Her Last Secret: A Gripping Psychological Thriller

This is a story that parents of teenage children do not need to read! it is all too realistic and all too happening in today's world.

We have flashbacks throughout the story. The present day police officers coming to a scene and finding a family murdered. Then we have the real story building up very slowly. A normal upper middle class family. Father seems steady, not really so. Gambling his money away hoping to make a very quick buck and landing the entire family in bankruptcy. Unknown to them of course.

The wife a home maker who knows that something is not quite right, Cannot put her finger on whats wrong. A teenage daughter full of angst and anger and a mother not knowing how to reach her, having her hands full with her husband and youngest child.

The youngest child, not knowing where she fits in cowed and a bit frightened of the real world. Loves her family but finding it difficult that her eldest sister now hates her.

And Ruby the teenager daughter not knowing what to make of herself. The bullying which is relentless, the peer pressure, the pressure to conform to be part of the top group and failing and then trying to find a niche for herself with a boyfriend who she dearly loves but is again not acceptable to all. How does this pressure cooker situation finally evolve?

The author takes us slowly through the final explosion and it is a big one. Disastrous, sad, inevitable.
A psychological thriller I would say, told quite slowly so builds to a climax better!

Christmas Day finds gunshots and a family of four lying dead in their beautiful, well-kept home. Each member of this dysfunctional family dying with secrets. Father Ben worried about how he looks on the outside, Mother Dominique perfect on the outside, psychological problems including sleepwalking in her private world, Ruby, the eldest daughter has an unsuitable boyfriend and is bullied at school, and youngest daughter, Mouse, who is babied and immature looks up to her sister. Her Last Secret, a psychological thriller by Barbara Copperthwaite, has dozens of twists and turns, with building suspense throughout.

Copperthwaite is an excellent storyteller. She is skilled at developing her characters, and while none in this novel are particularly likeable, they seem real, and have real problems, many brought on by themselves due to reasons such as selfishness, insecurity, etc. The family members seem typical, albeit their secrets, and that makes for an interesting novel where readers can actually compare them to people they are acquainted with in real life situations.

The plot is viable, the suspense is palpable, and the book may, for some, be difficult to put down. Other readers may find that the psychological intensity is too much. Even some may continue to read through to the dénouement because it would be a waste of reading time to abandon a book before the end.

While Her Last Secret may not be light and uplifting, it is suspenseful and readers who enjoy intense plots and unique stories will probably enjoy this novel.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

I loved this book! The story starts on Christmas Day, with a shooting, and then goes back to the week before and follows the Thomas family's last days and the events leading up to this tragedy.
It's a roller coaster of a ride, with hidden secrets being revealed, a misunderstood teenager going through some horrible bullying with only one friend to rely on, a shy sister who loves to read, and two parents who are so caught up in their own problems that they don't realise what's going on around them.
The story draws you in right from the beginning, with credible characters who everyone can relate to in one way or another. I found myself turning the pages, unable to put it down because I wanted to find out what happened next. The twist at the end is incredibly well done, the author cleverly leads you all the way through the book right up to this unexpected ending.

And as the title might already suggest, this one is yet another story packed until its limits with lies and secrets. Her Last Secret is mostly a character-driven psychological thriller and focuses on the many different characters that play a role in the event of that damned Christmas day. I do have to admit the pace was initially a lot slower than expected and I found myself struggling a little in the beginning. This was due both to the slower pace and my lack of connection to the characters. Somehow was never able to warm up to any of the main characters (except mayby for Mouse) and some of their actions and opinions actually started to frustrate me (the father is despicable!). I can't deny their development feels realistic and rounded though; each of them having a different web of lies and secrets and adding a different level to the story. This complexity of characters and different subplots is what saved this story for me. Once you get used to the different characters, start learning about the events leading up to Christmas day and start guessing what really happened, you will find yourself hooked. The second half of the story definitely made up for the slow start for me. I loved the whole countdown idea and how slowly more of the present day event is revealed... Leaving you in the dark and guessing what could have happened and who is to blame as you learn more about the characters. And the final part is more than shocking! Basically, Her Last Secret will make you think a lot of things and suspect a lot of people, but I can garantuee you won't guess the final truth about what really happened. I could also really appreciate the role (cyber)bullying played in this story. All in all, if you enjoy reading character-driven psychological thrillers, you will have a great time with this one.

HER LAST SECRET is a psychological thriller by author Barbara Copperthwaite. Barbara is the best-selling author of psychological thrillers INVISIBLE, FLOWERS FOR THE DEAD, THE DARKEST LIES, and HER LAST SECRET. This is the 1st book I’ve read by Barbara Copperthwaite, but it won’t be my last. I have THE DARKEST LIES to read on my Kindle.
“A Lifetime can flash in a moment. A moment can last a lifetime.”
They were the perfect family. Successful businessman Ben Thomas and his wife Dominique live an enviable life, along with their beautiful children; teenager Ruby and quirky younger daughter, Mouse.
Ben had it all: the incredible career, the trophy wife, 2 daughters, an impressive home…but he also had a mistress! Double trouble!
So many secrets and lies…

But on Christmas Day the police are called to their London home, only to discover a horrific scene; the entire family lying lifeless, victims of an unknown assailant.

