Now: Katie Straw's body is pulled from a river. She is a worker is a domestic violence unit. As is customary the police investigate her death, is it suicide or murder?
Then: A young woman called Katie meets a man called Jamie. She is uncertain about him at first but gradually gets drawn into a relationship with him.

The narrative of this debut novel goes between Now and Then, showing the development of Katie's relationship and the progress of the police investigation into her death. It is a compelling story bringing in many tales of domestic violence and in the Then story showing very clearly how a coercive relationship develops. I was drawn into the story from the beginning and found the characters believable whether they were the abused women, the police or the manager of the refuge.

A tragic story, one that is all to familiar and relevant today. Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for the ARC.

Sorry but not for me. I read the book to the end but found the story boring. The idea was good but a long book with very little happening

What starts out as the apparent suicide of Katie Straw a care worker at a domestic violence unit turns out to be just the start of an intriguing mystery as Katie’s past slowly unfolds. Added to this her fellow coworkers and residents at the unit are also troubled by the suicide claims and fear it could be murder.
This is an intense and powerful read as we also find out a lot more about the women residents in the unit and the terrible abuse they have been subjected to, control, abuse and fear on a day to day basis this sure makes for some sad and difficult reading but it’s written in such a way that it really gets to you and makes you care deeply for these women.
This is such a well crafted story part police procedural and part a story of domestic violence it’s a book that really hits deep and I felt very privileged to read so many thanks to Jessica Moor for her wonderful writing and empathy of such a difficult subject.
My thanks also to NetGalley and Penguin Books UK, Viking for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I thought this was well written and an excellent examination of domestic violence against women. I really liked the variety of characters and the different perspectives they brought to the novel. However I didn't love the book as much as I thought I would. As a thriller I didn't find it particularly engaging and the central murder/suicide investigation didn't keep me hooked - it took me a while to finish because I wasn't drawn to find out what happens in the end. I also felt that some of the characters didn't feel very 'real', especially some of the women in the refuge and Val in particular - I only saw one side of her, the one the policemen see, and not really enough of anything else to flesh her out. Overall I enjoyed it but it perhaps wasn't what I expected.

The blurb of this book is fantastic and really set up the story however unfortunately the story itself was disappointing. It felt like there was a lot of ‘filler’ and many times I found myself willing something to actually happen! I don’t even feel like we had enough of a chance as the reader to get to know the main character and therefore, wasn’t really attached to her or her story. For me the twist was predictable and not really a huge finale that a thriller should be. Having said all of that I do feel that the overall message of feminism and emotional abuse is important and needs to be highlighted so for that I would thank the author.

This is a story about domestic violence and I found it a disturbing and uncomfortable read .It is about Katie and Jamie who is contolling her and hen she is found dead in an apparent suicide .Old school DS Whitworth and his new sidekick DC Brook are sent to investigate .There was a very surprising twist near the end which I enjoyed but overall I found the book very sad .Many thanks to the Publisher the Author and NetGalley for my review copy in return for an honest review .

Unfortunately not much to say about this one. Just didnt grip me. So I didnt end up finishing it. I'm sure others may enjoy though.

Really great book with lots going on but in a good way. Some things you suspect on the way through but there is one almighty twist at the end....

I struggled with elements of this book, It's extremely well written and perfectly paced, and the writer shows real skill in what she does and doesn't choose to reveal. By using a dual narrative, divided into 'Then' and 'Now', the book follows a police investigation into the apparent suicide of a woman who worked at a women's refuge, with the 'Then' parts exploring the woman's hidden past, where she herself was in a controlling and abusive relationship.

The 'Now' parts of the narrative generally come from the point of view of the detective in charge of the investigation, and I found some of the language used here quite difficult, as he tries to justify and excuse domestic violence. This was clearly just a narrative device as the overall tone of the book is about violence against women, but it jarred with me all the same.

A gréât book full of twists and a great ending that I didn’t see coming. Fully recommend despite the content being somewhat difficult to read some times ( domestic violence)

This is an unusual thriller with plenty twists. I really enjoyed it & would recommend to anyone. I look forward to reading more by this author in the future.

Katie’s body is pulled out of the water. The police think it’s suicide but the women at the domestic abuse centre Katie worked at say it was murder. Told as then and now this explains what happened to Katie.

I wanted to like this but found myself skimming pages and I just don’t know what the last 30% was about.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Katie Straw is found dead and two polices officers are assigned to uncover whether her death was suicide or something more sinister. Told from Katie’s point of view “then” and the investigation “now”, we learn of Katie’s past and her relationship with Jamie. The past and the present finally come together at the end with a surprise unveiling. I wouldn’t say this was a psychological thriller, more a study into intimate partner violence and how very often it goes unpunished.

