He Will Be My Ruin by K. A. Tucker

He Will Be My Ruin by K. A. Tucker
Series: No
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: February 2nd 2016
Source: Audible
Narrator: Kate Rudd and Olivia Song

A woman who almost had it all...

On the surface, Celine Gonzalez had everything a twenty-eight-year-old woman could want: a one-bedroom apartment on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, a job that (mostly) paid the bills, and an acceptance letter to the prestigious Hollingsworth Institute of Art, where she would finally live out her dream of becoming an antiques appraiser for a major auction house. All she had worked so hard to achieve was finally within her reach. So why would she kill herself?

A man who was supposed to be her salvation...

Maggie Sparkes arrives in New York City to pack up what’s left of her best friend’s belongings after a suicide that has left everyone stunned. The police have deemed the evidence conclusive: Celine got into bed, downed a lethal cocktail of pills and vodka, and never woke up. But when Maggie discovers a scandalous photograph in a lock box hidden in Celine’s apartment, she begins asking questions. Questions about the man Celine fell in love with. The man she never told anyone about, not even Maggie. The man Celine believed would change her life.

Until he became her ruin.

On the hunt for evidence that will force the police to reopen the case, Maggie uncovers more than she bargained for about Celine’s private life—and inadvertently puts herself on the radar of a killer. A killer who will stop at nothing to keep his crimes undiscovered.

I've read quite a few of K. A. Tuckers books (The first two books in her Ten Tiny Breaths series and her Burying Water series - which I loved!), so in July when I was feeling like something kind of mystery/crime and I was looking for a new audio book, I came across He Will Be My Ruin. The premise sounded exactly what I was in the mood for so I grabbed it and started listening straight away, and I was hooked. I honestly couldn't put this book down. I wanted to constantly listen to it and even ended up sitting in the house with my earphones in listening to it and ignoring my fiance... It was too good!

So, He Will Be My Ruin follows Maggie Sparkes as she arrives home from doing charity work to deal with the death of her best friend Celine. Maggie is packing up Celine's apartment and getting all of her art collection prepared to sell when she comes across some things Celine had hidden away. Maggie begins to question Celine's death and begins to wonder if her best friend really did kill herself, or whether she was murdered because of something she found.

The whole storyline of He Will Be My Ruin was just the fresh kind of story I was looking for. I'm not really a big reader of crime/mystery/suspense novels, but the whole of July this year was basically taken over by them. An apparent suicide, hidden notes, secrets and lies, this book just had everything going for it.

Maggie was a bit of a hit or miss main character, but I did like her. She was strong willed, and never let anyone boss her around. She was determined to prove that her best friend wouldn't have killed herself. Maggie knew Celine, and she just knew there had to be some other reason for her death. Maggie basically stopped at nothing to try to uncover what happened to Celine. I admired her loyalty to her best friend and her determination to get justice for Celine.

Celine had a lot of secrets, and although her main one was extremely obvious, I still enjoyed seeing the story progress and seeing Maggie uncover Celine's secrets and seeing how she dealt with them. Maggie thought she knew everything about Celine, so it was hard for her to come to terms with Celine's other life. 

There is a bit of romance, but it definitely doesn't detract from Maggie's main focus. There's two pretty hot guys and Maggie has been away for a while, so I'm not surprised she made use of the opportunities they presented. 

And when it came to trying to work out what was going on, I was constantly changing my mind. I couldn't decide what I thought had happened, and I only managed to completely figure it out right before the book took a dramatic turn at the end! But oh my, what a roller-coaster! I'd had my suspicions, but I just couldn't get my mind to settle because there were so many red herrings!

Overall, He Will Be My Ruin was a fantastic mystery/suspense novel. It's honestly one I'll be recommending to everyone, and K. A. Tucker has just rightfully earned herself a spot as one of my favourite authors, and I will definitely be buying whatever she comes out with next!