To Kill a Shadow by Julia Castleton

Journalist Julia is at a low point in her career, after losing her job at a prestigious London newspaper. At first, the reader of To Kill a Shadow wonders what this courageous single mother can have done to deserve the sack, but it soon becomes clear Julia is willing to take terrifying risks to get to the heart of a story. Julia’s personal life is also challenging, partly because she is recovering from a mental health crisis. When the story begins, Julia is running her own news website while caring for her adored five-year-old son Alex. Life as a dedicated newshound does not go well with school gate motherhood, so Julia is often forced to call on her sister Emilia for support. The huge contrast between the lifestyles of Julia and her beautiful, conventional sister, whose husband is outrageously wealthy, means that Julia is constantly torn between wanting to be independent, and being grateful for Emilia’s generosity.

Into the middle of Julia’s troubled and insecure existence steps former soldier Michael Willmore, who is desperate to expose a terrible war crime. After Willmore is assassinated in front of her eyes, Julia resolves to expose the evildoers who are willing to commit murder to protect their horrific secret. As a result, she breaks Willmore’s story on her website without fact-checking it. This results in further damage to her reputation and a deluge of online abuse. Distressed but not discouraged, Julia continues her investigation to its shocking conclusion.

I like the way author Julia Castleton combines fast-paced drama with everyday problems. For example, Julia is chronically short of cash, so while she chases leads across England with her private detective sidekick Joe, she is worrying about how to keep her website sponsors happy. The descriptions of the people Julia meets, and the locations she visits in her pursuit of the truth, make To Kill a Shadow a real page turner.