The Devil’s Work is another very un-nerving read from Mark Edwards. It follows Sophie Greenwood as she returns to full-time work after maternity leave, beginning her dream job at a publishers. On her first day though, she meets someone she didn’t expect to and it brings up memories of her time at university and episodes she’d rather forget. From then the story switches between Sophie’s student days and her friendship with Jasmine and Liam and the present day as things begin to go horribly wrong in her job.
People often talk about office politics and the gossiping and back-stabbing which goes on. That will pale into insignificance compared with what Sophie encounters. At first she doesn’t realise that there is a problem but quite quickly, some strange things begin to happen in the office and to her workmates. Sophie begins to see that this may not be quite as perfect a job as she’s thought and with her husband out of work due to a mysterious Twitter incident, she has no choice but to carry on working.
It was scary just how quickly Sophie’s life began to unravel. Her marriage is affected by what goes on at work and her daughter is starting to have nightmares involving a strange man who Sophie suspects might be a real danger. As in previous Mark Edwards novels, the scenarios presented are scarily plausible. Terrible things begin to happen to normal people and you can’t help but wonder how easy it could be for someone’s life to be manipulated in the way Sophie’s was. Sophie knew that something was going on and even tried to tell the police. But everything was so cleverly set up that no-one would really listen to her and even began to believe that she might be responsible for some of the awful things that were happening.
I liked how there were nods to previous books and previous characters throughout the books though if you haven’t read any, it’s not a problem – you just won’t pick up on the references. The Devil’s Work is full of the twists and shocks I’ve come to expect from Mark Edwards. I say expect but, although I knew there would be surprises, I didn’t see them coming. The Devil’s Work is a twisty psychological thriller which was have you nervously eyeing your work colleagues and wondering how much you can ever trust anyone.
Thanks to the Rachel Kennedy at Midas PR for offering me a copy of this book to review. The Devils’s Work was published by Thomas and Mercer on 13th September in paperback and as an e-book and you can order a copy here The Devil’s Work
From the back of the book
It was the job she had dreamed of since childhood. But on her very first day, when an unnerving encounter drags up memories Sophie Greenwood would rather forget, she wonders if she has made a mistake. A fatal mistake.
What is her ambitious young assistant really up to? And what exactly happened to Sophie’s predecessor? When her husband and daughter are pulled into the nightmare, Sophie is forced to confront the darkest secrets she has carried for years.
As her life begins to fall apart at work and at home, Sophie must race to uncover the truth about her new job…before it kills her.
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