Keep Her Safe: A Novel

Written by Sophie Hannah

Narrated by Fiona Hardingham, Caitlin Kelly and Nicole Poole

Liane Moriarty says that “No one writes twisted, suspenseful novels quite like Sophie Hannah.” Packed with twists and clues, simmering with tension, this electrifying new thriller shows why.

She's the most famous murder victim in America. What if she's not dead?

Pushed to the breaking point, Cara Burrows flees her home and family and escapes to a five-star spa resort she can't afford. Late at night, exhausted and desperate, she lets herself into her hotel room and is shocked to find it already occupied — by a man and a teenage girl.

A simple mistake at the front desk... but soon Cara realizes that the girl she saw alive and well in the hotel room is someone she can't possibly have seen: the most famous murder victim in the country, Melody Chapa, whose parents are serving natural life sentences for her murder.

Cara doesn't know what to trust — everything she's read and heard about the case, or the evidence of her own eyes. Did she really see Melody? And is she prepared to ask herself that question and answer it honestly if it means risking her own life?

Cara doesn't know what to trust — everything she's read and heard about the case, or the evidence of her own eyes. Did she really see Melody? And is she prepared to ask herself that question and answer it honestly if it means risking her own life?

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Sep 19, 2017
• ISBN: 9780062694522

Sophie Hannah

SOPHIE HANNAH is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous psychological thrillers, which have been published in 51 countries and adapted for television, as well as The Monogram Murders, the first Hercule Poirot novel authorized by the estate of Agatha Christie, and its sequels Closed Casket, The Mystery of Three Quarters, and The Killings at Kingfisher Hill. Sophie is also the author of a self-help book, How to Hold a Grudge, and hosts the podcast of the same name. She lives in Cambridge, UK.

Reviews for Keep Her Safe

[karen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Full of great twists and enough suspense to keep you reading into all hours of the night!

[howifeelaboutbooks · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The premise of this book drew me in, and I loved the writing style. Most of the characters were too hard to tell apart - they were very different, but using descriptions before we found out names confused me in the long run. The final twist, though, was exquisite.

[carpe_librum · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Despite Sophie Hannah's success as an internationally bestselling crime writer with a bunch of books under her belt, Did You See Melody? is the first of her books I've read, and I loved it! Cara has left her family and booked herself into a 5 star resort to spend time on her own and contemplate a big life decision. On check-in though, she finds a man and girl already in her room. Cara later believes the girl she saw might be missing girl Melody, whose parents are serving life sentences in jail for her murder.Did You See Melody? is a stand alone novel and sped along at a great pace. For a crime novel, it had a very contemporary and light feel and definitely doesn't fall into the dark and dangerous crime genre with flawed detectives and disturbed serial killers.Taking place primarily in a spa resort, reading it definitely made me want to book my next holiday. My favourite character was Tarin Fry, a side character and fellow guest at the resort with super sharp wit and entertaining observations.Did You See Melody? was a rollicking read and I really enjoyed the fresh plot. I'm so excited to discover a great new-to-me author with such an accomplished back catalogue of books to discover. Highly recommended.* Copy courtesy of Hachette Australia *

[purple_pisces22 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Loved this book. I've read mixed reviews, but for my first Sophie Hannah book, I found it quite up to speed with more well known authors. I had tried one of her older books a while back-not sure which one, but now I think I need to re-visit it.

[kbranfield-837433 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In Keep Her Safe by Sophie Hannah, a British woman escaping from her family problems stumbles onto a mystery at an upscale resort in Arizona.

Overwhelmed and angry about her family's response to an unexpected life-changing event, Cara Burrows books herself a two week vacation at a posh Arizona spa. Exhausted after the long flight, she arrives at the Swallowtail Resort and Spa in the middle of night where she is inadvertently assigned to a room that is already occupied by a man and a teenage girl. The next day, she overhears another guest report her sighting of Melody Chapa, a young girl whose parents have been convicted of her murder despite the fact her body has never been found.

