I really enjoyed this thriller, which was a nice who dunnit.
It was difficult to guess as the writer was really good at twists and turns. It was well paced, really entertaining.

Recommended if you're looking for a good thriller.
Thanks a lot to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy.

A really good thriller which kept me on the edge of my seat and kept me guessing the whole way through.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

**3.5 stars rounded up to 4 for NetGalley, Goodreads and Amazon**

I received a free eARC of Safe House but that has in no way influenced my review.

Charlie Miller is a woman with a lot to hide. What’s the best thing to do when you’ve made a number of terrible mistakes and want to forget your past? When you walk down the street of the town which you’ve lived your entire life in and people spit at you? You obviously up sticks and move to a different part of the country! Charlie Miller moves her meagre belongings to Penderrion in Cornwall and starts afresh. But Charlie Miller is a brand new creation. A new identity to help ex-convict Steffi Finn fit in. Steffi has just been released from HMP Hillstone for providing a false alibi for her partner, Lee Fisher. But that’s in the past. No one knows who Charlie really is. Or do they….?

I enjoyed this slow-burn psychological suspense novel. I found Charlie, despite her faults, easy to like and the setting, the beautiful and dramatic Cornish coastline, played as much a part in the story as the characters themselves. With Jakeman’s vivid descriptions I could picture myself stood on the cliffs overlooking the turbulent waves.

There’s a wonderful sense of impending danger and unease throughout the novel which comes from three angles. The lawyer husband of Jenn who seems to recognise Charlie on first sight, the unknown narrator who appears a handful of times throughout the novel and from Ben Jarvis who seems hellbent on trying to track Charlie down. For what purpose the reader is left wondering.

Would I recommend this book? If you like a lighter, edging on women’s fiction thriller, then yes – this is a book for you. Charlie’s neighbours were great characters and I enjoyed the community spirit they embodied – particularly Aubrey who was my favourite character in the book (and had very little community spirit about him but he was fond of Charlie and I think we all know or have known an Aubrey). An entertaining read to while away an Autumnal afternoon.

I chose and read and review an eARC of Safe House. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

I bleeping loved this book!

Not the most verbose of reviews, I realise, but for me, this story is unputdownable.

As Charlie’s story is revealed via past and present (or, present and past), I found myself walking a tightrope of tension as I held my breath waiting for the other shoe to drop.

They say there are three sides to every story: his, hers and the truth. But which version of the truth is to be believed? Is the truth even the truth?

There are many types of abuse. Psychological is one of the worst. Before you know it, your thoughts are no longer your own.

Even when we set out with the best of intentions, can we atone for sins of the past when the outcomes were so egregious?

Ugh, I really should know better *palms face*. I started this book with judgment already in place, but quickly realised I needed to take a step back and reassess the facts. Perception is everything, isn’t it?

Setting is key, and the author really brought Cornwall alive with her vivid descriptions which lent itself to the overall feel of the book. I was freezing the entire time I read, even though the heating was on full blast *shrugs*.

Safe House is everything I love (and hate in equal measure – coz I’m twisted like that *snorts*) in a great thriller. *rubs chest* I think my heartbeat has just about returned to normal.

Right, enough of my wafflings, I’m off to make a cuppa to calm my nerves.

Steffi Finn is in prison, serving 10 months for giving a false alibi for her boyfriend, Lee. The relationship had been one sided and very coercive, but she loved Lee….but he had then killed another woman…

On her release, she moves to Cornwall, takes a new identity, Charlie Miller, and settles into life in a small community.

However, she starts to feel she is being watched, is this paranoia? Or is someone really watching, someone who knows her real identity?

This is quite a gentle psychological thriller, but it has a sense of foreboding, a darkness to it that really makes this so gripping. The clever plot, the twists and surprises make this a thoroughly entertaining read.

Thank you to Harvill Secker and NetGalley for a free copy of the book. This is my honest and unbiased review.

