Book review of ‘The First Day of Spring’ by Nancy Tucker

‘The First Day of Spring’ is published today – 24th June 2021.

Well, in the world of crime thrillers, this really is something different!

When I say different… Chrissie is eight years old. On page one, you find out that she’s killed another child. Okay, so it turns out that it was all a mistake, she didn’t really kill him, she’s really repentant, right? Wrong. Nancy Tucker presents us with an utterly unlikeable little girl as her protagonist. But Chrissie has layers, and depth, and a family, and so slowly, we learn about her reasons and even empathise with her at some points.

‘The First Day of Spring’ is shocking in many different ways. I was gripped by the relationship between the grown up Chrissie and her own daughter. I felt genuinely concerned about whether or not history was going to repeat itself, especially towards the end of the novel.

I also enjoyed the way that Chrissie revisited her past, both physically and emotionally, all the way through the novel. it was clear that you could not move on from her past, for lots of different reasons. There are lots of very complex relationships in ‘The First Day of Spring’ and the unusual premise means that you can’t second guess anything at all, and the twists and turns keep coming right to the end.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of ‘The First Day of Spring’ in return for my honest review.