Trying to avoid thinking about her own troubles, Cara googles the infamous case and she is stunned by the realization that Melody Chapa bears an uncanny resemblance to the teenager she briefly saw the previous night. With the help of fellow guests, outspoken florist Tarin Fry and her beleaguered daughter Zellie, the trio have barely scratched the surface of this intriguing case when Cara and the resort's front desk clerk Riyonna Briggs inexplicably vanish. Tarin pressures local detective Orwin Priddey and his erstwhile partner Bryce Sanders to take Cara's disappearance seriously after  former prosecutor turned abrasive talk show host Bonnie Juno suggests Cara left of her own volition. Is Cara's unexplained departure connected to Riyonna's disappearance? More importantly, is there a link between the missing women and Cara's sighting of Melody Chapa?

Cara is a rather unlikable and unsympathetic character.  She is impatient with everyone and intolerant of Americans whom she judge to be excessively friendly and guilty of hyperbolic overstatement (all of which begs the question: why go to America if you disapprove of Americans???).  It is also a little hard to forgive her somewhat callous attitude towards her family and her reason for the trip is rather selfish and completely avoidable. While Cara's reason for immersing herself in researching the circumstances of Melody's disappearance and her parents' murder conviction is self-serving, Cara is eventually truly concerned about the case.

The first part of the novel focuses on prickly Cara, her family situation and her internet research into the Chapa case.  The information about Melody's case is revealed through on line articles, YouTube clips and a handful of segments from Bonnie Juno's television show. The second part of the story concentrates on Tarin's efforts to keep the investigators motivated to search for Cara. Detective Priddey plays his cards close to his chest as he quietly questions witnesses and follows leads. Bonnie Juno inserts herself into the investigation and loudly (and frequently) proclaims the Chapas' are guilty as sin and behind bars where they belong.

Keep Her Safe is a rather engrossing mystery despite a disagreeable lead protagonist and the slow moving storyline.  An intriguing and creative premise make it easy to overlook some of the more improbable elements of the plot. Sophie Hannah throws in some brilliant twists and turns at the novel's conclusion that are absolutely stunning.  All in all, an entertaining, twist-filled mystery that fans of the genre will enjoy.

[rmarcin-630843 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I am not sure why I picked up this book, perhaps because it was billed as a psychological thriller. I didn’t get engaged with the characters. I can’t understand why Cara would spend 1/3 of her family’s savings on a trip “to think”. The other characters, especially the talk show host, were also not ones that I could admire or like.
The premise was interesting, but not believable to me, and the ending had a slight twist (last page or two) that was a surprise, and does leave you to wonder what is real, and who is telling the truth.
#KeepHerSafe #SophieHannah

[vanessacw · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An intriguing psychological mystery. When Cara Burrows escapes her family to take time out in a luxury spa resort in Arizona, she believes she sees missing person Melody Chappa who is believed dead. This lets a whole lot of worms out of the can and puts Cara in danger.I found this quite an interesting and compelling story. It’s a little different! There are some benevolent kidnappers which I found quite bemusing. There are also some things which didn’t always add up for me. However, I did enjoy it. I like the writing style and I think it’s cleverly plotted even if there are a few grey areas. It has an artful and brilliant twist at the end which turned the book around for me and gives food for thought.I read this mystery via the Pigeonhole app and I think this added to the suspense, reading it over ten days in staves.

[pomo58 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Keep Her Safe from Sophie Hannah is an unusual book that may well leave most readers stuck in the middle about their feelings. There is a lot to like but also that just seems, well, off.You have the basic premise from the blurb so I won't repeat that again. The telling of the story is one of the strongest features of this novel. It is a combination of the regular narration of what is "currently" happening with transcripts from videos and interviews from the recent past as well as a written "book" that shows up well before we learn what it is. This all makes for a story that jumps a bit but not hard to follow. In many ways, we learn right along with Cara.The characters are quirky for the most part, but not the kind of quirky you'd necessarily want in your life. Some scenes are a bit over the top yet the ones that seem the most over the top, the TV scenes with Juno, are actually pretty accurate for the way these pseudo-legal shows are, with bloated egos and ratings over substance, kinda like all of Fox "News." We get closure, or so we think, but we are left with some lingering questions. Again, the ending may well irritate some readers but I don't mind some things being left in the air for me to consider. It might mean there isn't 100% closure but then life tends to be that way, until the end anyway.I don't think this is one of Hannah's best. In all honesty I can't say what makes me feel this way. With the exception of a short period of time I was not very invested in any of the characters and that will almost always kill a book for me. Yet I liked the ideas behind the story and the way the story was told. Hannah's writing itself is good, as expected.Reviewed from a copy made available through Goodreads First Reads.

