It is a bit of a slow burner as the reader tries to work out how all these disparate threads come together but once they start to mesh the novel is tense, enthralling, gripping and mesmerising. I must admit that I struggled initially as the narrative switched between three different narrators and their very different lives. The characters are well drawn but without the link, which was slow in coming, I found it difficult to engage but I'm glad I stuck with it as it turns into a cracker. It's very much a novel of two halves.

I like Ms Bauer's writing style from her well drawn characters and clever plotting to the sly, humorous digs at her characters and their self importance or the situations they get themselves in to.

The characterisation is very strong with not all of them likeable but they are all very human and recognisable as such. Jack is a poor wee soul trying to keep his family together by any means. It's too much responsibility for a teenager but full credit to him for trying. DCI Marvel does not cut an attractive figure at first with his moaning about the countryside and big city arrogance but he has hidden depths and a certain kindness he disguises as pragmatism. Catherine's life revolves around keeping her unborn baby safe and well and so blames her hormones for some flaky reasoning and decision making although I suspect she may be like that all the time!

Snap is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

First by this author that I’ve read. Came highly praised by many on social media.

Fast, paced and a great lead character in Jack.

I expected some more twists along the way, and the ending wa upon me way before I expected it.

Commercially sound, would expect to sell well.

I read snap in a snap – any Belinda Bauer novel is highly addictive and this one had both a sense of darkness and a sense of fun about it around the horrible events – and it had Jack, a character I really wish would get his own series.

That edgy, tense feeling you are used to when reading a novel from this author is still in full flow – After Jack’s mother disappears, his father becomes distant leaving Jack to care for his sisters and ensuring they don’t starve. Meanwhile Catherine awakes to a sinister note on her pillow and more and more strange things start occurring. Local policemen are looking for a thief known as “Goldilocks”..these three strands all come together in an unexpected and highly excellent fashion, creating a right proper page turner.

It is a slow burner – Belinda Bauer cranks up the tension, allows her characters to speak and draws you into their world. As ever it is a beautifully written, highly compelling psychological thriller.

Also as ever, recommended. Along with everything else she’s written.

It wasn't until I was about a quarter of the way through this book that I began to enjoy it. The first part of the book had a lot of background into why Jack had turned into a petty thief and what had driven him to it - all very useful background. At first I didn't take to DCI Marvel at all - he was rude, scruffy and didn't appear to treat his colleagues with respect at all. But then the book took off with Jack keen to discover the truth about what had happened to his mother three years ago and DCI Marvel was the only person who seemed to be taking him seriously. I enjoyed the twists and turns in the book as they tried to uncover the mystery of the knife and discover he truth. Pacey and page turning and also very moving in parts, particularly Jack's struggle to keep his family together. A good stand alone crime thriller!