Title: Sophie Was Here
Author: Kathryn Croft
Publisher: Bookouture
Genre: Psychological Thriller – Family Drama
Pub Date: July 3, 2025
My Rating: 5 Stars
Pages: 369

Story is told from the POV of Emmie ~Present Day and Sophie ~Then. 2009

Emmie and Charlie have been together for about a year when Charlies parent’s give the happy couple Charlie’s childhood home a sprawling farmhouse. It is a dream come true for Emmie but Charlie isn’t excited.
Once they arrive, Emmie finds out that a girl named Sophie, who has been missing for seventeen years was once Charlie’s girlfriend. However, when Emmie tries to talk to Charlie about it he either doesn’t want to talk about it or lies! Emmie then starts her own investigation as she has to know the truth. The more she digs the more she doesn’t trust Charlie.

I am a big Psychological Thriller fan – love to try to figure out or solve it. But I wasn’t close.
In Ms. Croft’s “Letter from Kathryn” she tells us that this story was a joy to write. The story flowed and she felt she was on a journey with her characters.
~ Which to me is just what happened. Some characters were unlikeable but still had me curious.
She also states it is a dark story but believes in a shining light we find in ourselves. Also hope readers felt something.
~ Correct again! Thank you for a⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ star read! Story left me thinking about these characters and the situation they got themselves in!!

I read and enjoyed only two Ms. Croft’s stories and they were both great so have been looking forward to another.
I read ["The Suspect and The Girl in Room 12" So I went into this with high expectations!
It didn't disappoint!

Want to thank NetGalley and Bookouture for this eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for July 3, 2025 .

The premise of this book drew me in-a missing girl, an old house with secrets, someone trying to cover up the truth….however I felt like the first three quarters of the book drew on and it was difficult to like any of the characters. I was pleased with the dual timeline narration and how the story wrapped up though, hence the 3 star rating. Worth a read for those who are a fan of the thriller genre.

Emmie and Charlie are leaving London moving back to Charlie's childhood home. in the countryside its good timing for Emmie to get away from the creepy neighbour and she has lost her job. The house needs a lot of work. but Emmie sees something on the cellar door Sophie was here. Emmie wants to know who Sophie is and her story she finds out she disappeared, as the story unfolds Emmie can't trust no one a very good addictive read

Read in 2 hours and 25 minutes.

I found the characters to be unlikeable, and the dialogue drifting between hammy and stiff, which was a surprise from this author.
Playing Devil’s Advocate, it could be my mood, having low tolerance for UK heatwaves, but I felt that this book was stretching out, grasping for potential that lay just out of reach.
Even I found Emmie’s obsession with missing Sophie to be wearing thin, despite the reasonable twist at the end, and I wasn’t surprised that Charlie snapped at her constant badgering.
They prematurely inherited a rundown large farmhouse from Charlie’s well off parents (who are still alive) but the only aspect of the house that Emmie ever focuses on is the eerie basement with statements etched into the wall.
At least Emmie has the belated good sense to take pictures of the things she stumbles upon (surely *this* is the widest horror trope??) but stop showing pictures of the evidence to suspects!!
You may as well walk around with a forehead tattoo that says KILL ME!
The frustration generated from actions like this plummeted my enjoyment of the book into low battery mode, although the ending was redeeming.
It contained echoes of fairly solid books like Final Cut, Quiet Girl, Sick To Death, and The Memory Watcher with good eerie tones, but it couldn’t quite keep up with the big dogs.

It’s a shame because I’ve read The Other Husband and The Lying Wife from this author and these had been marinated in mystery a little more.
I’ll reserve further judgment until the next batch of stories is ready.

5 ⭐️
Expected publication date - July 3, 2025

WHAT I LOVED - There were a lot of wild twists, but they weren't ridiculous, eye rolling twists. I was very entertained!

WHAT I LIKED - The dual timelines. I like to learn a little about what happened while someone is trying to unravel the mystery.

WHAT I DISLIKED - A couple parts could have given a little more detail, but nothing took away from the story.

WOULD I RECOMMEND? Yes! This was a great, fast read!

Thank you, NetGalley, and Bookouture for this eARC for review. All opinions are my own.

I’ve never read a book by Kathryn Croft that I didn’t like. She has the ability to keep you reading late into the night.
If you like domestic thrillers with multiple characters that are untrustworthy then you’ll love Sophie was here. Multiple twists that will make up for your lack of sleep the next day. Highly recommend.

