I found it very hard to get on with this book. I'm usually a fan of Susan Lewis but struggled to get under the skin of any of the characters and felt that I didn't like any of them very much.

Another good book from Susan Lewis. The crime was committed 20 years ago but has recently come to light. After the wrong person was accused, the truth eventually and unexpectedly came out.

Annie and David Crayce are a couple who seem to have the world at their feet. Their life is as Pretty much perfect. They are still head over heels in love with another, have got three beautiful children and their business is going from strength to strength. The bond between Annie and David is as strong as ever and totally unshakeable. That is until the rug is well and truly pulled out from under their feet when a shocking twist of fate turns their perfectly ordered world upside down leaving Annie to wonder how well she knows the man, and his father and brother. Their daughter becomes involved in a petty crime, has a DNA sample taken and this leads to suspicion falling on the male members of the family over a murder decades ago. This is a bit of a slow starter but succeeds in building up the tension.

I was quite excited by the premise of this book. A petty crime and the DNA sample of the daughter led to the linkage of a murder 20 years ago.

Sienna’s small thievery led to the men in her family to be implicated, namely her father, uncle, and grandfather. And now it was upto mother Annie to deduce the truth as during an alcoholic binge, all the men had lost their hours of memory in 1999.

The premise was exciting but the prose was too detailed in the smallest of actions to show how close knit the family was. The suspense of the mystery of those lost hours was diluted to the point that only the last 20% revived it.

Annie didn’t do much other than try to be there for her kids. Most of the investigation was done by the cops and private investigator. It was more like a police procedural and the perp was unexpected.

The story had good twists at the end. I wouldn’t say it was the most exciting of her books, it was still quite fun.

I liked her earlier books. The writing style was so different in them.

I was very confused at the start of this book as the prologue was about a girl being found dead in a rural hut in 1999 and Chapter One seemed to have no link - not just in content but in style of writing. We are introduced to all the cast members within 20 pages - and there are so many of them that I felt I should be making notes. Obviously this early on in the story I didn’t know who was going to be the important members and who were the supporting cast.
The story meandered through the minutiae of the Crayces’ lives, business and relationships - yawn, with the whole crew present for every major momentEventually the pace picked up and I was intrigued as to who or which Crayce had been responsible for the young girl’s demise.
The middle part of the book was good as was the denouement but the overuse of adjectives and the repetition of the storyline was irritating. The final part, after the crime was solved was just plain boring and didn’t add anything to the book.

Emotional, captivating and spine-chilling, Susan Lewis’ The Lost Hours is an enthralling tale of secrets, loyalty and betrayal from a much-loved storyteller.

Annie and David Crayce are a couple who seem to have the world at their feet. Their life is as close to perfect as it is possible to get. They are still head over heels in love with another, have got three beautiful children and their business is going from strength to strength. The bond between Annie and David is as strong as ever and totally unshakeable. Nothing and nobody could possibly tear the two of them apart until the rug is well and truly pulled out from under their feet when a shocking twist of fate turns their perfectly ordered world upside down leaving Annie to wonder how well she knows the man she has spent most of her life with…

A piece of DNA is uncovered that firmly places David on the scene of a crime committed twenty years ago. David has gone from perfect husband to prime suspect, but despite all the damning evidence, Annie is not convinced. She is sure that her husband has been framed and that he is innocent. Annie will fight tooth and nail to prove that her husband is not a criminal and she will leave no stone unturned to absolve him of this horrible crime. David’s father or brother must have committed this heinous transgression and Annie is prepared to move mountains to prove this. Annie decides to conduct her own investigation into this cold case and begins to look through old photos and diaries trying to find that one clue that proves that her husband is not guilty.

Annie would have vouched for David in any court of law. But the deeper she digs into the past, the more she begins to feel weighed down by desperate questions for which she has no hours. How well does Annie know her husband? Could the man she spent most of her life with be a liar and a criminal? Can she ever trust him again? Or has Annie spent all of these years loving a perfect stranger?

A beautifully layered emotional drama that is as gripping as the most compulsive of psychological thrillers, Susan Lewis’ The Lost Hours is a dramatic rollercoaster ride where I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. Susan Lewis knows how to keep her readers hooked on to her every word and she grabs their attention from page one by writing a novel that is nuanced, superbly written and full of twists, shocks and surprises that are guaranteed to keep readers engrossed all through the night desperate to find out what will happen next.

A wonderfully crafted and superbly told tale of dangerous deceptions and explosive secrets, Susan Lewis continues to cement her standing as one of the best writers in the business with The Lost Hours.

What’s the worst thing that could happen to your family - your husbands DNA has been linked to the murder of a teenager some 20 years earlier.
This is the scenario for Annie who thinks she has the perfect family and when her daughter’s DNA is tested it flags up that it is linked to her husband or one of her sons in relation to an old murder.
I enjoyed the character development and plot and I was hooked into this tense story. It was a quick read and a page turner for me and I would recommend to anyone excited by a police procedural and a novel of suspicion around some of the characters.
A 3 star read for me - enjoyable and fast paced.

Read and reviewed in exchange for a free copy from NetGalley. I really enjoy Susan Lewis' books, so was pleased to be offered a review copy by the publisher. Unfortunately this was not one I enjoyed as much as previous books, finding it hard to get invested in the story or the characters, despite the concept of the plot being very good.

Enjoyed the twists and turns in this book. Amazing characters and a beautiful setting. I thought I had the culprit sorted early on,, then changed my mind but first instinct was correct, what a surprise!

