Haven't They Grown: The addictive and engrossing Richard & Judy Book Club pick

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I was too – I even had one or two quite fantastical theories, although I wasn’t quite as obsessive as Beth. Tyler Christopher's tragic life: General Hospital star who was married to Eva Longoria admitted he 'flatlined' three times in the grips of alcohol addiction. The White Witch, X-Men's Storm, Pennywise and The Mask: As stars get into the Halloween spirit - can YOU guess who's behind the costume?

The most important is that Beth, our narrator/self-styled detective, has absolutely no understanding of personal boundaries or limits, and you the reader must accept this. The simplest explanation they can think of is that those children are Thomas and Emily’s younger siblings. As twisted and unexpected as it was, the tension and suspense in the final parts lack some much-needed depth.

But, as in all good crime novels, the clues are there if you look for them, and Beth is adroit at spotting them when we, as readers, lag behind somewhat. The mother, even while living on a different fucking continent from the father still never managed to get on birth control or escape, so she kept having the coincidentally timed and sexed rape babies of the dad. Just because she knows that her former best friend lives near the football ground, that doesn’t mean she has to drive past her house and try to catch a glimpse of her. Most Italians only consume pasta in small portions as a starter, while the carbohydrate-heavy dish is a favourite British main course.

Thomas and Emily still look five and three, when they should be 17 and 15, and are even wearing clothes that Beth remembers seeing them wear years ago. So this book starts with a wonderful bang a brilliant idea a marvellous premise and “wow I’m glad I bought this book” and hooks you in immediately and then. Their friendship came to an end and initially it’s unclear exactly why (although there seems to be a lot of guilt on Beth’s part), however when Beth has the opportunity to drive near her old friend’s house, she sees something and hears part of a conversation that shocks her. Perfect Little Children starts out with Beth driving by the home of her best friend, Flora, who she lost touch with 12 years ago. The idea that it could be more than a logical explanation is so perfectly teased as Beth is determined to find out the true.

I was therefore very excited to be given the opportunity to read her latest novel “Haven’t They Grown” (also under the title “Perfect Little Children”). The only interesting, and frankly, believable character in the book was Zannah, the 17-year old daughter. But the plot itself is so utterly wild that you can overlook the fact that you want to punch Beth in the throat. You might freeze your kids at, like, nine and eleven,”, Zannah says to refute the idea that Thomas and Emily were part of a genetic experiment. Her daughter seems as persistent and driven as her mother - except for when her GCSE revision is involved.

Yes, it’s probably implausible, yes it’s somewhat convoluted, yes some of the characters wouldn’t know truth if it socked them between the eyes but I actually don’t mind very much because it is such an enjoyable read. I never did figure it out before the ending , but while the outcome was probably a bit unbelievable, it really did fit. Yes the story is out there and at times a little unrealistic but that is why we read sometimes, for an escape from reality. The main character going over and over everything and feeling the need to tell everything to every person she met regardless of the fact that everyone around her was telling her to just shut up.

Beth was like a woman possessed, she would not give up, even when it seemed that she was being warned off. I first heard about it at Theakstons Crime Writing Festival in 2018 and thought the premise sounded amazing. But, while we may lament a shrinking chocolate bar, many everyday foods have actually exploded in size. She parks outside the house and watches from across the road as Flora and her children Thomas and Emily step out of the car. The main character is obnoxious and needed to be arrested for stalking and trespassing multiple times throughout the book just to satisfy her own curiosity.