Dead Heat by Sabine Durrant

Dead Heat

by Sabine Durrant

Dead Heat by Sabine Durrant was published on 12th March 2026 by Century.

My thanks to the author and publisher for sending me a copy to review and to 

Random Things Tours for inviting me onto the tour.

Synopsis

Former journalist Matt Grimshaw's life is at a low ebb. He's 51, he's been 'let go' by the paper where he's worked for years, and his relationship with his long-term girlfriend has come unstuck. So when an invitation arrives from his two closest friends, Celia and Adam Murphy, to join them at their villa in Greece, he jumps at it. It may be harsh and unwelcoming on the Mani Peninsula but Matt determines to stay there for the whole summer and to write his much put-off screen-play. But then the Murphys plus children arrive, and a wealthy newcomer to the area starts throwing loud and lavish parties in his big house across the bay. As the nights become hotter and the parties wilder, everyone's motivations darken. Envy rises, resentments grow - until a terrible accident stops the summer in its tracks. At least, it looks like an accident…

My Thoughts

I enjoyed every word of this dark psychological thriller and definitely did not guess the end. Matt was a character I warmed to straight away and really felt for him as I got to know more about his life. Adam and Rey had me on edge from the minute they were introduced into the storyline whilst Celia needed a shake every now and then . 

The setting in Greece was certainly welcome whilst I read the book on a cold , wet English afternoon and I certainly envied the time they spent on the beach and swimming in the sea along with the idea of spending idyllic summers lazing in the sun.

Sabine twists and turns the storyline as it weaves its way towards its conclusion. She cleverly leads you down one path only for you  to find that it doesn’t go where you expected. There are times when you may feel that she is playing with your brain and not giving you what you expected. This though is what makes a great author of suspense and  Sabine Durante is without doubt a great author and I was surprised I hadn’t come across any of her previous books, though I will be rectifying this is the near future.

About Sabine

Dead Heat is Sabine Durrant’s seventh work of dark psychological suspense. Its setting, part of the Greek Peloponnese, has obsessed her since she read Patrick Leigh Fermor’s travel book The Mani in her twenties. Her previous thrillers include Lie with Me which was a Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller, and Sun Damage, which was subject to a fierce film and TV bidding war and is currently in production with Bad Wolf and Disney. Before becoming a full-time novelist, Sabine worked in editorial at the Guardian, the Sunday Times and the Independent, where she also wrote the weekly ‘Sabine Durrant’ interview. Her subjects were as diverse as Archbishop Runcie, Stella McCartney and Jeff Goldblum. She has written two works of general f iction, including the bestselling Having it and Eating it, and two Connie Pickles novels for young adults. Her essay ‘At Sea’, for the collection Truth or Dare, was a personal investigation into the life and death of her father, a pilot in the Fleet Air Arm, who disappeared off the Dorset coast a few months after she was born. Sabine lives in south London with her husband, three adult children, one dog and two cats