Wow what a book ! I have been contemplating how that I review this twisty and complex story.

Anna is in prison she has served her sentence for drink driving and has lost her family and her career. Can she start again on the ourside.

Lucy is a Post Graduate student and is in love with her professor and will do anything to get into his good books and his bed.

Marie is living in the Highlands isolated from everyone with Janice.

The story of these three woman and how the book is plotted is extraordinary. Each of the women have a story and as you read you are absorbing each of their lives and I was trying to put together what the connection was there if any.

I am not giving any spoilers but I definitely did not see the twists approaching and I am in awe of how the author entwines all the stories into a compulsive narrative. So clever!

I absolutely loved this book as it was never predictable and always kept me thinking !

5 stars *****

A Lesson in Cruelty - Harriet Tyce

I have loved all of Harriet Tyce's previous books, and although I did enjoy this one it was not as good as the others (for me). I found the story a little difficult to get into and struggled between the characters. I liked the pace of the story. Thanks so much Netgalley, Headline and Wildfire for this e-arc in return for my honest thoughts and opinions.

A slow burn legal thriller with many twists and turns. In some parts the narrative was rushed and other sections drawn out. As a reader, I was not engaged with the characters despite the terrible circumstances. I have read other novels by the author and will do so again.

Having read and loved all of Tyce’s previous books, I was looking forward to this one and it didn’t disappoint. It is a story that will keep you on your toes as you try and figure out how the seemingly unconnected strands of the story will come together - and makes you marvel at the skill of the aithor when they do.

It is the story of three women - Anna, a former solicitor who we meet on the eve of her release from prison; Lucy, a law student obsessed with one of her professors, and Marie, living in an isolated spot in Scotland.

Having been introduced to all three woman, at this point you will be scratching your head wondering what connects them - but without wishing to give too much away, just trust me when I tell you it all comes together in devastating fashion. The story gathers pace as it goes and the surprises keep coming as their shocking story unfolds.

Tyce uses her knowledge of the British penal system to great effect, raising some interesting issues around its flaws and around societal judgement, whilst at the same time keeping you on the edge of your seat in a complex and twisty story that kept me hooked. Once again Tyce has confirmed why she is an auto-buy author for me.

You always know you're in for a dark, mysterious, unpredictable story with her books. I think I enjoyed this book so much due to not knowing anything about the plot - the whole story and structure was unexpected for me.

A Lesson in Cruelty features three main different points of view - all are distinct and convincing, part of what always make Harriet Tyce's books so enjoyable. There were some early parts I found a little confusing (the CCTV chapters) however this did not detract from my enjoyment of reading this book as you know that you are in safe hands with this author and that the storylines will come together and be explained.

As for the storylines coming together, for the most part of this book, I had no idea how the plot was going to be resolved. This is the kind of book where you want to keep reading - be warned, it will keep you up at night!

Having read Harriet Tyce's previous three novels, I would say this is her best yet! Totally gripping, very dark and an unpredictable mystery!

With 3 main characters with very different lives that all collide together. Told from the 3 characters pov I enjoyed the mystery and twists in this book. Abit far fetched and unbelievable at times but entertaining non the less.

This was a really exciting read, featuring female protagonists, looking at the role of the prison service and justice and how people involved in all areas of the law, be they inmates, professors or law students use their power and influence over others.

This is a great story with lots of twist and turns that I as a reader found very unexpected. This is the first book that I have read by this author, although I have enjoyed a short story written by them.

The strength of the characters, especially the women, was a huge part of the success of the book and the unfolding of the story of what the successful and handsome professor had done and was doing interwove the stories of them all. There are some real human injustices done and some righted by those doing their best for others.

A very enjoyable read and in some ways reminded me of The Shawshank Redemption. Well worth a read and I shall certainly be recommending and looking to read more books by the author.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Harriet Tyce is one of my favourite authors so when I got the chance to read A Lesson in Cruelty I was so excited.

In this novel we follow three very different and complex women Anna who is about to be released from serving a prison sentence; Lucy who is slightly in love with her professor and then Marie who is lonely and isolated.

The question in the novel is how do these women become entwined within the novel and at times, I did have to re-read some parts but it does make sense eventually and I was really invested in the characters.

The story is quite strong and moving and I really think the characters were well rounded and interesting.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publishers and the author for allowing me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Great opening! This made me devour this story in a couple of evenings but not want it to end at the same time.
The story follows three women with lots of twists along the way so you don't want to put the book down

Well this was bloody brilliant. A masterful tale of revenge and redemption. Very cleverly structured and written by a woman who really understands human psychology. More please.

