I appreciate the offer to read this story. It started out interesting with one survivor from a horrible massacre. Fast forward and three people linked to the massacre become friends and go on a divorce holiday.

From there it felt quite slow. It would have been better if Rob recognised Darcy and it went from there. I had a feeling who the killer was mid storyline and I was just waiting to get to the end,

Written well, not very suspenseful. The title doesn’t really match the story.

Three women go on an exotic holiday to celebrate the divorce of one them but murder lies ahead…………this is a great summer read, you might guess the twist but it’s so good you won’t care until it’s confirmed and then the action REALLY starts!! Cleverer than most recent attempts at ‘murder on an island’ books.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.

Darcy is newly divorced and celebrates this by taking 2 of her friends on a trip to the Maldives all paid for by her. A dream getaway, right?
Each woman has a reason to be on the trip and all have their secrets, as do other people at the resort. A body is found on the beach, but who is it? And will someone else be next?
This was so fast paced, I had to hold myself down while reading. A story of friendship, loyalty and lies.
Different mysteries are happening to different characters that all weave together, leaving nothing to question. The authors vivid descriptions make you feel like you’re in the Maldives along with them. So many twists and turns with an ending I never saw coming that I’m still shook by.
The perfect Summer thriller that I’ll be thinking about for a while! LOVED it!
Out 4th July – mark in your diaries!
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for the ecopy in exchange for an honest review.

Three friends of not really longstanding go to the Maldives to celebrate Darcy’s divorce. The thing they have in common is a 22 year old murder at Spinnaker Guesthouse. Darcy’s boyfiend and Camilla’s twin brother died and Kate, arriving late at the guesthouse, survived. The trip to the Maldives also coincided with the anniversary of the murder. A man was charged and sent to prison but died soon afterwards. Kate who suffered with survivor guilt found life tough and decided to be with Darcy and Camilla may help her heal. The story had resurfaced in the papers and they decided to meet. The girls are so different, Darcy a mom and soon to be a divorcee, Camilla an influencer and pilates instructor on youtube etc. Then there is Kate who lives a small life full of anxiety. The trip is planned and off they go to heal. They arrive and settle into the Sapphire Island Resort which is amazing and then things become a catalogue of dramas. Another couple on their honeymoon join the mix of characters. Jade is being abused by her husband and turns to them for comfort which Rob does not like and his temper comes into the mix. Kate is beginning to relax until 6 red roses arrive. She has received these flowers every year since the tragedy. How did the person know where she is? The book continues at a fast pace and I loved it. The characters are very different but you could take to each of them in their own way. What I will say is that the ending – well I was not expecting that at all. Fab read

An absolutely brilliant thriller with loads of secrets, lies and deceit. It's impossible to know who to trust. The perfect escape read. Highly recommended xx

The sole survivor of a horrific massacre for reasons she cannot understand, Briony Conley changes her name to Kate Miller in an effort to put the past behind her, but healing is hard to come by.

She finds a measure of it by establishing a relationship with others who have experienced devastating losses as a result of that massacre, where her friend Darcy lost her first love Elijah, and Camilla lost her twin brother, Cameron.

Now the three of them are heading for a resort holiday to escape the anniversary of the horrific killings and to celebrate Darcy's recent divorce from her wealthy tech entrepreneur husband, with whom she is in an ongoing custody battle over her three sons.

Except that none of these women is being entirely transparent about their motives wrt this trip, because the suspected second killer (whose existence was never proved or taken seriously by the police) may still be on the loose - and only one of them has potential information about his identity...

This story is dark! And it doesn't stop with the massacre itself. Trigger warnings for domestic violence and cruelty. Cleverly written, with plenty of surprises, unpleasant and otherwise. Strap in for a gripping read. It gets 3.5 stars.

Three women go on an exotic holiday to celebrate the divorce of one of the women, but disaster lies ahead. However, there’s a lot more than the usual hen party group dynamics at play in this psychological thriller. Be prepared for a bloodbath or two, suppressed trauma, domestic abuse, murders, a troubled twelve-year-old, a software breach, a custody battle and psychopathy. The action really hots up in the second half.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.

