Sally Diamond is most certainly a strange character as the title tell us but there is so much more you’ll want to uncover about her and her story once starting this well written Irish mystery thriller.

In Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent, we meet Sally, a 43-year-old woman who lives at home in an isolated country home with her father and pretends to be deaf when she heads to the shops just so she doesn’t have to talk to people. Her elderly father has always said to her when he dies, “..to put him out with the dust bins.” which she does when he passes. Obviously, this draws unwanted attention from the police and media and her quite existence is blown apart. His death sets of a change of life changing revelations about her childhood and how she ended up living the life she does.

I can see why I’ve seen this book appear on many people’s favourites lists for 2023. It has a little bit of everything – an endearing main character and a mystery at the heart of the story. It’s heartbreaking, harrowing but also has some funny, tender, and witty moments. Be warned though, this was a little darker and disturbing than I originally anticipated when I started. Some scenes had me gasping with their intensity, but I do think this a testament to the realistic way they are written. Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed by the ending – it felt a bit rushed to me after such a tense and gripping lead up to that point.

All in all, Strange Sally Diamond was a surprisingly intense read packed with moments of light, dark and lots of grey, which in my opinion, sets it apart from a lot of other books in this genre. Well worth checking out but possibly check the trigger warnings on this one first as it won’t be for everyone.