[ridgewaygirl · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I have long enjoyed Sophie Hannah's crime novels, which lean hard on the psychological suspense, are often narrated by unstable and unreliable narrators, and have outrageous plots that somehow hang together, right to the end. They're fun. This novel follows her usual pattern, but otherwise was not good at all. Cara is a wife and mother who abandons her family, leaving behind only a note to say she'll be back in a few weeks. She's also taken a chunk of the family savings and used them to fly from Hereford, England to Phoenix, Arizona, to stay in a five-star resort. She's upset with her husband and children, but the reason isn't revealed into late in the book. Which is for the best. It's the most petulant reason possible and it's best not to hate the main character before the end of the first chapter. They'll be plenty of time for that.While she's there, she sees a girl and eventually believes that she's seen a famous murder victim from several years ago, now alive and enjoying the spa amenities. She also meets a mother and daughter, there on vacation, and they all have a great deal of fun speculating on where the girl might be now. And then Cara is kidnapped and has to figure out why and how to get away, even as her new friends join forces with the local police force, the FBI and a Nancy Grace-like TV host to find Cara and solve the mystery of the dead girl.This book was such a giant pile of terrible, that I found myself reading just to find out what ridiculous thing would happen next. I know that the author is British, but the American edition was not edited by any Americans at all, leaving in glaring errors and misperceptions about the US. It's not just how all the American characters were either broad stereo-types of what a Brit might think we are like, or they reacted just like a foreign tourist to ordinary American things, but there were glaring errors in how the legal system works that should have been caught and corrected. Everyone one in this book is not very smart, including law enforcement, which, fine. Hannah's writing a mystery she'd like everyone reading to follow easily, but even the newest of police detectives has presumably been taught some basic procedures for how to investigate a kidnapping or possible crime scene. And yet, no. Instead the detectives were instructed to do basic things like look at credit card receipts by an interested bystander. The task force assembled to find a missing British tourist was also unique. The police and FBI were involved, but they then invited the TV host, her production assistant, the hotel manager and even interested bystanders into their inner circle. Of course, the interested bystander, a florist from Kansas, leads the investigation. This probably happens a lot in the United States. What I know would not happen is that the hotel manager (this supposedly enormous resort is shockingly understaffed) appearing on the TV host's crime show and giving the full names of several of the resort guests along with his opinion of their trustworthiness. No hotel, let alone one that would cater to prominent wealthy people, would be eager to see their brand shown on national TV as a crime scene and loose with the details of the guests staying there. But ok, let's let that man's looming unemployment not deter him from his moment of excitement. There's a receptionist who goes missing just before Cara is kidnapped, but she's a tertiary character, so no one bothers to care, including her friends and co-workers. They continue not to care even as she becomes one of the story's lynchpins. She's just gone and that's that until her name pops up as a way to move the plot forward. But then we can forget about her again, so yay? This is a lot of negativity to dump on a novel, but this is a novel by an author who has written good crime novels, novels with a functional plot, with characters whose motivations went beyond doing random things to move the plot forward, with settings that felt like real places, and not just an excuse to go to a couple of resorts in Arizona for a few weeks. [[Sophie Hannah]] is capable of much better, has written better books. I hope this is a mis-step on her part and not a habit.

