Halfway House – Helen Fitzgerald

When her disastrous Australian love affair ends, Lou O’Dowd heads to Edinburgh for a fresh start, moving in with her cousin, and preparing for the only job she can find … working at a halfway house for very high-risk offenders.

Two killers, a celebrity paedophile and a paranoid coke dealer – all out on parole and all sharing their outwardly elegant Edinburgh townhouse with rookie night-worker Lou…

And instead of finding some meaning and purpose to her life, she finds herself trapped in a terrifying game of cat and mouse where she stands to lose everything – including her life.

I really enjoyed the last book I read of Helen Fitzgerald’s (Worst Case Scenario). I recall that it took me a little while to get into as I wasn’t sure if I could cope with the main character Mary, with her in-your-face approach to life. But she quickly grew on me and I loved the book.

And now we meet Lou, a woman looking for a new start in Scotland. Lou is another larger-than-life character who takes a little while to warm to, but you’ll find yourself cheering her on as the story progresses. It’s got a lovely, if slightly unsettling at times, vein of dark humour running through the book as Lou takes up her new job as a night worker at a halfway house for offenders.

A splendid cast of characters accompany Lou on her… adventures in Edinburgh, from her well-meaning cousin Becks who welcomes the Fringe’s waifs and strays into their home, to the five offenders resident in the halfway house of the title, with their own strange and unpleasant ways.

Suspense, atmospheric, funny and tragic, Halfway House is well worth a visit.

Halfway House by Helen Fitzgerald is published by Orenda Books and is out now. Thanks as always go to Karen at Orenda Books for the advance ebook copy for review.