HUGE fan of Fiona Cummins she never fails to enthral the reader. Her books have more twists than a cork screw. This one is particularly twisty and difficult to put down. The story switches starts in 1997 and switches between 1997 and 2007 and most of the story focuses on the Carter sisters Shannon and Sara and their childhood friend Brinley Booth. One of the sisters murders their parent. This is not a spoiler as this is obvious early on in the book. One daughter confesses and us convicted of the murder serves time in a children's institute and on her release leads a relatively fulfilling life until the other sister offers an interview and this becomes a major interest story in the press. Brinley is now a member of the press and is somewhat reluctantly drawn into reporting on the story.

An additional but related storyline runs through the book involving Geoffrey Heathcote the Justice Minister who quite frankly is arrogant and during a radio interview, believing his mic was over puts his foot in it by advocating capital punishment.

When the author is writing for the children in 1997 she writes particularly well from the perspective of two 12 year olds and a 10 year old and all of the angst around their difficult childhoods which is very touching.
I highly recommend this book and advise other readers to read other Fiona Cummins books as they do not disappoint.

Thanks to thank Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for allowing me to read an advance copy for a fair and unbiased review.

Catherine Allen has spent the best part of twenty years pretending the formative decade of her childhood didn't exist. But when her sister goes on live TV, talking about how her parents – Dr and Mrs Carter – were brutality murdered with a pair of scissors when they were children, the life she has built for herself starts to rip at the seams. 

"Her life – the ordinary, dull, precious life she had fought so hard to build – tilted sideways."

In the eye of a media storm, the story garners intense public interest. Having gripped the nation when the crime first occurred, in the late 90s, it re-ignites questions about children who kill, and what possible pathway there can be to their redemption. 

Brinley Booth, who grew up with the sisters in the same rural village, is now a reporter who is assigned to the case. In the cutthroat world of news journalism, there's only one thing that matters – getting the story. But revisiting her past isn't easy for Brinley, either, and a return to her childhood home dredges up parts of the past she'd rather leave forgotten.

"Now I'm back in the place that has haunted the hollows of my life, and the ghosts of my childhood walk alongside me, murmuring in my ear.' 

The narrative also travels back in time to the 90s, to the seemingly idyllic Carter family home. Behind the facade – the doting parents, the father the village GP, Fiona Cummins exposes a believable and horrifying family reality, where emotional abuse and manipulation are the norm. The writing in these parts of the novel was strongest, with suspenseful and emotive scenes that built up the characters effectively, especially that of the youngest sister, Sara. 

The dive into the world of news journalism made up my favourite parts of the novel, an insight into what it takes to carve out your career in that field. Cummins explores predatory journalistic practices and putting your life on the line if it means getting that front-page byline – and how so often these sensationalist crimes end up being trial-by-media.

Ultimately, there were things that didn't work for me – the subplot of the Tory Justice Secretary and his unceremonious downfall, some on-the-nose plot moments and metaphors (in the midst of otherwise very accomplished writing), and – without giving away any spoilers – the motivation for the later killings, which seemed to be included for shock factor rather than plausibility in the context of the story. However, this was still a gripping novel that explored an interesting premise, that largely sustained the suspense throughout.

#WhenIWasTen #NetGalley
An ok read. Don't expect too much from it.
Catherine Allen is living her life with her husband Edward and a daughter named Honor but there's a problem Catherine is not her real name. Her name is Sara Carter, sister of Shannon Carter, they used to live on hilltop house when they were young. Their parents were abusive and they used to abuse them for every little thing and Carter sisters wanted to get rid off them.
Bromley Booth, now a journalist and Carter sisters neighbour who used to be their friend is also has a secret.
Carter sisters parents were stabbed brutally with a scissor. Who killed them?
Well, the premise of the story is good but the characters and narration were its biggest drawbacks. I couldn't feel connected with the character of Brinley. Only a few scenes were good in the story.
Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan for giving me an advance copy.

