The Anniversary has a storyline that captured my attention straightaway. It's 25 years since Travis Green killed 11 people from the small town of Hartshead where he lived. Cassie Colman's father was one of the victims but as she was only 4 at the time she doesn't really remember him. An enforced move back to Hartshead to look after her mother makes Cassie question everything she thought she knew about the tragedy and together with some new friends, including a journalist, she starts to slowly uncover new information.

I really enjoyed this book, my first by Laura Marshall. It moves along at a fast pace and keeps the momentum going. I particularly liked the way snippets about the shootings kept coming to light as Cassie found out more, and how they helped other pieces of information to suddenly slot into place or gain clarity.

Cassie is a new mother and I remember those early days with a baby who wouldn't settle (although I don't remember quite as many trips to the pub!). It made it very relatable and I was really pleased to see Cassie's personal development and confidence grow throughout the story, and her relationships with her mother, her baby and her newfound friends strengthen.

Flashback scenes to the day of the shooting helped to show things from the victims' perspective and I started to put 2 and 2 together and by the end I was beginning to get a real sense of what had motivated Travis's rampage. A well-written and well-plotted story, with characters I wasn't sure if Cassie could trust, I thought this was an excellent domestic thriller and I hope to read more of Marshall's books in the future. ( )