I have never read a Nicci French book before but this will certainly not be my last. Everyone I know loves this author's books so I suspect I will be able to borrow a few from bookshelves. From the first page I was engrossed in the story all the way to the end. A fantastic read.

In this book Nicci French takes us into the thoughts of the main character, and as the story moves along we can follow the action using her deductions; and what a story! The reader is gently led by the nose and then _ wham _ the plot really takes off. There are red herrings and twists and turns enough for any thriller fan. Great book _ great story _ highly recommended.

A tense nail-biting read. Oh my how one thing leads to another when you try and cover something up.
Surprising conclusion

On the surface, this seems to be a straightforward read but, trust me, it is bursting at the seams with suspense!

Neve Connolly is like a lot of forty-something women; she is the glue that holds her family together as well as providing a listening ear for friends and colleagues over the years. No matter what is going on in her own head, it is her second nature to nurture those around her - but is what you see what you get? We're all entitled to our own bit of space but Neve is hiding something. Our first clue is when she discovers a dead body but doesn't report it to the police which seems, even before we know everything about her, to be quite strange . . . could there be a secret in the offing?

Wow, this one has dragged me through a whole gamut of emotions. You would think it simple to read a book, but there is so much unfolding between these pages that the reader really needs to keep their wits about them. Hardly anything is as it first seems and just when I thought I knew what was going on, the goalposts would suddenly up and move! Completely riveting and totally enthralling,  I was gripped all the way - and I LOVED it!! This is my first Nicci French novel but it most certainly won't be the last - such clever plotting and writing! An absolutely cracking read, no less than a full five stars will do and a definite recommendation to get this one - and quickly!

My thanks to publishers Simon & Schuster for my copy via NetGalley. This is, of course, my honest, original and unbiased review.

Our protagonist, Neve, using her secret key, walks in to find a dead man. Not just any man, her dead lover. Innocent of murder, guilty of just about everything else. Wife, mother, colleague; a failure on every front and yet perceived by all as trustworthy, friendly, loyal and a discrete confidante for those needing someone to unburden their secrets and lies. Innocent: can we believe her when she demonstrates a hugely successful propensity for covering up the scene of a crime, adept at lying through her teeth and carrying out a hugely successful facade as loving and caring wife, mother and hostess to a dependent social circle of family, friends and colleagues all relying on her as she moves between her two lives. Has she cleverly concealed her involvement. Do the police believe her. How does she continue to function on every front when catastrophe awaits her every move and utterance. Perhaps an unbelievable scenario, and even less believable and credible protagonist. Readers need to suspend any disbelief and go along for the ride to enjoy this mystery and murder.

The Lying Room was a book i so wanted to like as I’ve read a few by Nicci French before and enjoyed them but this missed the mark for me.
Neve is the main character in this thriller, she is married but having an affair with her boss. Neve receives a text from Saul to ask her to come round that morning which is unexpected as she’d only seen him the night before as he was going away for a while. Neve skips onto her bike and gets round to his place as quick as she can only to discover he has been murdered, as she doesn’t want her affair exposed and her marriage ruined she sets about cleaning the whole place so there is no evidence of her ever having been there.
The book started off well but it did loose me in the middle a bit as there are quite a few characters and none of them I particularly liked. The story at times was a bit far fetched and that spoilt it a bit for me.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the main character, Neve and I was pulled into the story from the start. The book was well written and I didn’t feel the story was rushed or dragged on. This would make a great ITV drama, so if you are a fan of those you will love it. I highly recommend this book. Thank you #netgalley

Wow what a brilliant book. This is the first Nicci French book I have read and I will certainly be reading more. Its draws you in from the first page and is such a gripping read I just couldn't put it down. Certainly kept me guessing until the last page. Nail-biting and addictive.

Tense, thrilling and so, so, readable. I honestly couldn’t put this down. As well as a thriller it’s a good long look at parenting, marriage and friendships. Who can Neve trust? Excellent!!

This book had me gripped from page one and guessing right until the very end. I read this in two sittings and honestly didn't want it to end.

Neve is a people person, she is constantly surrounded by an army of friends and whenever someone has a problem she is their go to person. Her home life is chaotic, she's juggling raising 3 children, a depressive husband and a teenager that is due to go to university but has been a very troublesome teenager. There really is no wonder that Neve fell into an illicit affair with her new boss,Saul.

When Saul, is found brutally murdered in his flat, Never goes into overdrive. She has to protect her family from the secret life that she has been living but it's far harder than she ever imagined. She is also not the only person that has been keeping secrets and the book just keeps revealing more and more from not one but all of the characters.

I really loved the complex character of Neve. She just came alive on the page. You could literally feel her strength but at times you got to see her almost crumble. One scene that really stood out for me was when she went out to spend time with Whiskey, the little family pet guinea pig. It was very touching and such a normal thing to do. It was nice to have a book that didn't have the expected cat or dog as the family pet and Yes, I am a guinea pig lover so that was a big big plus to me.

As the book twists and turns and we get to better know Neve, and her friends. It's not long before Neve is secretly looking at each of them as the potential murderer.

This book was very fast paced just how I like my books to be. My only little niggle was the murder scene. It was a little far fetched. However, having never been in that position myself who knows what would be possible to cover up a crime.

I could write about this chilling book for a long time however that would mean revealing too much of the storyline and I really don't want to spoil this for anyone wanting to read this so all I can say is just read it. If your a lover of Crime fiction this in my opinion is a winner.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster UK for allowing me to read a proof copy of this book.