[cathyskye · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Author Sophie Hannah enjoys the resorts in the Phoenix metropolitan area, and she's wanted to set a book in Arizona for a long time, but it wasn't until she was given the key to an already-occupied hotel room in the UK that she had the perfect idea for a story. Keep Her Safe does have an intriguing premise that satisfies on many levels, but not all. The cast of characters isn't the most likable in the world, but I didn't mind because they were all interesting in their own ways. Cara Burrows tends to be a spineless whiner who'd rather dip into the family savings and run thousands of miles away than stay put and have a heart-to-heart with her husband and children. This was Cara's first time in the United States as well as her first time in a five-star resort, and it was often amusing to watch her experience culture shock.Cara is "befriended" by Tarin Fry, a woman who's as blunt as a lead pipe. Tarin can be funny, but I'd no more want to live with that woman than I'd take up residence in a rattlesnake den. There's also Bonnie Juno, the woman who has her own hit television show, "Justice with Bonnie," and a police officer named Priddey who still cares even though he tries to convince himself that he doesn't.Keep Her Safe's storyline was compulsive reading, and the characters certainly were entertaining, but in the end, it just felt a bit too contrived, and I think the police officer would agree: "Priddey felt as if he were watching a drama in which everyone loved their own lines a bit too much." The book would have been better if more of the characters had not been waiting impatiently for their close-ups.

[linda.a. · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I always look forward to a new Sophie Hannah novel because I enjoy the intricacies of her psychological thrillers, especially her stand-alone novels, and this latest story didn’t disappoint. Facing a dilemma and feeling unsupported at home, Cara Burrows has raided the family savings and flown to a luxury spa resort in Arizona for two weeks. She leaves without telling her husband and two children where she is going, instead she leaves a note on the kitchen table, explaining that she needs to sort things out in her head and promising that she will return. When she arrives at the resort she is shown to the wrong room, where she sees a man and a teenage girl. Following a disturbing interaction with them she returns to reception where a very embarrassed receptionist insists on upgrading her to one of the resort’s Camelback Casitas. She comes to believe that she has seen a girl called Melody Chapa but how could she have done, because Melody was dead, murdered seven years earlier by her parents who, even though the child’s body wasn’t found, are now serving life sentences in prison. And who was the man in the hotel room? This is a case which has gripped public opinion in America for years and, as Cara gets drawn in to the mystery she feels compelled to make sense of it, even if that means putting her own life at risk.There wasn’t a moment when I didn’t feel totally engaged with this story. Its rich cast of eccentric characters, its exotic location, combined with enough twists and turns to deepen the mystery, ensured that I needed to keep on turning the pages! With each revelation it seemed that there was a new suspect – little wonder that Cara had no idea who she could possibly trust. Although my eventual assumptions about the resolution of the story weren’t too far short of the mark (maybe I’m reading too many psychological thrillers!) Sophie Hannah managed, as she so often does, to add an extra twist which I didn’t see coming! Her reputation as a master of this genre is certainly enhanced by this novel.I loved the way in which she explored the cultural differences which the self-contained Cara had to cope with as she struggled to both understand and make herself understood – there were some delicious moments of laugh out loud humour in some of her encounters. The juxtaposition of sybaritic luxury and an ever-deepening mystery was very well captured by the author and served as an unsettling aspect to the evolving story. One particularly thought-provoking aspect to the story was the difference between the American and the British legal systems and the fact that everything about the disappearance of Melody was exposed on national television prior to the trial – trial by media barely begins to describe the horrors of this approach!I have little doubt that this will become, and remain, a best-seller.

[maggie1961-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Have you ever totally regretted something you on impulse that led to disastrous circumstances you couldn’t control?All Cara wanted when she fled her family in England for Arizona was two weeks of peace. Time to just ponder her life, where it was going and what to do about it. Instead, due to an unseen error by a resort employee, she finds herself thrust into the mystery of a murder of a young girl 7 years ago. A murder that the child’s parents are in prison for. Until she stumbled into the wrong room and the events that followed, she had never heard of Melody Chapa but found herself addictively devouring every detail of Melody’s murder. Was that really Melody she saw in that room? For the most part I liked the characters although I do think Cara’s leaving her family to go to luxury spa a continent away was a little much and seemed a little childish. Tarin was a hoot, made me laugh more than once. I did feel sorry for Patrick, who really had no clue why his wife ran off for her mini vacation and I think Cara in hindsight, realized her actions were a bit over the top. But has Cara not been at Swallowtail, would the mystery of Melody ever be solved? Cara being at Swallowtail had a domino effect; her being given the wrong room put everything in motion. This was a clever plot where the answers were slowly revealed to us. I had no idea where it was going. This was such a great thriller; kept me addictively reading and guessing as surprise after surprise was revealed and I loved how that little bit at the end left us wondering. I haven’t read any by this author before but have already downloaded and ordered more. I hated having to do anything that took me away from this book; I didn’t want to put it down. Great thriller; also think it’d be a great movie.