Keeper’ by Jessica Moor says much about the machinations of an abusive partner in the title alone. Presenting to the outside world as a great boyfriend, a ‘keeper’ as the victim’s mother declares, Jamie is also a controller, the keeper of Katie whose personality is gradually obliterated by his controlling ways. When she tries to regain even the most basic control, she is severely punished. That is the ‘Then’ of the novel.
Running in parallel with the past, the author also gives us the ‘Now’. Katie is dead; is it murder or suicide? When two detectives are sent to a refuge for abused women where she worked to try to figure out what actually happened, we are also given a window into the devastating world of domestic abuse. The tales of the women in hiding ring very true; they are all different but bound through fear and a distinct lack of self-worth. In part, the authentic feel of these details must have been influenced by the author’s own work in such an institution and the characters of the very different women are finely drawn and utterly credible. The presentation of the detective in charge of the investigation, DS Whitworth, is also particularly well drawn. An old-fashioned man, he is acutely aware of his non p.c. moments and, for the most part, is keen to embrace new ideas and practices. In reality, he sometimes falls short yet this makes him human rather than offensive.
Whilst the story seems more concerned with highlighting the hell that is domestic abuse than revealing whether or not Katie was murdered or committed suicide, the final ‘reveal’ is clever and reasonably plausible, given the clever, twisted and manipulative nature of her partner, Jamie. This is an impressive debut. Well written, carefully structured and focusing on a really important issue, we are both educated and swept alone by the characters’ experiences. ‘Keeper’ is definitely worth reading.
My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Books (UK) Viking for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

Disappointingly, this turned out not to be a book for me. Please do not misunderstand, I empathised and (mostly) agreed with all of the societal points the book offered but, in the broadest definition of the phrase, I did not enjoy it. It just did not hang together in a way that enabled me to buy into the story.

Keeper is a rather compelling book about domestic violence.

It tells the story of Katie, who is a nice young woman who seems on the surface to be together and as cool as her group of friends from university but she is very vulnerable and even a little flaky. Her Mum is terminally ill, her job is unsatisfying and she feels pretty alone. When Jamie comes along and treats her with what she sees as respect and even adoration, she feels its nice to bask in someones approval. Even though he's not the man of her dreams, she gets sucked into a relationship she just goes along with despite misgivings that he is becoming domineering and controlling.

The saddest thing for me was that I recognized my ex-husband in Jamie so much, yet I had never though of myself having been involved in an abusive relationship, I've always just thought I'd picked the wrong man for me ( and fortunately, called an end to it after 4 years of marriage and him trying to mould me into the kind of wife he thought I should be)

Katie isn't so fortunate, she ends up face down in the river. But how did she end up there?

The books jumps about from her previous life, to now when the police are treating her death as suicide but one officer can't let go of his feelings that she may have been murdered.

Its heartbreaking in parts and tense and twisty too.
There wasn't one character I really warmed to, yet they are all worth getting to know, they are all flawed and despite understanding Katie really well I was also pretty exasperated with her.

I enjoyed reading it because I wanted to find out exactly how Katie ends up dead and tie up all the loose and frayed ends and the ending does this really well. There are lots of complex characters, in the womens aid refuge Katie ends up working in and even in the police team who investigate her death. Everything is a little skewed as would be expected from a narrator who is totally under someone elses control.

5 stars!
I would not necessarily deem this a literary 'thriller', after all when this story begins Katie is already dead. It lacks the frenetic pace and tension I would expect for this to be a 'thriller'. That does not mean to say the book is not good, I found it to be excellent. It is a character driven story with a strong message and a mystery element. Did Katie take her own life, or was she murdered?
I enjoyed the story switching between multiple POV's, especially those of the women living in the women's shelter where Katie worked.
This book is timely and adds to a growing list of books that are tackling important real life issues, especially for women. The stories of the different women felt very realistic, which I guess is where the author's previous job experience in this field helps it to resonate.
I think there were some missed opportunities to create a feeling of danger and tension for the reader (that could have been achieved without sacrificing the story). Despite this it was still an excellent, character driven story.
I look forward to reading more from this author.

I really enjoyed this book especially the different timelines and seeing the decline in Katie’s relationship with Jamie. I would have liked a little more of the backstory with each of the women and I really didn’t like the main detective he seemed a bit misogynistic but this was probably intentional. I absolutely did not see the twist coming at the end. Will definitely read more from this author. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and Viking for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

An unusual thriller with lots of twists and turns,the biggest at the end. A bit slow at times but gets there in the end.

When the body of a young woman, Katie Straw, is found in a river, the first assumption is that it was suicide. Katie worked as a counsellor in a womens' shelter and the residents are disturbed by her disappearance. The Police talk to her boyfriend, who has an alibi, and to the residents at the shelter, but it feels like a half-hearted investigation.

Meanwhile in sections titled "then" we meet another Katie, Katie Bradley, who meets and starts dating a young man called Jamie. Initially he seems kind and caring but gradually he starts controlling every aspect of her life. The two storylines don't come together until the very end - some links between them are obvious, but others are not.

It's a very readable book that also feels realistic. The author has worked in the violence against women and girls sector and that experience comes through in the novel. I was particularly drawn into the story of Katie and Jamie's relationship and the way that he controlled her. The current day police investigation is less gripping - partly because it has so many sub-plots, but also because the police are not at all likeable and never seem very interested in getting to the truth.

I received an advance copy for review via Net Galley.