I really enjoyed this book
This book was a real who dunnit. I wanted to feel really sorry for Charlie but then at the same time when I was wanting to feel sorry for her, I had my doubts as to whether she was guilty or not

I did not see the first at the end coming and I love it when thrillers shock me like that did

The book was real edge of your sit material. The whole book was full of suspects.
Overall a great book

Thank you to Mia for my invitation to the tour and for my copy of the book in return for a fair and honest review.



The story begins with Charlie relocating to Cornwall in a near derelict house, we soon find out that Charlie is not her real name and that she has a past that she is trying to escape.

She moves to the small village of Penderrion and the residents are eager to find out all there is to know about their new neighbour.

They are not the only ones who want to find out about Charlie...



Ben Jarvis wants to find Steff Finn and make her pay for what she did, he will go to any lengths to discover where she is.

I liked the fast pace of the book and I enjoyed the different chapters reflecting the different points of view of the characters.

It is story with many layers and I enjoyed reading as it had an element of suspense and twists and turns as the real story of Steff/ Charlie becomes apparent.



A great psychological thriller with a dark side that leaves you compelled to read on.

*3.5 stars *
When Steffi Finn provided a false alibi for her controlling boyfriend Lee Fisher, she had no idea how bad that decision was, but it sees them both serve a prison sentence, and in Steffi’s case it comes with numerous death threats too.

On her release from prison she assumes a new identity under the name of Charlie Miller, and moves hundreds of miles away from her home in Sheffield to a small village on the Cornish coast.

Initially Charlie keeps herself to herself, but as with most small villages it isn’t that easy. Her neighbours are keen to see who’s bought the run down house and when they pay her a call, they want to know all about her. Eventually Charlie begins to integrate, but there’s always the fear that someone will recognise her - and added to that, she also believes that she’s being watched.

Told in the form of dual timelines that very slowly reveal Charlie’s and Lee’s backstory, there were some very tense moments, along with lots of interesting characters, some of whom have you questioning their motives towards Charlie.

Although I felt the storyline lost it’s way a little towards the middle, it definitely picked up again leading to a fast paced conclusion.

This is the first book that I have read by Jo Jakeman and I will definitely be buying her debut Sticks and Stones after enjoying Safe House so much. The main character Charlie Miller moves into a small Cornish village Penderrion; it is obvious from the beginning that she has something to hide and is not prepared for the warm (and somewhat overbearing) welcome she receives from her neighbours. Charlie is very guarded and must be careful not to trip over the lies she has created around this new life she has created. Whatever she is running from must be bad as she has moved into a crumbling cottage which is barely suitable to live in.

The reasons behind the secrecy are soon revealed. Charlie has recently been released from prison after serving a sentence for providing a false alibi for her partner Lee. She was previously known as Steffi Finn and Lee was obviously a very controlling partner, so much so that she is gas-lighted into believing everything she is told. She changes her behaviour, drinking habits and is gradually cut off from her friends. Obviously as a reader my hackles were up; how could Steffi let this man control her so much!? Sadly this is something which does happen and Safe House gives an insight into how easily it can be to fall prey to such a partner.

It was also really interesting how Steffi was practically trialed and judged by the press before she was even sentenced. To be vilified in such a way must be heart breaking but at the end of the day she didn’t commit the murders and was the one to go to the police with further information which led to Lee’s conviction. You don’t blame her for wanting a fresh start but she soon realises that she may never have the anonymity she so desires as someone is out for revenge! How long can Charlie stay safe in this village when there are so many loose tongues and suspicious minds about…

Highly recommend!

