I have read most of the novels (somehow I’ve missed a few) by Nicci French and they have never disappointed and this one certainly didn’t. An exceptional read with numerous twists and turns which kept me on the edge of my seat and unable to put down.

Neve Connelly is married, three children with one about to go to university, works part time with three people she knew from college. Her husband, Fletcher, works from home although it appears as if he is earning very little. Their relationship used to be strong.

Neve is having an affair with one of her bosses from work, who is also married. It has not been going on for long but she is smitten. One morning, over breakfast she receives a text message, which she assumes is from him to meet up again. Unexpected but she doesn’t hesitate even though she thought he was away at a conference.

She lets herself into his London flat to find him dead with his head caved in and a hammer lying next to him. This is where Neve begins making decisions, which are going to radically change her life forever. Who killed her lover, who knew about her visit and who can she trust? I will stop there, as I do not want to give anything else away.

Amazingly well plotted with some characters I loved and others I hated. As the secrets begin to unfold it becomes clear that not all the relationships are what they appear on the surface. The writing and direction led me in so many different directions and there were times when I wanted to shout at the characters to tell them what was happening.

Thank you to NetGalley, Simon and Schuster UK and Nicci French for my ARC in return for my honest review.

A must read, highly recommended.

The capitalisation was missing for some proper names in this download, so it put me off a little bit. I did not engage with the main character, Neve, and thought her bahaviour was bizarre and quite funny as she got herself more and more entangled into her attempts to cover up her lover's murder (which she did not do) because she did not want to reveal her infidelity to her husband, Fletcher. Their lifestyle seemed a little chaotic, and she seemed to give more attention to the guinea pig than her two sons. The daughter was a little more interesting. The whodunnit aspect was quite believable in the end, so I gave it three stars.

Neve finds her lover murdered and tries to remove all sign of herself from his life. Friends, colleagues and family all circle around and her struggle to stay on top of her lies and work out what's happening deepen.

A really good solid psychological crime novel with characters that really breath and live. I literally couldn't put it down and was 30 mins late for dinner.

When Neve Connolly finds the murdered body of a man - a man she knows, in a place where Neve shouldn’t be - her first instinct is to call the police.

Her second, quickly overriding it, is to protect herself and her family.

What Neve decides to do next will lead her into what can only - cliches notwithstanding - be described as a tangled web of deceit. Can she hold her nerve?

Life at home is far from straightforward. Troubled teenage daughter Mabel is causing her parents no end of grief (possibly out of revenge for having been called Mabel). Husband Fletcher is prone to depression and disappointment. And nobody ever remembers to feed the guinea pig.

As the murder is discovered and investigations commence, Neve has to contend with the inscrutable DCI Hitching, who always seems to know more than he’s letting on. Then there’s the murder victim’s wife, delivering potentially loaded comments, and his assistant doing something similar. Meanwhile, a seemingly endless stream of old friends are apparently taking up permanent residence in Neve’s house.

Nicci French is excellent at conveying the feeling of being trapped in a situation at least partly of ones own making; constructing a shaky edifice of often flimsy lies which it seems inevitable will come crashing down at any moment, while having to somehow appear to be functioning normally both in public and in private. I’m not sure I could do it.

I’m not sure this is Nicci French’s best - Catch Me When I Fall and Secret Smile are always the ones I remember most - but it’s undeniably a compelling read.