It’s my stop today on the blog tour for One Down by Diana Wilkinson. Many thanks to Rachel from Rachel’s Random Resources for the blog tour invite.
Title: One Down
Author: Diana Wilkinson
Published on: 16 January 2023
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers | Psychological Thriller
When Amanda’s husband, Nathan, walked out of her life, she knew he would never return. Their ‘break from each other’ was permanent. Nathan is a cruciverbalist -a crossword setter. Of late, Amanda feels Nathan is trying to communicate with her through crossword puzzles.
As Amanda becomes more and more shut off from her old life, trapped inside her flat with only the haunting memories of that fateful day Nathan left, she becomes increasingly paranoid.
The latest crossword puzzles have clues that suggest an impending doom – murder, death, Amanda’s name, and other words as clues. Could these threatening clues be the work of someone other than her husband? Could it be someone closer to home?
My goodness! What a fantastic, spine-chilling, mind-blowing, gripping, creepy and gritty psychological thriller. Why is it rare to find such a fantabulous psychological thriller (as this one) these days? One Down by Diana Wilkinson is a gem.
I was hooked on to the story and couldn’t put it down until the end. The way this story is written makes a reader wonder what’s happening – keeps one guessing till the end. Full of twists and turns. Just when you think Amanda another clue, a twist! A shocking twist! An unexpected turn of events.
The story alternates between past and present. I had a bit of an issue here following the timeline but it didn’t stop me from liking the story. We also have two PoV characters – Amanda and Nathan. Amanda steals the spotlight though. She’s also the dominant character in the story.
I wouldn’t go into details of what’s haunting Amanda and who’s out to get her… or, if it’s all just a hallucination. But I will tell you this: expect the unexpected.
I am not a crossword player and I don’t know how to, either. But reading about how crossword puzzles are set and how the clues need not always be direct (anagrams and such) gave me a brief idea of how to solve one.
Amanda was borderline creepy. Her alcohol addiction was one thing – unleashed her wild side, got her into trouble multiple times and whatnot. Stalking her neighbour was something else – how did Teddy not realize he was being watched?? Nathan was no saint either. Sometimes I feel they were a ‘made for each other’ pair – with their creepiness, controlling nature, and toxic behavior.
I loved the storytelling. The creepy factor was a win-win situation for me – this is what made the story riveting. I loved the character portrayals and the ending. A shocking turn of events at the end caught me off guard. I didn’t see it coming!
Overall, One Down by Diana Wilkinson is a must-read psychological thriller. Readers beware: read this book at night at your own risk…
The Book Decoder 
Wonderful review 💗
Are these ordinary crosswords (which I can solve) or cryptic ones (which I still need to figure out)?
Cryptic ones. There’s explanation as to how to solve them.
I’ve read one book which involved them and explained them too; made perfect sense but of course when I tried to apply that logic to an actual crossword, I was back to zero.
Haha. When I read this book, I was like, “I am going to solve crosswords. It’s so easy.” I haven’t tried one yet. 😉
Looks like I have to stick to simple ones till I can figure these out.