This book is very very good. The story follows two sisters, Sara and Shannon and the murder of their parents by a pair of scissors. Best friend Brinley who lives next door is also involved but how? This story is fast paced immediately and had me on the edge of my seat throughout. You may think you have an idea of where it is going but you’re wrong (well I was anyway! ) Some of what especially Sara went through was written so vividly I honestly felt I was living it with her. A twisty novel jam packed full of shocks that I find hard to believe that wouldn’t be enjoyed by any thriller loving reader. One of those books that you feel a genuine loss when you finish it and don’t want to start another one straight away as you just know it won’t be as good. Thanks to the publisher for an early copy, I shall continue to rave about how good this book is for a while!

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book.

The description of this book attracted me and I’m really glad I gave it a go because it’s one of the best books I’ve read for a while.

Two sisters, murder and a lie that’s about to be uncovered after 13 years!

I couldn’t stop reading, I literally couldn’t wait to find out what was going on. Halfway through the book I was completely gobsmacked and then I was just on tenterhooks. Very very good read!

This was the first novel I have read by Fiona Cummins and it won't be my last!

Cummins has a fantastic style of writing and the story had me gripped from the beginning with the main twist being a real shock. I empathised with the main characters and detested the antagonists - all of whom were very well written.

The only downside to this novel was the inclusion of Geoffrey Heathcote who I felt did not add anything to the story and almost seemed to be a rejected sub-plot from another novel.

A difficult novel to review without revealing spoilers, however, it is definitely worth a read if you're a fan of domestic noirs.

Thanks to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for the ARC.

A powerful and well written book. I found the content difficult to read at times (cannot explain without giving too much away) but absolutely believable. I really could not put this book down and have great admiration for Fiona Cummins' hard hitting style of writing. I do not know if she has written any other books but will definitely look out for her name.
Thank you Fiona, Pan MacMillan and Netgalley for allowing me to read this brilliant book and give my unbiased opinion.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for an advance copy of When I Was Ten, a stand alone psychological thriller set in London and its environs.

The novel opens in 1997 with a young girl telling us that all the grown ups are dead. It then switches to 2018 to tell us that in just over ten minutes Catherine Allen will be dead. Then it slowly unfurls the events surrounding these two positions.

Wow! This novel had me on the edge of my seat throughout. Just as I thought I had a handle on proceedings it changed course again. I couldn’t put it down although many times I wanted to when it got tense. It’s always the sign of a good book when you live every second with the protagonist, in this case Catherine Allen.

Ms Cummins is a fantastic storyteller as this tale loops back and forward between 1997 and the days leading up to current events as well as the current events and between characters, mostly Catherine Allen and her childhood friend, Brinley Booth who is now reporting the story. It should seem muddled and choppy but each new revelation adds another twist and angle, leaving the reader desperate for more information. I couldn’t read it fast enough and I’m not overly keen on psychological thrillers.

This is a difficult novel to review without spoilers but it has plenty of secrets, an examination of family dynamics and the repercussions of abuse and loyalty on the psyche. It is the kind of novel I would want to re-read for nuance as I feel I blasted through it, so caught up in the plot.

When I Was Ten is a great read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

When I Was Ten is gripping, chilling and with some great twist and turns. If you’re looking for a new thriller to read the look no further than this book.

Shannon and Sara Carter are sisters. They live next door to their best friend Brinley. Everyone remembers the Carter sisters. Their dad was the local GP and they lived in the beautifully Hilltop House. One day the village wakes up to a brutal double murder. Dr Carter and his wife have been stabbed to death fourteen times with a pair of scissors. The girls were ten and twelve at the time and one becomes knows as the Angel of Death, spending the next eight years in a secure unit accused of the killings. On the anniversary of the trial, a documentary team has tracked down one of the sisters persuading her to speak about the events of that night.

This book had me hooked from the first page. It’s impossible to put down. It’s deliciously dark, well written and a joy to read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Pam MacMillan and the author for the chance to review.