It’s tense. It’s dark. It’s everything a good thriller should be. It’s Safe House by Jo Jakeman!
This book has such an interesting premise that I couldn’t help but be hooked. Gone are the days of protagonists being stalked for reasons unknown, to be revealed at the final plot twist. No: in this book, you know exactly what the heroine has done, and why. In fact, you might even sympathise with the stalker. The only question is who they are.
Because Steffi Finn has just gotten out of prison, and she’s trying to reinvent herself. Her crime? Being an accomplice to the murders of two women, and covering up for her boyfriend who committed the crime. Now she’s moved to Cornwall and is hoping that the world will move on and forget about her. But two people are closing in on her, and they want revenge.
From the start, Safe House fascinated me, because it offers such a fresh perspective. A woman, out of jail, trying to start over. How much of a fresh start does she deserve? Are the people coming after her justified? And exactly how guilty was she of the crime she was put away for? The lines are drawn in shades of grey, and I definitely found my sympathies flicking between the two- hunted and hunter- as the book drew on.
Jo Jakeman has a knack for telling a great story, and that shows in the way that she flicks between the present and the past. We see both sides of the story: Steffi, masquerading as Charlie Miller, trying to build her life in the present day, and Steffi in the past, slowly coming to the realisation that her boyfriend Lee might in fact be a cold-blooded killer. Jakeman also does a good job of drawing a sympathetic, believable main character: Steffi is clearly traumatised by what she’s gone through, and the relationship with Lee feels like a realistic portrayal of an abusive, toxic relationship. When you’re reading about her in the present day, you really feel like she’s been changed by everything she’s gone through.
Woven in with that are two other stories: those of Ben, a grieving father trying to track her down, and a mysterious other person, who has their own plans for Steffi. They do a great job of ratcheting up the tension, with the end result being that you always feel slightly on edge, as though somebody’s going to jump out from behind the curtain and attack you.
The only issue I have is with the book’s portrayal of Lee: namely, that there isn’t enough of one. We see him occasionally through flashbacks, but the danger he represents always feels one step removed- almost slightly irrelevant. And though the danger that Steffi is in- the danger of being discovered- shines through in the pages, it would have added an extra frisson of tension to feel like he was breathing down her neck the whole time, too. Watching her from prison.
But that’s a quibble. Overall, this book was a corker: equal doses of gripping, bittersweet, tense and satisfying. Jakeman has a knack for creating memorable characters; I’m looking forward to seeing what she comes up with next!

Charlie has bought a run-down house in a remote Cornish village. She’s going to start again with a new name and appearance. Nobody apart from one person knows where she is.

She’s not long out of prison for providing a false alibi for her controlling partner, Lee Fisher – a man she believed was the love of her life and not capable of what they said he did.

She’s there to start afresh and begins to make friends but feels someone is always watching her. It spooks her (and me!) out. She makes friends with her elderly neighbour who lives next door and a gaggle of women all around her age. Life seems to finally be turning a corner and she’s feeling happy for the first time in a long time.

But who is out to make her pay? She feels like she’s forever looking over her shoulder..

I read this story in a day, I thought it was absolutely fantastic and I couldn’t put it down. Highly recommend.

Charlie is a new person. Reinvented to keep herself safe and perhaps finally out from under the cloud of suspicion. New house, new friends and leaving the past behind is exactly what the doctor ordered, except someone with an agenda is hot on her trail.

I think the question of doubt hangs over Charlie throughout the entire book and with good reason I might add. Aside from the fact she actively helped him to hide his crimes, she is also the person who is the most intimate with him. How can she not have known what a monster he is? Or is she the monster?

I think this is the part of the story that drives the plot with such a force, the lingering doubt. There is also this atmosphere of blame regardless of whether she is actually guilty or not. It is hard to fathom how anyone can live with a killer or serial killer without being suspicious or noticing that something isn’t quite right, but it does happen.

One can argue that without her lies Lee would have been stopped sooner, thereby saving a life. Charlie deserved to be in prison, but does she deserve to be punished for the rest of her life for his crimes?

It’s a gripping psychological thriller that questions accountability in general and if justice is ever really served. Jakeman tells a good story, especially when it comes to casting a shadow of doubt over certain characters and the entire scenario.

A shout out to my favourite character, the cantankerous Aubrey. Perhaps he and Charlie should team up as a sleuthing duo?

Trust is important and once we lose it its hard to get it back. For those we love we always want to trust what they say; for friends we believe in their better natures and we want to believe everyone is a good person. If we put the trust in the wrong person though the results can be grave for us. In Jo Jakeman’s smart thriller Safe House, we watch how someone’s blind trust in the man they loved turns their life into a nightmare. One that they may never be truly free of.

