MICE by Gordon REECE - 'Even mice have a breaking point'

YAY!  I'm in!  OK, I have read a book!  One off the '50 great reads list'!  It wasn't chick lit!  And contrary to some other 'reviewers' (!) I read all of it!  It all started when Cathy cleverly bribed us (with chocolate?!) to try to read all of the books on the list so... I chose this book purely as the author's surname is the same as my maiden name so it was a complete surprise that I really enjoyed this book.  Don't be put off by other 'reviews' (!) - some 'reviewers' who have not read this book have stated it is boring... go figure ;)  (LOL)  The main character Shelley is a 16 year old girl who narrates the story throughout the book.  She lives with her mother after her father left them both for a younger model.  She likens herself and her mother to mice, people who never stand up for themselves, accept all the bad stuff without complaining and accordingly get treated like dirt.  Shelley is badly bullied at school to the point that she can no longer go to school and the 3 girls responsible get away with it.  Of course like the true 'mice' they are, they retreat to a remote house in the country where Shelley is home-tutored.  So far it doesn't sound like the '...electrifying suspense thriller' the blurb promises, does it?  However, things take a dramatic turn when a druggie breaks into their home in the middle of the night looking for cash.  After tying Shelley and her mother up, he punches her mother in the face    and steals their few valuables. Breaking free, Shelley sees red and after a violent struggle, its the intruder who ends up with his brains all over their kitchen floor.  'The cat had got into the mousehole, but this time the mice had killed the cat.'  From here onwards, the story is exciting and fast-paced with lots of twists and turns - a real page turner!  The 'mice' are now faced with various dilemmas, not least, how to dispose of a body (bury it in the rose bed).  A few days later they realise the car in the laneway must belong to the deceased so they have to work out how to dispose of that  plus all the blood stained items used in the clean up of their kitchen.  A real twist comes later on when, after living in fear of the police turning up any day, they receive a blackmail note pushed under their door saying 'I know what you did.  I know you killed him.'  Who sent it?  How could anyone know?   Suddenly the 'mice' are facing the prospect of having to kill a 2nd person to cover up the killing of the first...  Will they do it, or will they give themselves up and spend the rest of their lives in jail?  The ending is quite clever but you'll have to read 'Mice' in order to find out!  I really enjoyed this book, it was well-written, exciting and imaginative.  The author is UK born but now lives in Australia, and his previous jobs as a teacher and a lawyer have been useful when writing this book.