Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster UK for the review copy. This is an unbiased review of the author's work and style. If you want plot lines and spoilers please see the publishers blurb and other reviewers' reports.

Nicci French, (aka Nicci Gerrard and Sean French writing duo), have one great advantage over other authors and that is their partnership. Their books are smart, devious, complex and very enjoyable. I especially like their stand alone volumes giving them much more room to manoeuvre and deceive their readers.
Here in 'Lying Room' they have set a very clever plot line and then set out to extract every nuance from it. Don't skip, or peek just sit and read and enjoy.

Another five start effort.

I enjoy Nicci French’s books so was excited to receive this review copy via NetGalley.
The Lying Room is a stand-alone psychological thriller about a mother of three, Neve, who has been having an affair with a work colleague.
However, despite her best efforts to keep everything secret and carry on with her normal life, something dreadful happens and she has to make a decision about whether to come clean to her family or try to cover it all up.
I did feel for Neve, who seemed intrinsically a kind and helpful person who had made a few bad decisions which led to her life spiralling out of control. She tries to be supportive to everyone in her life including her difficult teenage daughter, her lazy husband who seems too wrapped up in his art to bother with a normal job and all her work colleagues who need her help for various reasons. She is even the one who ends up feeding the family guinea pig every day despite her problems and personal dilemma. No one else seems to care!
Neve gets herself into an impossible situation and it is very difficult to see how she can extricate herself.
Most characters in this book are flawed in some way including Neve herself but she makes for a very compelling lead and I was willing her to find a way out, desperately hoping all would be ok at the end.
Nicci French is a good psychological thriller writer and this book definitely had me hooked from the very beginning. If you’ve enjoyed her other books you will certainly enjoy this.

A perfectly pitched psychological thriller here from Nicci French, with very strong domestic drama elements and a twisty as you like storyline that is immediately involving.

I read this in one sitting, so caught up in the life of cleverly written main protagonist Neve, who faced with the dead body of her lover tries to extricate herself from a dangerous situation..

An ever more tangled web is woven as Neve tries to protect her family and herself, this is a highly engaging and extraordinarily addictive read, often unexpected and with an intelligent conclusion.

Some of my favourite parts involved Neve versus Inspector Hitching, those portions crackled with tension in a kind of cat and mouse chase with no real indication who might come out on top.

Overall a really great read. One for your October lists not to be missed. Don’t worry. I’ll remind you…

Recommended.

‘The Lying Room’ is the first standalone that the husband and wife writing partnership, Nicci French, has produced since the finale of the wonderful Frieda Klein series. In comparison, it disappoints. London remains the setting and the central character, mid 40s Neve, is rarely without her bicycle. We are given very detailed descriptions – almost directions – of her routes but, whilst the portrayal of London in the Frieda Klein novels was vivid, surprising and illuminating, in ‘The Lying Room’ it feels like little more than padding.
Neve’s marriage is suffering; she and her husband, Fletcher, are feeling the weight of years of supporting their difficult daughter Mabel who may, or may not, be off to university soon. Mabel certainly holds all the power at home. Her younger brothers are pretty much side-lined and her parents’ energy goes on caring for her. This is a family quietly in crisis. Neve begins a clandestine affair with her boss, Saul, a well-practised adulterer. Energised and revitalised by the thrill of their assignations, Neve knows exactly what she is doing and she delights in her transgression. It makes her feel that she is desired for herself, not just as a wife or a mother.
However, her double life is destroyed in seconds. Her lover is brutally murdered and the shock of this makes her take some very bad decisions. From this moment on, the credibility of the plot suffers. Usually so adept at sweeping the reader along in the narrative, Nicci French fails to do so in ‘The Lying Room’. A lot of cleaning goes on; plenty of cooking, cycling, drinking and interviewing. Nonetheless, within the social group of these middle-class slightly bohemian people, little feels authentic. To be in this world is to inhabit a darker version of a Waitrose advert!
Whilst the final moments in present time, focusing on Neve on her allotment, work very well – the sensory notes of autumn, the reminder of time passing - the last chapter entitled ‘Time, you thief’ detracts from the previous ‘regrowth’ extended metaphor. It feels unnecessary and does nothing to either surprise or illuminate. Better off without it!
My thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Shuster UK for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