Steffi Finn is now calling herself Charlie and has bought a very ramshackle house on the Cornish coast. She has no bed, no fridge and is keen not to discuss her past. We soon find out that Steffi was in prison for ten months as her boyfriend Lee for several years has been killing people. The first time the police saw Lee as a suspect she covered for him as she believed he was innocent. Later events made her confess to the police she lied but it turned out Lee had already killed again and so Steffi was sentenced to 10 months for a false alibi. While in prison she lost her job, her old home in Sheffield, her friends and saw the deaths of both parents. She is starting with very little in a remote part of the world and hopes her guise of Charlie will keep her safe. But a man is tracing her movements; investigating those who knew her, and he also has a score to settle at last.

I enjoyed this thriller a lot. Jakeman keeps you guessing as to what exactly is going on and we clearly are getting a message that these events will lead to some form of confrontation. Charlie is shown as good hearted but naïve in her earlier guide. Lee was the man she wanted – caring despite being a tad possessive and controlling. She only now realises her mistake and wants to move on. WE are shown she is kind natured and also with the loss of her parents perhaps already been punished quite a bit. The reader is immediately put on her side as someone who wants to turn a new lead. The lovely Cornish coastal town offers her that chance be it through kind neighbours offering jobs and company to a crotchety old neighbour who needs someone to help him. This creates the idyllic life she has been seeking but as always in paradise there may be something darker waiting.

Jakeman sets up a neat game of cat and mouse. We see our mysterious stranger stealing mail; pretending to be other people, all to find Charlie’s whereabouts. He seems to be seeking revenge of some sort but why? Charlie starts to get the intense feeling that she is being watched and a neighbour is now looking at her suspiciously. How long before Charlie is found out and will she again be chased away from her new home? The reveals of who is playing with Charlie and why are handled well (although possibly a little too out of the blue in the very final act). But there has been a great deal of build up so in the final third you end up suspicious of everyone so the final reveal was an interesting moment!

This is an extremely enjoyable thriller. Jakeman has created a very interesting lead character in Charlie but clearly has made a big mistake in her life but we want to see her succeed. I like the idea of a book about redemption and at the same time the thriller of why Charlie is in danger as well as the exploration of the nightmare Lee plunged her into made for an engrossing read. If you’re looking for a smart thriller to tide you this winter this would be a great read to try

In an attempt to rebuild her life after being released from prison Steffi moves to Cornwall. She changes her name, because of the threats she received for her crime and just wants to move on. But someone is aware of who she really is and it doesn’t take long for everything to go wrong.

I really enjoyed this novel. There is only one narrator but it feels like two as you find out how Steffi ended up in prison and how she tried to rebuild her life as Charlie when she was released.

Even though they were the same person they felt completely different. Steffi’s relationship with her father and her ex boyfriend made me cringe. Not because of violence, but because of the control and the constant put downs. I had a lot of sympathy for her. As Charlie, she seemed more confident, despite initial shyness and had a lot of time for others.

The location settings are perfect. Remote, beautiful but dangerous with some fantastic local characters, Aubrey in particular was one I really liked.

A great read and I will be reading the author’s previous book Sticks And Stones soon.

Safe House is as a the title suggests is what Charlie Miller is looking for, a place of security giving her the chance to rebuild her life after the events of the previous two years. But not everyone is happy that Charlie is free to continue on with her life, albeit different to the life she had led with her boyfriend Lee before his conviction for double murder.

From the outset you could sense the fear and paranoia that Charlie was feeling, all alone in the world with nowhere to go. She's unable to go back to her previous life so has no option but to start afresh somewhere new where no-one knows her, giving her the chance to stand on her own two feet without relying on anyone else. But can she really escape from the past especially when it looks like someone is out to seek revenge?

As soon as I read that she was leaving city life behind and heading south to Cornwall alarm bells were ringing in my head as it's easier to immerse and lose yourself in a big town or city than in a small tourist village. And the fact that she bought the derelict property sight unseen means that she has no idea what she is letting herself in especially as coastal Cornwall is not renowned for its mobile signal so she could literally be cut off from the outside world!

As we get to know more about Charlie and her past, we discover that she was just as much a victim although it would seem that one person in particular doesn't believe her and thinks she was more involved than she was letting on. Nothing she says or does will deter them otherwise and it would seem that they are going to seek out the truth no matter the cost...