Annie and David are the perfect couple with three children and a thriving family business .
Then out of the blue a familia D.N.A. match to an unsolved murder twenty years ago of a teenage girl is found.
Could David his brother Henry or their dad Dickie have killed this young girl .
This is another great book by Susan
Thanks NetGalley

Susan Lewis continues to impress with her art of taking an ordinary family, and placing them in extraordinary situations whilst making a good story from it. The Lost Hours is a well written, emotionally charged story chock full of suspicion and accusations.

David and Annie Crayce have everything they could ever have wished for...then something happens that turns their lives upside down. David is accused of murder and it seems there is DNA evidence to prove his guilt. The reader follows Annie and the Crayce family on a collision course in a search for answers.

The Lost Hours was gritty, emotionally gripping and the story built very nicely. The characters were well-drawn and an interesting combination as Susan Lewis revealed their struggles, gradually drip-feeding information in a way that made me desperate to continue reading. For certain, it was a provocative drama-style tale that explored the emotional impact of the situation on the close-knit family with divided loyalties as the main theme, as well as doubt, love, anger, guilt, disbelief and much more besides. I enjoyed reading The Lost Hours as much as my last novel, Forgive Me, by Susan Lewis who continues to thrill me with her wonderful, top-notch writing. The Lost Hours is an extremely worthwhile read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from HarperCollins UK via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

Annie and David Crayce seem to be the perfect couple and lead a charmed life living in a beautiful house. They have 3 children, the 2 oldest are away during the week at boarding school.
On a weekend home their daughter is arrested as part of a group when one of them steals from a local shop. She has her DNA taken and it’s matched with a cold case from 20 years ago.
Does the DNA belong to her dad or another male member of the family?
Andee Lawrence used to be a detective and has appeared in other books by Susan Lewis. She is now a private detective and brought in to help advise the Crayce family .
I have always enjoyed books by this author and I was not disappointed with this one. It was good to meet Andre Lawrence as well.

Another amazing book from Susan Lewis!
A gritty drama, beautifully written which draws the reader in, and causes real life to be put on hold.
There are so many twists and turns in this book which Susan crafts into an explosive ending.
I would highly recommend this book.
Thank you to Netgalley, Harper Collins and Susan Lewis for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review

I think I agree with many of the reviews. Firstly, this is based around Exmoor which is an area I know well so great to be transported to that area! There are two parts to the story firstly the present where Annie and David Crayce run a succesful shooting school, and the past where Karen Lomax a 17 year old disappears and is murdered.

When DNA from their daughter links David (or it could be his father or brother) to the murder everything changes. DS Natalie Rundle is determined, in part driven by her own past, to prove David is guilty, in turn Annie wants to prove his innocence.

There are plenty of twists and turns which make this a great book to read and would really recommend.

A heart stopping and gripping read that will have you on the edge of your seat. It is a very well written and credible story. Get yourself a bottle of wine ( or large pot of tea) and allow yourself get drawn into this thrilling book. I can imagine it being made it to a TV drama such is the quality of this book, and it's brilliantly written characters.

A cracking read again from Susan Lewis. This story keeps you gripped from the beginning ,when a seemingly lovely family get some terrible news about a crime that was committed twenty years earlier and suspicions are directed at a member of the family. A real page Turner that keeps you guessing right to the end with lots of secrets coming to light and a great outcome I didn't see coming. A5⭐read

In 'The Lost Hours' by Susan Lewis we see the successful Crayce's family life crumbling at their feet when three members of the family, father Dickie and brothers David and Henry are under suspicion for a terrible crime twenty years ago.
The perfect world of Annie, David and their three children, with their beautiful old New England style villa on the edge of Exmoor and a thriving business is broken in one moment. The moment her husband is taken away in handuffs suspected of murdering 17 year old Karen Lomax. The police say that new evidence has been found that links David to the crime. It really doesn't help that none of the people involved don't have clear memories as they were all out drinking on the said day.
Annie believes David innocent and embarks on her own investigation. As she digs into the past and discovers things along with the police evidence and the fact that she feels Davids family is not being straight with her throws her into a maelstrom of doubt, confusion and worry. She is sure her husband could not be capable of killing or even being a party to killing a girl one year older than their own daughter...or is he?
In the beginning there was no love lost for me with this family. All I could see was privilege and being so upper class, with their penchant for blood sports and quaint words. As the story develops I began to see how each person reacted to one of their own being accused of such a horrible crime...and from so long ago. Annie and Davids three children really suffer from their dads arrest. They are subject to terrible bullying at school when details are released of his arrest. I felt for them, it wasn't their doing, even if David did do it.
The murder investigation has its own chapters in the story and we follow D.S Natalie Rundle in the investigation.and see her committment to getting this proven so Karens parents are able to have closure. Even though her murder was 20 years old the police still plow on and want it solving. I felt very sure about the police in this case. Maybe due to the fact that most of the other characters are holding back and keeping secrets, made me feel unsure of them.
A story that just proves you can have everything one day and nothing the next full of the twists and turns you always expect with police investigations. Susan Lewis is a master at weaving a story, her plotting is always spot on and she knows how to hold a reader and and keep them there rooted to that book.
Thank you to Anne Cater from Random Things Tours, Harper Collins and NetGalley for the copy of the book.

This is a captivating and intriguing novel. The storyline is full of mystery and the reader is kept guessing with the many twists and turns until the last chapter. An enjoyable read. My thanks to NetGalley Shelf the publisher and the author for an advance copy in return for an honest review.

I found it quite difficult to get into this book as the characters were numerous and it was quite confusing. However when the actual main part of the story started it was gripping and well written. I didn’t guess where the story was going and enjoyed the journey.

Another moving story by Susan Lewis of family life, love, loss and trust. Who killed Karen Lomax? The evidence points to David but what really happened in 1999. Twists and turns and unexpected revelations.