I LOVED this book and could not put it down! I really liked the character development and my heart went out to Vanessa especially. So many twists and turns and just overall a great read!

What happened to Sophie? That is the question I kept asking myself and I had in no way guessed the right outcome. The book is so suspenseful with twists and turns around every corner. I was kept on the edge of my seat and I am glad I had my seat belt. A highly addictive gameplay read.

Emmie and her boyfriend, Charlie, move into a farmhouse in a small English town, gifted by Charlie's parents. It is Charlie's childhood home. As Emmie is exploring the new town, she discovers that Charlie's former girlfriend, Sophie, disappeared when she was 17. Charlie was on vacation when she disappeared, but Emmie believes there is more to the story. Charlie acts cagey whenever she asks him about Sophie. Things take a turn when Emmie discovers the words "Sophie was here" engrained in the basement wall. I won't say anything more, as it is a really wild ride that is best to go into blindly!

What a well=written and intricate thriller! I loved the unique story line - always difficult to do in the thriller genre! There were so many layers to this story and it was filled with well-developed and interesting characters. Not only were the twists and turns surprising, but the actual story was just so good and interesting! I found it really hard to put this one down as I had to know what was going to happen and what happened to Sophie.

Definitely one that will stick with you after you finish reading it. Highly recommend!

Thank you Bookouture and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a brilliant book! Gripping thriller that tells the story of Emmi who has moved to her boyfriend Charlie’s childhood home but beneath the surface lie many secrets. Emmi discovers a hidden message carved in the basement - written by a girl named Sophie, who, many years prior, went missing from the village and was never seen again. Was Charlie involved? And what secrets is Emmi hiding herself? A fantastically plotted book that kept me hooked all the way through. Highly recommend. Thanks to the author & publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

I thought this was a good book. I liked the mystery. Charlies parents have given the family home to him and his girlfriend Émmie. So the two of them move from London to Peaslake. There Emmie discovers the house and Charlie are hiding secrets about Charlies ex girlfriends, Sophies disappearance 16 years ago. So Emmie sets off on a quest to find out what really happened to Sophie all those years ago. The story kept me guessing all the way through.

This books was actually incredibly thrilling… I had that pit you get in your stomach when you know the twists are going to be dark and insane. This book features our FMC Emmie and the MMC Charlie. It’s about this couple moving from London to a small town where Emmie is hoping to get to the bottom of a 15 year old case on a girl who went missing when she was 17. Little does she know the more she digs the more trouble she is getting herself in. I honestly never would have expected this book to end how it did and although I kind of guessed who did it I never would have guessed how it all went down and I love a thriller that is actually suspenseful and has a good plot twist - or even better multiple. Would highly recommend this to any crime/thriller fanatics!!

Kathryn Croft is one of my go-to authors, So I was excited to receive a copy of her new novel Sophie was here.
Emmie and Charlie live in London when Charlie’s parents gift them their old family home. Emmie is excited at first to live in the big house, but when she finds writing on the wall in the basement saying that Sophie was here. Emmie is determined to find out what happened to her when her boyfriend Charlie gets angry and dismissed her question. But when she starts digging, she finds out that Sophie was Charlie’s girlfriend who went missing 17 years ago. She soon wonders what kind of man that she has moved in with.
When Emmie goes around the small village investigating Sophies disappearance she finds out that the Hollinger family are not what they appear to be. But everyone that she meets have their own secrets that they are hiding.
Sophie was here is a great thriller with a tense and complex plot, set in two timelines and several POV’s, and a lot of red herrings along the way. It will keep you guessing throughout. I didn’t really warm to the characters, but it didn’t really matter as I enjoyed the story anyway. 4 stars from me.

emmie and her boyfriend charlie receive a huge farmhouse from his parents and move from london to the quiet town of peaslake. but from the moment they arrive to his family home, emmie senses something isn't right. when she discovers the words 'sophie was here' scratched into the walls of their basement, along with the mysterious disappearance of a girl named sophie - and charlie's unsettling connection to the missing teen - emmie becomes determined to uncover the truth about what really happened.

well, that was a fun ride! so far, i've liked everything i've read by kathryn croft, and this one didn't disappoint either.
i was curious about what happened to sophie and who was responsible for her disappearance, and it was an enjoyable book to get through.

the story was told from alternating timelines, one set in the present and the other about 17 years ago.

