While I was really sad to say goodbye to Frieda Klein, it's a treat to have a new stand alone from Nicci French, and I don't think fans will be disappointed.

It gripped from the first page, with characters who felt well drawn and fallible - the family dynamics were particularly convincing. The final denouement was unexpected and, to be honest, a little unbelievable but as I'd thoroughly enjoyed the rest of it I didn't mind that much!

I have loved all this author’s previous books and this one did not disappoint. A brilliant book, highly recommended.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Nicki French got the copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

When Niamh Connolly finds her lover, murdered, instead of calling the police, she tries to erase any trace of her ever having been in his apartment... The Lying Room is a clever whodunnit, with elements of family drama that compel the main character to act in such a way that will bring only suspicion upon her. The story is quite complex, with a lot of characters to contend with, all seeming to converge between the main character's house and her work environment, while she maintains the central pivotal role until the final reveal. Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster UK for the opportunity to read this ARC copy.

Tight prose and a compelling style that takes the reader through Neve’s world without giving too much away.

It’s quite the page turner by this accomplished author- you can tell they really know how to write a thriller!

Read and enjoy

Nicci French is an accomplished writer and this book shows that in spades. Neve’s life is turned upside down when she finds her lover lying dead. What follows is a fast-paced unfolding of events as Neve tries to work out who could be responsible as well as being under suspicion herself. Exciting, suspenseful and intriguing.

This psychological thriller follows the lives of Neve Connolly and her family and work colleagues/friends who are thrown into a nightmare situation when the boss of the company they work for is found dead.
It is Neve who discovers the body, since unbeknownst to the other players in this thriller she was having an affair with him. Whilst it is clear Saul has been murdered, Neve makes an initial disastrous decision to try and cover up their relationship and suspicion is slowly cast upon all her close work colleagues as well as her daughter and herself Who exactly is guilty and who can be trusted? Everyone has a secret to hide.
Cleverly plotted, I found this thriller darkly comic too, with some of Neve’s decisions to cover up the truth putting her in problematic yet funny situations. She weaves such a tangled web of lies that it’s a wonder the detective leading the case doesn’t catch her out! But does that make her a murderer? I loved the strange relationship between Neve and the detective, with her somehow managing to stay one step ahead. The periodic references to Whisky, the family guinea pig made me laugh, highlighting Neve’s struggles with everyday life, which we can all identify with, alongside her more immediate problem.
Neve is a great character for the way she manages to juggle so much at any given time and she is definitely the backbone of her family, keeping them together no matter what. I think this is also true of Neve’s relationship with her close work colleagues, seen as trustworthy, dependable and always willing to listen. In trying to protect both her family and friends, is she putting herself in an even more vulnerable position??
I found The Lying Room to be an immensely enjoyable read, which I found difficult to put down, although I’m not sure how I feel about the revelation of ‘whodunnit ‘. Implausible I think in places but definitely recommend as worth reading.
Many thanks as always to the author and publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read ahead of publication.

I am a huge fan of Nicki French, particularly the Freda Klein series, so I was thrilled to be given the opportunity to read and review an an ARC of The Lying Room.
The main character is Neve, a forty something mother of Connor, Rory and Mabel, she’s been married to Fletcher for almost 20 years. It becomes clear that there is resentment towards Fletcher from Neve, as she has recently changed from working full time to “half” time (I assumed this actually meant part-time?) while Fletcher is unemployed and mostly in his study. However, this wasn’t ever a conversation between them, which I found hard to believe.
There are lots of comments about Mabel being a “troubled teen “ throughout, but this is only vague mentions of her being thin and possibly drug abuse in her past? I felt this wasn’t expanded upon enough and it left me wondering why it was even mentioned.
It is revealed that Neve has been having an affair with her boss, Saul, who is also married. He has a flat where Neve has spent time with him, but they have never texted each other, in fact they don’t have each other’s phone numbers. Neve receives a text which she assumes is from Saul (even though he doesn’t have her number) asking her to meet him at the flat. Neve knows he’s supposed to be at a conference, but she jumps on her bike and goes there anyway. When she arrives, she finds Saul dead on the floor, a hammer beside him. Instead of calling the emergency services, she cleans the flat to remove any traces of the fact that she had spent the previous evening there with Saul. She takes off her bracelet (very distinctive, present from husband) and leaves it in the flat by mistake.
When Neve realises she has left the bracelet, she goes back to the flat to retrieve it, but it has gone, along with the hammer. Both are discovered in daughter Mabel’s room, but instead of getting rid of the hammer altogether, it begins a farcical travel around the house. ( How does Mabel know where Saul lives? How did she get in?)
DCI Hitching, who is investigating the murder, turns up at Neve’s house at random times for a chat, the inference is that he suspects her of committing the murder, but he seems quite happy to talk to her informally about it.
There are a lot of characters in this book, possibly to divert you from the guessing who the murderer is, but they weren’t expanded on, so felt quite one dimensional to me.
I did enjoy this book and didn’t want to put it down, but I feel improvements could be made. Some things just didn’t ring true ( Neve and Saul not having each other’s numbers, Neve finding out about Fletcher’s affair but not confronting him, a senior police officer shaking hands with Neve at a murder scene while Neve still has blood on her hands!) but overall I did enjoy it.
Thank you to Netgalley for the early reading copy.
I will review on Amazon on the publication date.

Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

A decent mystery drama! I liked the pacing of this book and was able to read it in moderate chunks with ease: the dynamics are interesting to read about, with Nicci French exploring the struggle of motherhood, of partnerships, and of long standing friendships. While I’m a little bored of affairs being the big narrative clincher, I enjoyed the plot a lot all the same.

I did find issue with the ending as with most thrillers recently, as I personally found it lacking and perpetrator predictable. However not everything is about the ending and as the book had a solid start to it and interesting characters I was still very much a fan and will have to read more by the authors!

This story is about Neve. She goes to meet her married lover at his flat but finds he has been murdered. To cover up her affair she decides to clean up the flat of any trace of herself having been there. By doing this she makes things a whole lot worse for herself.

The character of Neve is a wife, mother and friend. Neve is under a lot of pressure trying to juggle her roles and everybody else’s problems as well as her own and this comes across really well. I really couldn’t stand the police inspector he really annoyed me all the time which is a bit of a problem when a murder has been committed. He would just randomly turn up to speak with Neve in an unofficial capacity, just for a quick chat. It just made me think of the character of Columbo but not as clever. I was kicking myself for not guessing the ending. I thought of three other characters who I thought might have been responsible but I was wrong. This was not a bad book but certainly not the best Nicci French book I have read,

This was an intriguing story quite a clever plot.

Neve, a married forty-something woman has been having an affair with her new boss. It was reckless, exhilarating, passionate... and now dangerous.

One morning she is asked to go to meet her boss at his bolt-hole flat, only she finds he has been murdered, leaving her with a dilemma - does she call the police and risk losing her marriage and family when the affair discovered or does she clean the flat of all traces of her... and the murderer?

The story was wonderfully written and drawn out, with a web of lies and deceit. Neve now needs to navigate a situation which is increasingly making her look guilty.

This book was brilliantly descriptive and I loved the concept of the novel. It was packed with tension and complexity. A true compulsive read.

Thank you to @Netgalley and @simonschusteruk for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'm very grateful to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview this book. However, unfortunately, for me (and I really wanted to love it) it's just an 'OK' read.

I've enjoyed many books by this duo, but, this was such hard work to finish.

Neve is the main character, who I found very irritating. She has an affair and the subsequent plot is centred around a 'whodunnit'. It did keep me guessing, which is the only reason I persevered. And the ending was a surprise. It's just a shame that, by that point, I didn't really care a great deal.

2*

4 - 5 stars
I have read many Nicci French books over the years and always enjoy them and this one is a very twisty, fast paced story. The central character is mother of three Neve who is married to Fletcher and the unfolding plot shows how her life implodes following the murder of her lover and boss Saul Stevenson. I like the way their meeting and ensuing friendship is described as they seem to dazzle each other. Neve is a fantastic character, she’s resourceful, caring, loving,and fiercely protective of her children, in particular the fragile Mabel who has so many issues. Mabel is so different, at times she fizzes with energy, at others she’s malevolent and she can be very caustic. In some ways she’s a typical teenager but one of the facets of her personality that shone through above all others is how much she cares about her family and the lengths she will go to in order to protect them. There is a very moving section towards the end where she acknowledges just how important Neve is in her survival through her most difficult times.
I think this is a fascinating story and one of the key features is how Sauls death shone a spotlight on Neve’s relationships, with her husband, her family, her friends and work colleagues. She seems to gather people around her and at times her house positively resembles a madhouse, in fact, the only sane thing in the house is the guinea pig. I don’t know if I am supposed to find some of the scenes darkly comedic but I did. I think there are occasions where it resembles a chaotic black French farce and I really like this aspect of the book. For example, Sunday morning at Neve’s is bonkers with friends turning up randomly in varying states of inebriation, some start to build a greenhouse, others make gin and tonics, Mabel pierces her friends ear, the guinea pig escapes, and if that isn’t enough the police officer Hitching who is investigating the murder turns up. He’s a brilliant character who you couldn’t help liking and he often added to the humour with his one liners.
Eventually, Neve works out who the perpetrator is and she realises that she is in great danger and some of the scenes towards the end as she fights for her life are very tense and dramatic. . My only negative feelings are about the motivation for the crimes which I felt to be a bit of a stretch however, people kill for real for the most tenuous of reasons.
Overall, a terrific and highly entertaining, well written book from this dynamic crime writing duo. There are some fantastic scenes that are so tense you almost hold your breath and at other times you are smiling at the chaos.

