Playdate

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Playdate

By: Alex Dahl

Narrated by: Charlie Sanderson, Louise Williams, Rebecca Courtney, Rupert Bush

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About this listen

The latest thriller from the Dagger-shortlisted author of The Boy at the Door and The Heart Keeper.

Who took Lucia Blix? Lucia went home from school with her new friend Josie for a playdate. Later that evening, Lucia's mother, Elisa, dropped her overnight things round and kissed her little girl goodnight. That was the last time she saw her daughter. The next morning, when Lucia's dad arrived to pick her up, the house was empty. No furniture, no family, no Lucia. Have you seen Lucia?

Crime Thrillers

Detective

Fiction

Mystery

Psychological

Suspense

Thriller

Thriller & Suspense

Women Sleuths

Women's Fiction

Crime

Heartfelt

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Critic reviews

"Turns the raw power of maternal feeling into a gripping plot.... The author keeps the reader on tenterhooks with a deft balance of nail-biting tension and pure sympathy for her twisted heroine.” (Sunday Times)

“Dahl's sharp characterisations make her story feel fresh.” (Sunday Express)

“Intriguing and believable.... At once a compelling thriller and a beautiful meditation on grief." (Jane Shemilt)

Most relevant

Yes, this stretches credibility too far at crucial points in this complex plot - but perhaps that doesn't matter in a crime thriller? I can't give examples without spoiling some of the twists in this twisty brimming-with-secrets tale
On the positive side, the desolation of Elisa when she finds that her daughter Lucia has been abducted and for the ensuing months of anguish are well created, Lucia's experiences were also well written, and I liked the Norwegian and French settings. The multiple voices in the different chapters made for variety - as in the sub plot of the woman journalist, and of Lucia herself. The prisoner Marcus remains a mysterious character until one of the twists finally reveals his part in Elisa's backstory. I found the characters female-heavy, not surprisingly from a woman author perhaps; Elisa's husband Frederick for example fades away to nothing as the novel gathers pace.
BUT the whole production is completely ruined by the narrator who reads Elisa's part. Oh dear! What an appalling performance! Why didn't someone stop her and say after the first five minutes 'OK, you've done the breathy stuff, now shape up!' Her gasping breaths continue for the entire book - intensely irritating and making the listener's heart sink as Elisa's turn with the narrative comes, totally losing sympathy for this melodramatic woman.