I really enjoyed this book. 2 sisters live in the big house in a seemingly perfect family. But one night 10 year old Sara kills both her parents with a pair of scissors. 20 years later the story hits the news again when the older sister agrees to tell her story in the hope of reaching out to Sara, whose identity has been changed after serving her sentence. This is a real page turner which will have you on the edge of your seat right til the end! Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

What a really good book this is, Fiona Cummins from an unusually starting point developed a intertwined story of three young children who lies goes with them into adulthood with surprising results. Not a book you can put down easily once you’ve started, with a background of the cruelty that many children have to endure it evolves into a tense thriller with many twists along the way. No heros, no heroines just people who are changed forever by a few minutes when they were 10!!

Reading the synopsis of this book and being a fan of Fiona Cummins, I knew it was something I’d be interested in. All I can say is wow. Fiona Cummins has a unique way of taking sensitive subject matters and handling them with tact and grace. The first couple of chapters are quite slow paced but by chapter three I found myself completely hooked! I thoroughly enjoyed how the book was split into three sections, Starting in present time where Catherine is seriously trying to keep her past hidden. In the second part we are introduced to Shannon, Sara and Brinley as children. This is also where we find out the chain of events that occurred on the run up to the murder. And lastly we are brought back to present time where Catherine is desperately trying to get her life back into order whilst regaining the trust of her family.

All in all this was a fantastic book that I would hugely recommend reading!

WOW! What an absolutely fantastic book, such drama, so many surprises, brilliantly written. I devoured this book. I will be recommending this to everyone it's going to be big.

I struggled with this book, I liked some of it but found it to be quite disjointed,and I am afraid it wasn't one of my better reads.

Where do I begin ......? Take a deep breathe!! Firstly I was 100% hooked by this book and was taken on a dark and twisty journey that has left me breathless and feeling like I’ve been in a tumble drier on a high setting!!

We start this amazing story in April 1997, a young girl running away from a murder scene is struck by lightning leaving her with scars on her back. The young girl is Brinley whose best friends are sisters Shannon and Sara. The murder scene she was fleeing from was the girls parents Dr Richard Carter and his wife Pamela, stabbed to death by a pair of scissors. Sara is found guilty.

It’s now 2018, Catherine and her husband Edward live in Essex with their 12 year old daughter Honor but their lives are about to be turned upside down by a newspaper article that will reveal Catherine’s secrets and will change their lives forever.

Told from two timelines from Brinley and Catherine’s perspectives. We discover that Sara and Shannon’s childhoods are not as idyllic as what they appear to be on the outside, their father a respected Dr living in the beautiful house on the hill. The murders are named “The Hilltop Murders” with press saying that Sara was “An angel touched by death”

It’s the anniversary of the murders and one of the sisters is ready to talk about what happened that fatal night. Brinley a journalist travels back to her childhood home to cover this story. But she has her own secrets that she does not want revealed.

This highly addictive book drags you in from the first page keeping you captive long after finishing the book.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

Rattled.
First of all I would like to thank Fiona Cummins for writing this book, and Net Galley for letting me read it. If you have not read Fiona's Bone Collector series then you are missing out, and if you have you will not be disappointed when you read this one.
Your two best friends,sisters live next door, and their parents, the local GP and his wife are strict disciplinarians. Their childhood is not a happy one, but your mother is terminally ill so neither is yours. Then early one morning your whole world is turned upside down as the two sisters are taken away by the police after their parents are brutally stabbed to death.
Twenty or so years on and the story is about to break again, you have moved away, making your own way in life with those events a distant memory, except you are now are journalist, and are sent to the village of your childhood to report on it.

Fiona was a journalist with the Daily Mirror before she started writing books, so you would expect her to know a good story when she sees one, and she has one here.
The story is told from one of the sisters prospective and also the journalist's. The sister is living under an assumed name, a new life given to her after her release from juvenile detention, which is about to collapse like a house of cards.
You feel for the characters.The story develops, being told in two time frames, then and now, allowing you to learn about them as children and also as adults.