Reading this book is a little bit like being stuck in a nightmare. One wrong turn, one deception, one mistake and then everything goes from bad to worse, and no matter how hard you try, you can’t escape. The main character is so compelling that I identified fully with her and battled with her through all her doubts and fears. What would you have done? What could you do? As always with a Nicci French novel, I couldn’t put it down. Compelling, gripping and very satisfying.

After the rich, dark, confections that are the Frieda Klein series, this feels thin and rather hackneyed as a perfectly ordinary wife and mother outwits the London police by covering up and investigating the murder of her lover. The story behind the killing has been written many (many) times before, as has the climactic final scene. I love Nicci French but this feels rushed and unoriginal, disappointing in comparison to these authors' usually high and fresh standard.

In comparison to the many psycholigical thrillers I've read this one was a slow starter for me. However, it wasn't long before I found myself delving into the story of Neve and her determination to cover her tracks whilst also trying to be normal and liaising with the police. Neve is a strong and clearly intelligent character who appears to have a close and loving family but has struggles like the rest of us. I wasn't expecting her to get away with the things that happened even though she was innocent so the ending was a bit of a disappointment but it was a good read nevertheless.

Neve is having an affair with her boss but when she turns up for an early morning tryst she discovers him dead with his skull caved in. Instead of calling the police she does the one thing she shouldn’t do and removes all trace of herself. As investigations into the murder begin with tough questions being asked and secrets coming to light, Neve is left not knowing who she can trust.

A well thought out thriller with an excellent storyline. This story has plenty of twists along the way and was a good entertaining read.

Neve Connolly is in a fairly happy, although a little stale, marriage. She has a secret which would tear her family apart should they find out. She has a lover. She arrives to meet him and finds he has been murdered. The story takes us on a page turning journey of family life, lies and secrets. A good read.

This book hooked me in from the start and then proceeded to send me spiraling through many twists and turns, always keeping me one step behind, right up until the nail-biting finale. Highly recommended.

The Lying rRoom is a true page turner .So many layers so many twists and turns Nicci French’s characters come alive makes you feel like these are people you know and you can’t stop reading till you solve the murder,Grab this book a true psychological thriller, #netgalley #simonscusteruk

This book had me hooked from the first few pages.
Neve makes a shocking discovery and has to try and keep this hidden from those close to her.
Life at home is hectic, and life at work will never be the same again.
Neve has a group of friends from university that now want a reunion but once she sees them all, she can’t get rid of them. They seem to constantly be round her house and she just needs some space.
When a folder turns up implicating Neve in a crime she decides to investigate this further. However, she’s not prepared for what she finds out.
This is a great book.
Thanks to Simon and Schuster UK and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I loved the earlier co-written 'Nicci French' novels, especially Beneath the Skin, Killing Me Softly and Land of the Living, but have been disappointed by the writers' more recent offerings, especially the Frieda Klein series, which didn't engage me at all. I'm happy to report that they're (somewhat) back on form with The Lying Room, which, while not as original as the best of their earlier thrillers, is gripping and well-written. Neve is meeting her lover for a secret assignment when she finds him dead in his flat. Terrified that her family will find out about her affair, she cleans up the crime scene to remove any trace of her presence. However, she is unable to escape from the ongoing police investigation, and starts to suspect that the killer may be somebody that she knows.

Neve is not exactly a sympathetic character - her efforts to obstruct the course of justice are pretty awful - but nevertheless, her story is compelling, and I especially enjoyed the development of her relationship with her teenage daughter, Mabel. Some aspects of the plot strain credibility, especially the conclusion, and the killer's identity is barely signposted at all, but I enjoyed the characterisation enough to go along with it. There are some especially good set-pieces, all centred around house parties, and I liked French's depiction of a group of friends and colleagues connected by various secrets, resentments and deceits. A solid psychological thriller that will appeal to French fans, and to those who like Ruth Ware, Sabine Durrant and Clare Mackintosh.