Charlie as a character quite surprised me, she was a lot more stronger and resilient than I expected her to be as I thought she'd be a bit more vulnerable considering the fact that she now has to go it alone. I guess the fact that she no-one to turn to for support has made her stronger and she's had to develop the life skills needed to support herself. But by moving to a remote location, is she really moving on with her life or switching from one solitary lifestyle to another?

Safe House was a very dark, tense and atmospheric read with revenge at its core. The tension is amped up slowly by the author as she draws you into Charlie's life and we discover the events that brought her to this point. At the same time we are drip fed some narrative from a third party who is hell bent on revenge and I was constantly trying to second guess just who it could be especially as it all came to a head in the final few chapters.

Perfectly timed for Halloween Jo Jakeman is back with her second novel, Safe House. This domestic thriller set in a small town in Cornwall with a protagonist who’s desperately trying to hide her identity from the town’s locals, combines the necessary elements for a nerve-wracking, entertaining read. Read the full review on my blog https://wanderingwestswords.wordpress.com - link also attached.

Ooo that Jo Jakeman is a clever little bugger. I thought I had it pegged and I was, as the saying goes “close but no cigar”. I really should pay more attention as she had carefully laid clues in such a subtle way that this oaf missed them until it was too late. Now I love red herrings and unreliable narrators but what I really love is being misdirected even though the clues are there all along if you look hard enough. So when all is revealed you slap your forehead and shout god I’m a dimwit.

I loved the main character and her growing anxiety makes you unsure about everyone so you really get to the heart of Charlie straight away and feel empathy for her. She’s a great protagonist but my favourite character was Aubrey the crotchety old git next door. He was a delight.

Add to this the setting of Cornwall which is normally sunshine and beaches but here it is wet and wild and cut off, heightening the isolation and paranoia. A rundown house with broken windows, overgrown ivy and crucifixes gives an extra dimension of creepiness. Then as if all that isn’t enough there is the puzzle of who is the anonymous narrator?

I recommend this to fellow armchair detectives who like a mystery to solve all hidden in a very gripping thriller.

'Safe House' by Jo Jakeman is out on Halloween, (very appropriately!), in hardback,audiobook and ebook format.

It's Jo Jakeman's second psychological thriller and an epic of twisty plotting which will keep the keenest reader on their toes till the very last page.

Starting with an explosive police scen which intimates the death of someone who has warned the police that they were in danger, the narrative then goes on to explore a dual timeline of Steffi Finn, doctor's receptionist/ Having provided an alibi to her partner, Lee, which was proved not to be true, she was arrested and imprisoned for perjury.

The details of her isolation from society and the abuse she suffered before and after being incarcerated plays with your notions of truth, punishment and honesty. Is telling someone what you believe to be the truth, actually a lie? And haven't we all been guilty of reading newspapers and thinking,'How on earth could they not know they were sharing a house with a criminal?' It is the trial by media, 'guilt by association' which is a really interesting concept to uncover.

As Steffi becomes Charlie and sets about rediscovering who she is and building a quiet new life in the furthermost, isolated corner of the country that she can find, you get such a real sense of her as a woman who has been used and betrayed by the man she thought loved her. Her process of recovery is heartbreakingly slow, she is so fragile and desperate to fly under the radar-descriptions of her anxiety about meeting her new neighbours ring so true, you really, really feel for her.

But as she sets about repairing her new home, simuntaneously trying to repair herself, it becomes clear that someone is looking for her, someone who does not believe that she has been punished enough. And with her ex still in prison, Steffi/Charlie is fair game....and this might not be the only person on her tail....

I genuinely was thrilled to bits to read this, Jo Jakeman is a brilliant writer who keeps you on the edge of your seat as you are emotionally invested in her characters. I remain grateful to the publishers,Harvill Secker, for having me on the blog tour and Jo for the experience of reading her book!

Safe House was intriguing psychological thriller that revolved around Charlie, desperate to put behind her past, murderer ex and hate-filled judgmental people of the town. The book was about seeing the signs and heed to warning bells before it’s too late, misreading and misjudging a person, guilt, betrayal, manipulation, lies, deceit, blind love, unhealthy relationship, and facing past to give it closure.