A Lesson in Cruelty follows three different women, each with their challenges. There's Anna, who is due to be released the next morning from prison when something awful happens... then we meet Lucy, obsessed with her (married) university professor. We also see short excerpts from Maria, living in a rural area of Scotland with a convicted child killer.

From the beginning, Harriet Tyce's writing is engaging. Anna's storyline grabbed me from the very first chapter, creating a creeping sense of dread. I liked how the chapters switched between perspectives and Tyce's writing prompted the reader to consider the other factors in why people behave the way they do. Even if someone has done wrong, it's not a black-and-white case of someone being 'bad' or 'good'; this book highlighted that.

I enjoyed that we were given time to get to know Anna and Lucy as characters a little better before we switched perspectives. I felt for Anna throughout the book – one mistake can ruin so many people's lives. Only Maria remained more of an enigma because we spent less time in her head.

As we read on, we slowly uncover more about how these women may or may not be connected, and I enjoyed this slow teasing of clues – something I've come to expect from this author! Of course, there were some parts you needed to slightly suspend your disbelief for, but none that were too unbelievable, and plenty of twists and tension resulting in a satisfying ending!

Three appearingly separate tales of three women, their scenario and problems. It is hard to see how they are connected but eventually they do. I found this book was quite put together in quite a blunt style and didn’t like the suddenly move to another character to another. The twist was not as expected and made a confusing conclusion. Not quite what I was expecting after enjoying other books by Harriet Tyce.

I can't resist a great psychological thriller and Harriet Tyce has delivered once again with A Lesson in Cruelty! Three distinct narratives that at first seem so separate you're not sure how they will come together - but that's the beauty. How they do is unexpected and keeps you on edge. I didn't see this plot coming at all, which always makes for a satisfying thriller - love to have the rug pulled out from under my feet every so often - a great read!

A roller coaster ride of a book. Parts 1 and 4 focused on Anna, Part 2 on Lucy and Part 3 on Maria. It was very slow for the first 4 parts but then wow Part 5 raced and brought all their stories together! The epilogue though....just felt a little unfinished.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

This is a great psychological thriller.
It’s a hard one to review as there’s a lot that leads up to the conclusion of the story that you don’t realise is significant at the time.
The story begins with Anna who is about to get out of prison after serving three years. She’s scared of what lies ahead and is considering ending her life until someone helps her.
There are then chapters about Lucy who is besotted with her university professor and becomes close to him.
Eventually the story pulls together and then it’s a gripping read as Lucy and Anna’s lives become connected.
It took me a while to get into this one but it’s a great read once it all clicks into place.
Thanks to Headline and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

A Lesson in Cruelty by Harriet Tyce and narrated by Candida Gubbins just took my breath away and so creepy when the narrator Candida whispers! It gave me goose bumps especially if you have your earphones in......You feel like you are there in the audiobook.

WHAT PRICE WOULD YOU PAY FOR THE PERFECT LIFE?

"But, No ones live is perfect everyday..........."

This latest book called “A Lesson in Cruelty” by Harriet Tyce was a brilliant audiobook/ book which tells of the lives of three women, Anna, Marie and Lucy and is set in Oxford and Northern Scotland.

Anna Flynn has just served three years in prison and is about to step out to freedom but her past will always haunt her every move she makes everyday. But, she is free now and has to try and live a normal life outside from the prison.

Lucy craves the attention of the only man she can't have, her alluring Oxford professor. But, He's married - not for the first time. Maybe she should be next in line? She will do anything to be the next wife!

And Marie who lives as a reclusive in Northern Scotland. She had been locked up for a long time and is not ready to be free and and to face others, but some rules are meant to be broken.


This book is well written and it is full of twists and turns throughout that had me sitting on the edge of my seat many times. All the characters were brilliant. The book starts off slow, then bang.......You are hooked and I could not turn my earphones off. I was hooked!

I highly recommend this book and especially the audiobook. The narrator was excellent especially the creepy whisper voice she does!

5 stars for this book and 5 stars for the Narrator!