A dark and bloody thriller set in the Maldives. The female characters were quite well written, I liked the twists though the narrative was sluggish til the final third and the setting beautiful. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

The start was great and then this room forever to go anywhere. At some point the author decided to quickly (poorly) force a LGBT story in to it and that’s when I lost my ability to care anymore.

Underdeveloped and poor.

This review contains SPOILERS, BEWARE.

I don’t really know what to say about this one. There were the makings of a really good thriller here, but it’s a bit of a mess. Bad Tourists is Caro Carver’s first novel in this genre, but she’s an established writer of supernatural thrillers as CJ Cooke. This follows three long-term friends in their forties, Kate, Darcy and Camilla, as they jet off for a luxurious holiday on a resort in the Maldives to celebrate Darcy’s divorce. And… This is the point in thriller reviews where I’d usually write something like, ‘Soon after they arrive, it all goes wrong…’, but that just wouldn’t be true in this case, as almost nothing happens until the midpoint. I started to wonder if I’d accidentally picked up a piece of women’s fiction instead, as the friends chat about the menopause, men and their children, and meet a younger woman, Jade, who’s in an abusive relationship. The only hint that something darker is at play here is the arresting opening of the novel, which is brilliant, but seems pretty much irrelevant until we’re about halfway through, when we also finally get the ‘body on the beach’ mentioned in the blurb.

The second half of the novel, in contrast, accelerates, and we see how Carver was planting clues from the start… but I still don’t think that explains why the first half is so slow. I’d have preferred the breakneck action of the second half to have been more gradually developed across the course of the story, as by the time things started happening, I’d pretty much zoned out. I also very much did not enjoy the old ‘unreliable narrator’ trick with Darcy, which I always think is cheap, and the sudden tacked-on diversity when Kate ends up with a woman, when there’s been no hint that she’s gay or bi before – OK, great, but does this not affect her sense of self in any way? When will writers learn that this isn’t good representation? Having said that, this is well-written, the three women feel like individuals, I liked the contrast between their learned assertiveness and Jade’s tentativeness, and the central incident from the past is compelling, if under-explored. I wonder if I’d do better picking up one of Carver/Cooke’s speculative novels.

Thanks PRH & NetGalley for the early copy. A very enjoyable thriller about a group of friends connected by a dark event in their past. They go on the holiday of a life time but everything comes crashing back. It's twisty with a solid plot that kept me hooked through out. I thought all the characters were great and well developed, and I really enjoyed the ending and some of the finer details that were very nicely placed. Overall is action packed and a very good thriller that's perfect for summer reads!

Knives Are Out..
Darcy, Camilla, Kate. The trip of a lifetime to the Maldives. Each has their own personal reason behind the trip - but is each being wholly transparent? In fact, nothing is as it seems. Secrets and lies abound in this sun drenched suspense with twists and turns aplenty, a deftly drawn and credible cast and a propulsive and immersive plot. Compelling and entertaining. The Sapphire Island Resort is calling….

I have been looking forward to this book for a while and for me it lived up to the hype and had me on edge throughout,

Darcy, Camilla & Kate fly to a luxury resort in the Maldives to help Darcy get over her divorce and also to be together as the anniversary of one of the worst serial killings that England has ever seen looms.
Darcy’s boyfriend and Camillas brother were amongst those slaughtered and Kate was the only one left alive.
Ended up really enjoying this so I’d recommend grabbing a copy and lying out in the sunshine reading it. Watch your back though as you never know who might be out to kill you.
Thank you Net Galley & Caro Carver for an advanced copy of this

What a great read and I had no idea where it was going to go at the end. Well done! Three women go on holiday to the Maldives and all, supposedly, have a common and traumatic bond that they share. But it all starts to unravel and things go very wrong. A brilliant book, which will make an excellent summer read and probably a good film!

Wow never vacation in the Maldives! Seems to be a popular vacation spot for UK authors. Three women go on vacation to celebrate a divorce. They befriend a young woman being abused by her husband. The girls become friends. People are murdered but holy cow this did not end at all how
I thought. Amazing book!

Well I wasn’t expecting that! I was thinking that there must be something about to turn things around, but not that! When I look back though, the signs were clearly there. Anyway, the setting was perfect, the plot building fantastic and the characters all complemented each other perfectly. It’s definitely going to be a summer blockbuster.