I have just one word to describe this book- wow! The writing was easy and gripping, plot was suspenseful and intriguing, characters were interesting and setting was atmospheric. Short chapters made me flip the pages quicker.

It started with Charlie starting her new life with a new name in new place- a remote coastal village- after serving her 10 months sentence for giving false alibi. It was hard for her to move on. She felt paranoid someone might find out who and where she was and would try to harm her. She was restless and desperate to get over what she had gone through and so she tried to be part of the close-knit community letting her guards down. But the sense of someone was watching over her never left. Who was it? Can she really run from her past? Will friends she made stay friends when they will know about her sectret? Can she save them from the person who was trying to harm her?

Story was first person narrative told in dual timeline- past and present. Present told about Charlie’s efforts to stay safe and cautious, start new life, becoming a person she couldn’t because of her controlling father and then manipulative ex-boyfriend. Past was about what happened to her and how her life took unexpected turn, how she was sentenced for false alibi, how she discovered her boyfriend’s deceit. There were snippet of news articles telling what world thought about her, how people blamed her and how difficult it made her life before and after her sentence; interview with officers working on murder case told about what they thought about Steffi and her statements; and then there was Ben and unknown narrator who were out to get her, bring her to justice. Basically you get the wide perspective of the story- from victim, victim’s relatives, culprit, police, media and people who believed what was served on papers.

Charlie’s past life was most interesting to read. I was shocked at first to see she didn’t see through Lee’s lie and deceit, how could she not recognize manipulation? The way he treated her, detached her from her family and friends, not letting her enjoy her hobbies, weren’t those enough signs of unhealthy relationship? Oh but she was so naïve, stupid and blindly in love. As I knew more about her I could see why she was like this, less confident, eager to please and fearful to upset others, putting other before her, easily influenced.

Charlie’s voice was believable. I could empathize with her. Her thoughts and emotions were impactful. It made me think would I have done the same. Surely it’s not easy to believe the person you love is murderer, when they didn’t give away anything. It also made me think how her life would have been different only if her father was loving and supportive. The more I heard her thoughts the more I believed she deserved second chance. Author did amazing job in representing how a person feel after being manipulated, judged by people and serving sentence in prison.

I loved how she morphed into new Charlie. Confident, helping and seeing good in people but cautious, working on her skills and hobbies, turning the house into home, being helpful and trying to be part of community, trying to do right the thing, faced the past with calm and steady mind. It was great to see development in her.

All side characters were interesting. They made an impression, surely not easily forgettable. I liked Aubrey the most. Charlie’s conversation with him served as breather in this gloomy suspense. Cop duo was also good. I wish I could know them more. I loved the community and people who helped Charlie.

Author did amazing job with suspense. I couldn’t guess who that unknown narrator was, why Ben was after Charlie and what his motive was until climax. Climax was tense, kept me on the edge, flip the pages like maniac. There were many revelations from climax to end. End was unpredictable but satisfactory.

Overall, it was steady paced, intriguing, suspenseful thriller with interesting characters and strong plot. I definitely recommend this book.

This is as creepy and awesome as the blurb made it sound. You switch around between the cop Naz at the prologue, Charlie in the present, the creepy vigilante justice seeker [super creepy], and Charlie before she was Charlie.

You really do connect with her, I have to say it was a nice change of pace. I tend to be detached from protagonists in Thrillers, especially if they’re not the broody detective that you secretly want to cheer for and cuddle in a blanket.

I still wanted to wrap Charlie in a blanket lol. As you read the book there are certain things that have already been in motion before we were privy to the story or that happened int he past and you read about it and you’re just like ‘nooo don’t do that!’ and I liked the element of going between the past and present but not overlapping almost at all. It’s hard to not overlap too much but Jakeman pulls it off effortlessly.

This book also has the ability to make you pick it up and read it in a sitting, haha I picked it up thinking I would only read a few chapters, bam, I was done and sitting there in slight awe after finishing it.

3.5/5