This is definitely one of the most morally grey novels I’ve read and trust me – I’ve read a lot! The novel is told entirely through the perspective of Neve, a wife and mother who is also having an affair with her colleague Saul. One morning she receives a text from him, asking to meet at his flat, nothing seems out of the ordinary but once Neve walks in, her entire life changes in an instant. Saul is dead. Someone has murdered him.

What follows next is Neves desperate attempt for her affair to stay hidden while the police circle in and try and figure out who the killer is. This is one of those novels where everyone begins to feel like a suspect and everyone has their own distinct motive. I really enjoyed following the story as everyones secrets are exposed, some are seriously surprising while others can be figured out due to foreshadowing and breadcrumbs here and there.

While the story itself was definitely gripping and I did keep reading as I wanted to know who the killer was, I didn’t really connect to any of the characters unfortunately so this detracted from the experience for me.

Overall I still enjoyed reading this book and when it got going it was really good. Probably more of a one time read for me but would still recommend to fans of domestic thrillers and mysteries with a ton of suspense.

This book started very well. A good premise and an intriguing start to draw the reader in.
Then I felt it got a bit lost in the middle and there were a few to many characters to keep track of, very few of whom had any likeable qualities at all.
The story was readable and flowed well, but ended as a bit of a disappointment unfortunately.

An enjoyable mystery with a good twist at the end. Plenty to keep you reading and enjoying it throughout.

The Lying Room is the first book by Nicci French for quite some time, but I felt that they still had the capacity to write a great thriller. Neve Connolly is a (I'm assuming) forty-something with a husband and 3 children, one of whom is just getting ready to leave for university. So far so normal. But what her family don't know is that she has been having a fling with her boss Saul.

This on it's own would provide a story but when Saul is found murdered in his flat by Neve, the real story begins. We get to know the group of friends that she has been in business with since university, the school run mums, her husband Fletcher and the pure nastiness that is her daughter Mabel.

This is a great story with lots of twists and turns and it's not until we get really close to the end that we find out 'who dunnit' and why....a geat return by Nicci French.

What a cracking book, from start to finish. You are immediately drawn into the novel and into the throws of Neve's life. Neve finds herself in an impossible situation; her lover found dead, and she takes immediate action. It makes you question what you would do in her shoes or what the right solution would be. Of course it would be to call the police but then her infidelity would have an unfavourable impact on her family's life, which Neve is desperate to protect. You instantly feel sympathy towards Neve and wonder how she will ever rid herself from the series of lies she is being forced to tell.

The novel is carefully planned out and I was never sure how it would end. I didn't foresee any of the events and followed Neve on her inquest to eliminate family and friends who she believed could have been responsible in Saul's death.

A brilliant, fast paced book with relatable characters and an intriguing plot. I cannot recommend this book enough. Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster UK for allowing me to read this book before it's release date.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

a text message
a lover found dead in his flat
all adds to the excitement of this book

when neve went to the flat to meet her lover she finds his body...his murdered body

why would anyone want to murder him...but she didnt want anyone to know about her illicit affair with her boss...so she cleans the flat up but she makes a mistake

her bangle she left on the side as she was cleaning up and so begins the rollercoaster of a ride that will see her questioned by police but can she lie and keep her deepest secret from everyone and not get charged with murder

wow have to admit this book grips you and i dont know why....though i must admit i wanted to find out what had happened and who it was...it was well written and evenly paced well worth a read

I haven’t read any other Nicci French books but I like the genre and was recommended this author by a bookseller friend.
The book is aptly titled - the web of lies seems never ending and the story is full of twists and turns. An enjoyable read, though I found Neve’s initial reaction on discovering a murder somewhat unbelievable. I suppose it makes for a good read but I found it hard to get over the decisions she made and I felt a bit frustrated with her and the quandary she found herself in. It seems in the past few years that more books have ‘flawed’ main characters and this one certainly fits in this category.
Probably a 3 and a half star read if I could give a half star.

I have read a few Nicci French books and thoroughly enjoyed them. I had high expectations on starting this and although the book was a good read it didn’t hold me captive like some of the previous books. I felt there was a lot of characters to keep up with and this became a little boggling at times and off putting trying to remember who they were, how they fitted in to the story etc. Without giving much away I found some of the material a little hard to believe, for instance the scene in the flat it was too methodical, too calm I really can’t see somebody reacting to what was in there in the way Neve did. As I say it was a good read but not a fantastic read as I would have expected.

This book oozes tension, I don't think I have ever felt so anxious reading before. The atmosphere seeps through the pages into you.
Neve discovers the body of her lover Saul, and instead of ringing the police she cleans the scene. Neve doesn't want her family to know about her affair, so she does her best to wipe all traces of herself from the flat. The problem is someone does seem to know and Neve's life is about to unravel.
I highly recommend this book.

Neve has been married to Fletcher for twenty years. But she's also been having an affair with her boss. She gets a text message to meet him at his Covent Garden flat, but when she gets there, hes dead. His heads been caved in. In a blind panic, she scrubs the flat clean to erase any trace of her being there. Going out of her mind with worry, Neve decides to try and find out herself who had murdered Saul.

The Lying Rooom is a cleverly written psychological thriller. Everything in the book is perfectly described.; characters, work place, home etc. Thre storybdraws you in from the beginning and doesn't let you go. Oh how Neve maddened me, cleaning the flat of all the evidence that she had bee there, instead of calling the police. She was also cleaning away the murderers DNA as well. This is a twist filled and gripping read. I did guess all the way through to who might be the killer, and I did guess right. My only criticism is that I would ha e liked ore information about Mabels past. It was referred to often but never fully explained.

I would like to thank Netgalley, Simon and Schuster and the author Nicci French for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.