Though now based in Melbourne, Anna Snoekstra grew up in Canberra. Her recent psychological thriller, Only Daughter, is set in Canberra. Based largely on “Bec”, the book takes readers on a journey of intrigue and twists and turns, with a puzzle which only fits together at the very end. Chapters alternate between 2003 (when Rebecca Winter went missing after finishing her late shift at McDonald’s in Manuka) and events of 2014 when the fake Bec takes on the persona of the decade-missing young woman. As the book’s blurb says, the imposter “…is living Bec’s life. Sleeping in her bed. Hugging her mother and father. Learning her best friends’ names. Playing with her twin brothers”. If all this sounds pretty nerve racking, it is. And it seems that only someone as clever and street smart as imposter Bec, can successfully pull it off. Each chapter reveals a little more, in what seems a very strange household to imposter Bec as she tries to present authentically to significant others such as real Rebecca’s twin brothers, Andrew and Paul, “the parents”, and her best friend, Lizzie. And all the while, she works to avoid the questions and scrutiny (including DNA tests) of the doggedly hardworking investigating police officer, Senior Inspector Vince Andopolis. As noted by Lisa Unger, New York Times bestselling author, the book keeps readers “riveted until you’ve turned the final page”.
