Much as I am sure the publishers would like to be in terms of sales, When I Wake Up is not actually the follow-up to S.J. Watson’s 2011 best-seller Before I Go To Sleep.

 

It is in fact the debut novel of Jessica Jarlvi, published by Aria, a new imprint of Head of Zeus, and is set-in small-town Sweden (Jarlvi was born in Sweden but has since lived in England, the US and Dubai) where a much-loved local teacher and mother-of-two is left in a coma after a savage beating. The police investigation, and that conducted by her husband, uncover, wouldn’t you know it, that teacher Anna has been leading a secret life and when Anna does ‘wake up’ things get even more complicated. For fans of ‘Domestic Noir’ and ‘Nordic Noir’, this is one-stop shopping and is sure to do well.