Eye of the Beholder

By: Emma Bamford

Narrated by: Jane Collingwood

In this atmospheric psychological thriller set between the Scottish Highlands and London, a ghostwriter is drawn into a chilling mystery when her lover—believed dead—suddenly reappears in a suspenseful novel that blends gothic tension, identity twists, and slow-burn intrigue, “highly recommended for fans of Vertigo and readers who enjoy the intricately plotted novels of Ruth Ware, Sarah Pearse, and Riley Sager” (Booklist).

When Maddy Wight is hired to ghostwrite the memoir of a renowned cosmetic surgeon, she seizes the chance to rebuild her career. But at the doctor’s isolated estate in the Scottish Highlands, something feels off. The reclusive Angela Reynolds guards her secrets closely, while her enigmatic business partner, Scott, draws Maddy into an uneasy connection.

As unsettling incidents mount—objects disappearing, strange markings appearing, and a constant sense of being watched—Maddy begins to question everything around her. When tragedy strikes and Scott is reported dead, she returns to London determined to move on.

Until she sees him again.

Haunted by grief and doubt, Maddy is pulled into a twisting search for the truth. Is Scott alive—or is something far more disturbing at play?

Dark, elegant, and full of shocking turns, this literary thriller explores obsession, identity, illusion, and the dangerous allure of reinvention.

Critic reviews

"Jane Collingwood keeps listeners in Hitchcockian suspense with this new thriller set in the world of antiaging, beauty, and murder most foul. Ghostwriter Maddy Wight understands the need to be discreet about her clients, but her latest one, Dr. Angela Reynolds, brings new meaning to the word “secrecy.” Left alone to write at Reynolds’s massive estate in the Scottish Highlands, Maddy finds herself falling in love with Reynolds’s seemingly emotionally unstable business partner, Scott. Maddy is crushed when she hears of Scott’s death—until she sees him exiting a Tube station in London. Jane Collingwood deftly moves between English, Scottish, and American accents, creating believable characters. Collingwood’s performance captures the confusion and frustration of Maddy’s quest for the truth."

Disappointing

This book had immense potential.
A phenomenal location, an interesting premise, and a fairly charismatic protagonist.
But reading this book it almost feels like the story doesn’t want to commit to any clear passage. It ducks and weaves all over the place and it’s never suspenseful enough to make the reader want more.
I held on for twenty plus chapters because I was certain that eventually we would get there.
Instead, the characters fall flat, there is absolutely nothing creepy or unnerving about this setup (as we’re promised in the summary) and there is never a real sense of place established-even though the place should be insanely interesting (a unique pile in the Scottish highlands on a giant loch).
There is almost no descriptive prose.
Random characters are introduced and that don’t add anything of interest to the story, and I could go on but why?
It’s just not good.
The narration is. The plot summary is.
And I absolutely loved her one of her other books “Deep Water” which was exceptional.
Don’t waste a credit here. If you want to read something fantastic and truly impossible to put down give “Deep Water” a shot.
This book could’ve been fantastic.
It was really a bummer that it fell so flat.
Hopefully it was just fluke.