the characters, charlie in particular, were quite unlikeable.
when emmie found the words scratched in the basement and he tried to make her seem kinda crazy by claiming he didn't see anything.
also, he was really manipulative and tried to blackmail sophie back then.
emmie seemed kinda obsessed with solving the case but as the story unfolded, everything started to make sense.

there was a long list of suspects, and i kept guessing who it could be. i liked the twists and the ending was kinda emotional but was really satisfying.

this was a fast-paced domestic thriller with a few twists and a mix of characters that constantly make you question their reliability.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing this book

Emmie and Charlie are moving to a small village after his parents gifted them an old farmhouse, they’re going through a rough patch in their relationship and hope that the move will fix things. Bad idea obviously, but at least they didn’t try to fix it by having a kid, so good choice. Charlie and his family are walking red flags, Charlie is the definition of gaslighting partner ; whenever Emmie has concerns about something weird he has the perfect dismissive answer. Things are weird to say the least. There’s a message from a girl named Sophie in the basement, everyone treats Vanessa - Charlie’s sister - as if she’s a fragile teenager and not a grown woman in her thirties, and Charlie’s parents are just way too nice (in a suspicious way). We get to know Sophie through flashbacks, she was Vanessa’s best friend and Charlie’s girlfriend and she disappeared 17 years ago but everyone seems to be very hush hush about it, especially Charlie.

Obviously the family has something to do with Sophie’s disappearance, the interesting thing is you don’t really know who did what because they’re all very good suspects. Honestly if I was Emmie I would have run as soon as I met them. There’s one twist that I didn’t like and that I feel wasn’t actually useful to the story, everything would have worked without this twist.That being said this was a really fun thriller, I always enjoy a domestic thriller with insanely creepy families.

This book was everything I look for in a book. It was so exciting. The plot was fantastic. It really had me on the edge of my seat, and my heart racing. It was very well written and flowed well.

What starts as a dream come true quickly spirals into something far more chilling in this taut, twisty psychological thriller. The premise is simple but gripping Emmie inherits a sprawling farmhouse from her boyfriend’s family, only to find herself caught in a web of whispers, secrets, and unresolved tragedy and it doesn’t help as her boyfriend Charlie didn’t want to have it.

Forest Farm has so much character as the people in the story. At first Emmie loves it but it soon curdles into isolation and dread. The tension builds slowly, as odd glances and village gossip point to a dark mystery which involves the disappearance of Sophie, Charlie’s ex-girlfriend, who was never found and Charlie won’t talk about it She finds something very suspicious in the cellar so she’s going to do everything possible to get to the truth.

It’s a brilliant read and a great twist.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookoutre for an ARC

A mysterious title…a couple moving into a house given to them by his parents…a dark and scary basements…red herrings and so many secrets…friends and family…the recipe for a quick suspenseful read.
Do not try to guess the ending too soon. It is not easy. Surprise…thanks Netgalley

This was an engaging thriller with lots of twists and turns. Several times I thought I knew where the story was going and I was so wrong. The main character could be annoying at times, I was glad to read why she was obsessed with finding out what happened to Sophie. The back and forth between present time and Sophie's story really helped with the storytelling. An enjoyable story!

i love how the title to this book is a key moment in the book. its those little details that make a book already so much better for me. its all in the detail.
the book gives us Emmie. she feels on top of the world when she sees a bright future with her boyfriend. not least because hes been given a big house no questions asked. Emmie thinks this is their chance. but her boyfriend Charlie seems far less convinced and she cant understand it.
from the off you get a sense something feels off. your gut and spidy sensors are already beginning to tingle.
and i was already finding myself looking into things. but was i being deceived by the characters? or by the author herself(in the best way of course)
because Kathryn knows how to write her books. and she knows how to bring all the drama, all the plot whoppers and all the emotions to her book. she is by far up there with one of my faves.
and this is how she lends her hand to what Emmie does next. because she makes her dig deeper into whats going on. and she is a determined thing i give her that. and a few times i was thinking "no, just leave, just go. STOP" because Emmie gets to know about a woman that disappeared a long time ago. and that young girl happened to be attached to Charlie. so just what happened to Sophie. and just who is behind the secrets that are clealry being kept and whispered about in this small town. is Charlie the bad guy here? and what about his parents?
slowly but surely we get to see the unravelling of just whats going on here and what went on in the past.
a corker of a read. loved it.