Would I recommend you read this book? Absolutely, it is well written, totally believable and has characters you empathise with. Released in August 2020. Put a reminder on your calender.

Brilliantly written portrayal of a sensitive subject.

I could not stop turning the pages, I just had to know what was going on.

The relationship between the protagonist and her daughter was a nice frame for the story of her history and I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

If you've read Fiona Cummins before then you know what you’re in for and it’s a brace yourself read. It’s a chin dropper, eye popper, heart beater, hand shaker, mind blowing, breath taking, goose bump inducing rollercoaster of a book. Is Fiona Cummins middle name ‘Twisty’??!!! The book opens dramatically in April 1997 when a young girl runs away from an horrific murder scene. We later learn this is twelve year old Brinley Booth whose best friends are Shannon and Sara Carter, the murder victims are their parents. This is the infamous ‘Hill Top Murders’ for which ten year old Sara is convicted. Fast forward twenty one years to December 2018 to Catherine and Edward Allen and their daughter Honor who are living a comfortable and happy life in rural Essex. A news item catches Catherine’s eye and yanks at her heart and soul and their precious family life will never be the same. The story is told in two times lines 1997 and 2018 and principally from the perspectives of Brinley and Catherine but there’s also the inclusion of Justice Minister, the smugly arrogant Geoffrey Heathcote.

There are many themes in this multifaceted, well written and thought provoking book. It examines what drives children to kill and is an insightful depiction of one case. We learn of cruelty and evil and there are several sources of that. The inclusion of the Justice Minister in the storytelling highlights the role of justice and rehabilitation in cases like these, although I’m not certain we entirely needed all the details of his sordid life! Fiona Cummins also pulls no punches in the role of journalism and newspapers who drive a story and the ensuing public reaction. We are reminded that they take a stance and that will not necessarily take account of all the facts. She clearly shows too how in today’s world this is further fuelled by social media where allegations and assumptions are made on zero personal knowledge and how stories can grow exponentially and in this case social media also puts lives at risk. It’s unsavoury and it leaves a bad taste because that’s exactly what it is.

The most powerful parts of the story and what makes this book hard to put down is the story of the girls. Shannon, Sara and Brinley have so many damaging secrets, there are lies told but not for the reasons you might expect because this is about love, sacrifice and ultimately much needed shedding of burdens which will hopefully lead to healing.

Overall, a truly fantastic, clever book which exposes flaws in the justice system, in media especially how stories are represented. It’s a story of bonds and how the shackles of those bonds are finally broken and a tragic and heart breaking story emerges. As a fan of Fiona Cummins I can do no less than highly recommend this book.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Pan McMillan for the privilege of the ARC.

When I Was Ten opens on a startlingly dramatic scene whereby a distraught young girl, running outside in fear, is struck by lightning. This arresting scene sets the tone for the book, which is dark and, at times, horrific - not in a horror movie sense but in the unfathomable damage humans are capable of inflicting on each other.

Respected local GP Richard Carter and his wife Pamela are people who should never have had children; their two daughters, Shannon and Sara, are subjected to harrowing emotional, psychological and physical abuse, while presenting a very different image to the outside world. Their only comfort comes from each other and from their friend and neighbour, Brinley, who has her own troubles to deal with. Ultimately, something snaps, resulting in the death of the doctor and his wife and the incarceration of one of their children.

Twenty-one years later, a woman named Catherine is living a quiet life with her husband and daughter. There are secrets in her past which Catherine has never told, but her carefully constructed life is about to be torn apart.

The only thing I’m not sure quite worked was the inclusion of scenes charting the downfall of a Tory Justice Secretary, which were enjoyable enough to read but did seem rather to have dropped in from another novel.

Although it did, at times, feel unremittingly bleak, When I Was Ten is a compelling and powerful read.

This book covers a very difficult subject. It was well written but because of the subject matter I can't really say that I enjoyed it