I Let You Go

Finished July 13
I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh, read by Nicola Barber and Steven Crossley

This suspense and mystery novel unveils things gradually, so you aren't really sure what is happening until part-way through the book, and even then not everything is clear until the end.
The book opens with a terrible scene. A mother is walking her young son home from school, and the day is gray and rainy. As they come to the last street before home, the boy lets go of her hand and rushes to beat her home, but a car comes, seemingly out of nowhere and hits him. It does not stay at the scene.
DI Ray Stevens, DS Stumpy, and trainee Kate work on the case, following up on a myriad of clues to try to figure out who the driver of the vehicle was. There are lots of tips that must be followed up on, lots of CCTV footage to view from various places nearby, and lots of time needed. But after a few months, no real progress is being made, and the funding for the case is pulled back, making it inactive. The mother feels that people are blaming her for not taking enough care, and she doesn't feel supported by the police, and she decides that she has to go away, away from the memories of her son, and of the blame and guilt.
We now switch to see Jenna Gray quickly packing up her most important possessions and running from Bristol, first by bus, and then walking. She has no clue where she is going. She just has to get away from all the things that remind her of her son and of the accident. She finds herself in a small town on the coast of Wales. There, she rents a small cottage inland, and begins life anew. She is haunted by the accident, having nightmares that wake her screaming, and she secludes herself. The manager of the nearby caravan park, Beth-Ann, who assisted with her finding a place to live, makes some overtures and gradually Jenna begins to come to life again. She takes her artistic leanings in a new direction, and begins to find a quiet way to make enough funds to live on.
The viewpoint switches back and forth between Ray and Jenna until we get to the second half, when a new voice is brought in, one that has big significance to the case.
This is a story of twists and turns, of love and fear, of lives ruined, and of marriages.