I will cross-post this review to Amazon after the publication date.

How would you react, on finding your lover, and boss, murdered in his Pied a Terre when arriving for another clandestine meet? Neve Connolly sees her life collapsing on many fronts as a result. What follows drags in her family, her College friends who are also work colleagues and, of course, her lover's wife. The tangled web embraces half truths and lies as well as some facts whilst the Police endeavour to unravel what happened and who was involved. You think you know people but many have untold secrets.......even the innocent have something to lose. Neve knows she has to identify the killer preferably before the Police. The book travels at pace with unexpected turns before the climax.
Nicci French has given us another outstanding book which deserves wide acclaim. Open the book and you will not want to put it down. (I would prepare your own scrambled, or poached eggs before you start!)

I wasn't quite sure what to expect with this one. I'm a bit wary as a rule of the huge torrent of domestic thrillers that seem to arrive on our shelves constantly but this was much classier than most with some great twists and turns. I really enjoyed it!

When Neve discovers a dead body, she doesn’t call the police. Instead, she gets rid of any evidence placing her at the scene and flees. It’s hard to say much more without a lot of spoilers, but her motivation is not what you might think.

The Lying Room is full of twists and turns, and packed with intriguing characters who all seem to have their own agenda. As Neve finds herself at the centre of an increasingly tangled web, she is left unable to trust anyone, even those closest to her.

This was a fantastic read with lots of twists and turns which had me page turning until it’s nail biting ending.

Neve Connelly is a wife, mother and friend to many. She feels trapped in her marriage to Fletcher and her teenage daughter Mabel is troubled and causing problems for both her parents.

Neve embarks on a affair with a married colleague which seems to give her the excitement and happiness she has been missing.

When events overtake her she finds the discovery of her colleagues murdered body throws her life and choices into turmoil. What should she do next? Should she do the right thing which will uncover her secrets? Will this destroy her family? How can she protect her loved ones? Who is the murderer?

The choices she makes have spiralling consequences. It shows that one decision and lie automatically leads to a multitude of tangled secrets. .

As the murder is uncovered Neve’s nerve is tested to the limit. DCI Hitching seems intent on uncovering the murderer and along with her lovers wife, his work assistant and Neve’s old university friends it seems no one is beyond suspicion.

The book displayed the devastating consequences of secrets and lies! There discovery inevitably brings consequences which touch the lives of not only the perpetrator but those around them as well.

A truly compelling read which had me hooked until the end. Very well plotted with great characters.

Thank you to netgalley and Simon and Schuster Uk for my chance to read this highly recommended read .

I liked the Klein series but felt that the last one was tired and let the original premise down.
HOWEVER!! This is AMAZING. From the start it will have you gripped. The characters are all very real and the story will have you breathless and wanting to read on but equally wanting to savour the joy of this utterly fantastic rollercoaster of a ride. I never do this but I’m going to re-read it again.
Definitely recommend. Definitely suggest you buy. Definitely give this 5 stars. It’s brilliant.

It’s been a long time since this author had a book out so I was very excited to have a chance to read it early. It didn’t disappoint. A cracking thriller!

What a brilliant book! I love Nicci French novels so was excited about reading this one and I was straight into it, turning the pages, worrying about Neve and the terrible situation she was in. It is cleverly paced and plotted - as you would expect from Nicci French! The tension builds and builds. There is the best, most catastrophic dinner party scene that would put you off entertaining friends for life! I could relate to Neve, mother of three, worried about her fragile daughter Mabel, trying to keep family life going as well as a busy job. I felt as though I was there with Neve, wondering if anyone had remembered to feed the guinea pig and knowing this was highly unlikely. All the time, there’s a major drama happening and the tension is increasing. Her family life is under threat and only she can save it. She has a husband and good friends but who can she trust?

This is a very enjoyable book. It’s original and full of suspense. I highly recommend it.