Big Thank you to Netgalley, Headline | Wildfire for my copies of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fascinating psychological thriller from Harriet Tyce which I initially tried to listen to on audio, it is approximately 10 hours and 30 minutes long, but I gave up at 15%, due to the dire narration by Candida Gubbins with her overly unbearable emoting, and if I did'nt have the book as well, I would have never have been able to go on to see just how brilliant the storytelling is. It raises pressing issues afflicting the justice and legal system, and underlines the cruelty of the prison system and its failures when it comes to the goal of rehabilitating prisoners, many with mental health issues and complex needs. We are introduced to Anna, on the cusp of being released from prison, a ghost of the woman she used to be, bearing a burden of guilt that has her condemning herself to a mental life sentence with no reprieve.

Anna's last night turns out to be so harrowing that it pushes her further over the edge, but can this broken woman find the resilience within her to survive as ominous events test her further? In Oxford, after the death of her mother, Lucy begins an MSc at the university, drawn to a good looking criminology professor, in his late fifties, and his well known ideas when it comes to the justice system. She becomes steadily more and more obsessed with him, stalking him, certain he is the right man for her. However, he is married to his second wife, and they have a baby, but this does not prevent Lucy from insinuating herself into his life, taking on demanding research for him that he begins to find invaluable. There are references to the ancient sea monsters, Scylla and Charybydis, and who is is Marie, living a troubling, lonely and remote existence in Scotland?

Tyce skilfully creates and develops characters that initially appear to have little to do with each other, fuelling my intense curiousity as to what could possibly connect them. The tension and suspense begins to rise as we learn more of their lives and circumstances, there are surprising and shocking twists and turns that move the narrative towards the thrilling and explosive finale. I particularly felt for an Anna whose life was shattered after a terrible mistake. You will have to suspend your sense of disbelief, but this is a thought provoking thriller that I have no doubt will appeal to many fans of the author and others who love the crime and mystery genre. Many thanks to the publisher for the ALC and the ARC.

This is a very twisty tale, with three different viewpoints - Lucy who is obsessed by a local professor, Anna who is in prison for injuring her nephew while driving when drunk and Marie who is locked up on an island with an alcoholic woman.

The three viewpoints were rather irritating originally, as they seemed to interrupt the other stories which, in the cases of Lucy and Anna, were quite exciting and as a reader I was keen to see what would happen. Marie's tale, particularly when the two women are given the names of Ancient Greeks, just came over as odd.

Eventually of course the three tales intersect, but it all felt rather clumsy and contrived. And the final piece of the puzzle stretched credulity one step too far. Its a shame - the two individual stories could have made a great read, the author writes well and grips the reader's attention. Overall it just didn't really work for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, Headline and Wildfire for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

@currentlyreading__
Book 23 of 2024

Thank you to @NetGalley, @headlinebooks and the author @harriet_tyce for the advance copy of ‘A Lesson in Cruelty’ ahead of publication this month.

This was a complex book with seemingly disparate characters and plot threads given a spotlight and then the narrative changed and we were introduced to others. I liked the fact that even though I was enjoying each character’s individual story, when it became clear that they were all connected somehow, it was made all the more intricate.

We are firstly introduced to Anna, just released from prison after a sentence for dangerous driving, then Lucy, in love with her charismatic professor of criminology and Marie, living a reclusive life in Scotland. Three very different women and yet something and someone connects them.

If you like a plot to get you thinking and being challenged in your hypotheses, then this is for you.


#bookstagram #bibliophile #bookworm #book #booknerd #bookstagrammer #kindle #netgalley #harriettyce #alessonincruelty #thriller

I have no idea where to begin with my review of this book. I guess I could start by saying, please go in as blind as you can. Not much is as it seems.
We have Anna, an ex-convict, recently released who just wants her life back. We also have Lucy who is besotted with her Uni Prof, now that never ends well. And then there's Marie who is a bit of a recluse, living in the middle of nowhere with a companion.
More than that I can't really say without spoilers. But it is all connected somehow... you just have to read the book, suspend belief, and go with the flow. Sit back and relax, you're in for a bit of a wild, convoluted, interconnected ride, destined to thrill...
And I did, and I was, and it was great! Mostly, with just a few niggles and eye rolls along the way. But a lot of fun too. It's quite character driven too and the three main characters all manage to pull it off quite successfully. Especially given the nature of the complex plot they have to enact. I spent the first part of the book trying to second guess how these women, even IF these women would connect. And then, once it all started to come together, I was bombarded with hit after hit, shock after twist, all perfectly foreshadowed, kicking myself for what I didn't see coming!
And the ending, when it eventually came was sublime...
All in all, another winner from an author already cemented on my watch list, with a rather impressive back catalogue. Roll on next time. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.