The Lying Room is a twisty, gripping thriller that kept me guessing all the way through. I don't want to give away anything so I'll keep the review quite brief.

It was a perfect murder mystery set up, and I enjoyed the way potential suspects were revealed within the main character Neve's family and social circles. The characters were all subtly linked and we were given just enough information about them to rouse suspicions! It was very well plotted. I also liked the way the detective would keep popping up everywhere! My only niggle was I would have liked a little more detail about Mable's troubled past as it was referred too often throughout but never fully explained.

I'm a big fan of Nicci French books and I'm so glad this latest one didn't disappoint. Once I was halfway through I could hardly put it down, which is exactly what you want from a good psychological thriller!

I am hugely disappointed with this novel. I had high expectations with it as the plot sounded right up my street.
However, I am unable to even read the first chapter. The grammar and punctuation were appalling! Barely any capitalization at all. This doesn't even look like a first draft- I have no idea how this has got so far with publication when there are so many errors!
I would love the publishers to send a fully edited version back to me so that I can give an informed opinion on the characters and plot.
A real shame!

*BOOK HANGOVER COMMENCING *

This has got to the book of the summer got me!

The perfect psychological thriller in every sense, gripping, engrossing, twisty and dramatic in every chapter.

The characters are perfectly described as is the home locations and work place, so believable you truly feel you are there.

This stand alone novel had me guessing constantly and sat on the edge of my seat from the first chapter.

The storyline is immediately involving, drawing you in and not spitting you out until the very last nail biting line.

Long forgotten friendships, family relationships, lies, deceit and murder... what more could you ask for?

If your after a book that with leave you desperately turning the pages but wanting to savour it at the same time, this is one for you.

A sure fire hit!

A huge thank you to netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster UK for this ARC of The Lying Room.

I so looked forward to reading this author. Until I read the first few lines. That was enough to let me know this would be an arduous read. While some sentences begin with a capital letter, the majority do not. The same with proper nouns-most of the names are all lower case. For a trad pub, I'm shocked. This is basic writing and should be taken care of well before it gets put out for review.

So, pushing on and forcefully ignoring all of that, I soon grew bored, and then almost comatose. I'm sorry, but I don't need a book full of what food folks eat, nor do I need all the other minutae of life. Along with the vast amount of over description, the character ruminates a lot. Not much of it seems that relevant to the plot. Also, new information is dropped in, seemingly apropos of nothing, and this feels like I've missed half the story or something.

All in all, if I hadn't committed to reading and reviewing this free advanced review copy, it would now be sitting on my DNF shelf. I can't express how disappointed I feel. It gets one star, because, you know, I have to give it something. I usually try and finish any review on a positive note, so here goes ... I love the cover and the title!


***

NOTE ON RATINGS: I consider a 3-star rating a positive review. Picky about which books I give 5 stars to, I reserve this highest rating for the stories I find stunning and which moved me.

5 STARS: IT WAS AMAZING! I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! — Highly Recommended.
4 STARS: I WOULD PULL AN ALL-NIGHTER — Go read this book.
3 STARS: IT WAS GOOD! — An okay read. Didn’t love it. Didn’t hate it.
2 STARS: I MAY HAVE LIKED A FEW THINGS —Lacking in some areas: writing, characterisation, and/or problematic plot lines.
1 STAR: NOT MY CUP OF TEA —Lots of issues with this book.

It's going to be difficult to talk about this novel without giving away spoilers, so by necessity this will be a short review!

A trusted colleague and friend. A loving mother. A wife. Neve Connolly is all these things. But she's also human, so she's made mistakes. In fact one rather big one, and it could be about to ruin her life.
What can Neve do to make it right?

If you looked up 'page turner' in the dictionary, The Lying Room would be in the definition. The pace never lets up and the reveals just keep on coming. Suspenseful, with a constant sense of unease, this is a great example of 'Grip Lit'.

Enjoyed this book but felt was a bit of a let down at the conclusion. I also found references to Mable's troubled past confusing as it was never really clarified what her problems were and I felt it was referred to so much it was going to be a bigger part of the plot than it ended up being.

I love Nicci French and this new book did not disappoint. The story was (as usual) brilliantly written and it kept me on tenterhooks the whole way through. You really care about the main characters and will them to be ok. I did not know who the murderer was until the reveal; it kept me guessing the whole way through, and I always love it when I have no idea what the ending is going to be. I would recommend any book by the Nicci French collaboration.

I was excited to read this book as I love Nicci French books. It did not disappoint. As usual the plot is excellent and the characters are interesting. I liked the main character Neve although I have to say that I found some of her behaviour pushed the bounds of credibility but I could forgive this. However a really enjoyable book.