[twink_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I find Sophie Hannah's writing and plotting to be quite clever and have enjoyed many of her previous works. Her latest North American release is Keep Her Safe.Cara has had enough of her family. She decides to flee to a spa in the US from her home in Britain - and enjoy herself. But there's a bit of a snafu when she checks in. The room she's initially given already has two occupants - a man and a teenager who seems a bit 'off'.I thought this premise was great. So many possibilities could stem from a mistake of this kind.But then Cara learns of a case of a girl named Melody, murdered by her parents, The teenager in the room looks just like her and there's an irrefutable piece of evidence that points to her being Melody. But when Cara sounds the alarm - the girl is gone. But is Cara herself now in danger?An interesting cast of characters populate Keep Her Safe. I really liked Cara - and she's probably the only character I did. The supporting players are abrasive, harsh and somewhat unbelievable. Television maven and journalist Bonnie Juno is probably the worst of the bunch. Although her running diatribes do mirror many sensationalist journalists reporting today. Tarin Fry is another visitor to the spa and she takes it upon herself to 'help with the case. I found it unbelievable that the police would listen and take direction from her. I had to suspend disbelief with quite a bit of the plotting. The final 'ta-da' just seemed too far fetched. Although the descriptions of the spa painted vivid image for me, I found myself becoming somewhat tired of the details after a bit. That being said - the ending was a chilling little gotcha that I appreciated.I will absolutely pick up the next book from Sophie Hannah, but have to say Keep Her Safe was just an okay read for me.

[froxgirl · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Hannah's trademark is a mystery wrapped in an enigma within a suspense sandwich, and this standalone (not a Zailer-Waterhouse, her ongoing series; not a Poirot) does not disappoint. For some reason, the Brit writer wanted to set a story in Arizona, and the locale is the weakest part. The plot involves a runaway pregnant wife, a missing-and-presumed murdered child, and a skeevy talk show host. There's many a twist and surprise, and a bang-up ending that some will dislike. This is a pleasing and fine effort from one of our smartest, wittiest writers.

[terran_9 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was a fast read, with enough twists to keep my interest. After running away from her family in England, Cara Burrows becomes involved in a mystery at an Arizona luxury resort when she is accidentally assigned to a room which is already occupied. After being kidnapped herself, she learns enough about the mysterious girl she saw in the room to help police and FBI solve an old case.

[jfe16 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Cara Burrows travels from Hertford, England to Phoenix, Arizona to spend some time at Swallowtail, a posh five-star resort. After the front desk clerk accidentally sends her to an already-occupied room, she finds herself thrown into a mystery surrounding a supposedly-dead child named Melody Chapa. Her death, at the age of seven, made her the most famous murder victim in the nation and put her parents behind bars for he murder. But what if Melody isn’t dead?Despite the poetic writing and the elegant descriptions, readers may find it difficult to relate to a story with no likeable characters, far too many improbable occurrences, and plot points that don’t stand up to even the most innocuous scrutiny. Most of the characters are either self-absorbed or aggravatingly annoying [or both] and lack the ability to draw the reader into the narrative. As a result, despite the promising premise for the story and the exquisite writing, readers are apt to come away disappointed.

[boudicca123 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Cara isn't pleased with her family's reaction to some news, so on a whim takes herself off to a very fancy, very expensive hotel/spa complex in Arizona, where she sees something she shouldn't have. This is a strange book where most of the characters behave oddly and are quite bizarre - would anyone go as far as Cara did just to think? Would the rest of them act like they did, no one being who they seemed to be? I did like the descriptions of the spa, but there were too many pages devoted to it and it did get a bit tedious when Bonnie Juno appeared - all those pages of transcript to get through. I enjoyed the last quarter, especially that twist. Could there be a follow up? Time will tell!