The opening chapters are devoted to the crime scene on Christmas day, and then the story goes back a week prior to Christmas day and the POV alternates between several of the main characters and builds up to the inevitable Christmas Day tragedy. All of these characters had a grudge/problem or desperation that could allow them to be the assailant.

But when Ruby’s diary is discovered, revealing her rage at the world around her, police are forced to look closer to home for the key to this tragedy.

This was a quick read that had me totally engrossed to find out, not only “WHO” but “WHY”?

Many thanks to Bookouture via Netgalley for my copy.

A tale of the seemingly perfect family: successful and hardworking Ben, trophy wife and stay at home mother, Dominique, teenage daughter Ruby and sweet little Amber. They appear to have it all. But all is certainly not what it seems as we witness this family being blown to smitherenes.

The opening scene leaves the reader shell shocked as police discover the gruesome scene of the entire family 's bodies lying lifeless on the floor of the Thomas residence.

From the onset, the family's dreadful fate is clear, leaving the reader very curious indeed to discover just what led the family to their devastating conclusion.

The reader is taken back a few days before the tragedy, reading of each family member's POV leading up to that horrendous Christmas day, discovering the many deep and very disturbing secrets they not only keep from the outside world, but from each other. The author cleverly gets the reader to distrust each of them, with loads of suspicion to go around as to who was responsible for the ultimate destruction of this broken family.

All but one family member are self absorbed and not very likeable. I could not help but cross my fingers that little Amber ( nicknamed Mouse) would have somehow scurried away and escaped the horror of that opening scene like her namesake.

'The constant insults were so deep-rooted in her now that they had tangled around her soul, choking off all the light, and stopping anything else from thriving within her.'
With the heavy theme of teen bullying via social media featuring an integral part of the story, I must say that I felt the need to scrutinise my own relationship with my teenagers to decipher whether they too were showing any signs of enduring such atrocities on their own.

I could not help but wonder how things would have turned out if each character took the time to communicate as a family and take interest in each other's lives, how different the outcome would have been.

This was a quick read that had me totally engrossed as I just had to find out how the family had come to their tragic fate, taking me by surprise with its very clever, twisty conclusion.

As a side note: I loved discovering the fact the author included one of her reader's names into the story, as a result of being the winner of a contest for this very purpose. What an awesome way to show appreciation and connect with her readers!

Well done to Barbara Copperthwaite on another great read.

This is a novel about secrets, secrets which ruin the family of its happiness, and the aftermath of its effects are felt forever.
A family which had everything: successful father, a beautiful mother, and two daughters; a family which seemed perfect from outside had secrets rumbling and simmering in its very core. And when those secrets reached a boiling point, an outburst led to an overflow of emotions and everything is destroyed, and life as they knew it, changes forever. This is the gist of the story
What raises this story from ordinary to extraordinary is the author Barbara Copperthwaite's writing. She starts her book with an incident happening at Christmas day and goes back eight days in the past to tell us what really happens in the Thomas family, behind closed doors. She does jump to the present Christmas day in between chapters and that kept the intrigue and the river of suspense flowing through the entire book.
What really happened to the Thomas family??
I was lulled by the author's writing, with her giving me the background, the secrets, the family life, that when the ending hit me, I reeled with shock. It was WHAM, straight to the head, so unexpected. My heart literally stopped when I was reading the last few chapters, and I could not put the book down till I finished.
Barbara has etched each character so well that they appear almost real as the book goes on. The greed of a cheating husband, the unseeing wife who lives with blinkers on, the eldest daughter getting cyber-bullied and unable to confide in her family and the younger daughter confiding in her soft toy and finding her comfort reading books, hiding in the cupboard. Each character made me feel a different emotion: frustration for the daughter who could not confide in the mother, anger at the mother for not really seeing the truth, hate for the husband who has everything but still wanted more, and extreme pathos for the child who hid in cupboard when life got difficult. I like such books which can make me feel deep emotions for the characters.
And the ending was mind blowing..
There are few niggles
There are 102 chapters in this book, I was aghast, a long book, but luckily the chapters go fast and book is easy to finish especially as the suspense builds up
I really did not understand the character of the mother, what really made her so not connected to her family, not connected to her daughters. I did not find any valid reason for her behaviour.
But in saying this, I enjoyed this book immensely and I am still going back to the store, to check out Barbara Copperthwaite's other books.
I especially liked that she dedicated this book to Ellen, her big sister

Having read and enjoyed the author’s previous books I was looking forward to reading Her Last Secret by Barbara Copperthwaite. In fact, I enjoyed her books so much that I agreed to read and review this one without even reading the blurb. I went in totally blind.

The book starts early on Christmas Day, we know that the police have been called to a house after a neighbour heard gunshots and the officer in charge is trying to decide when to go into the house, fearing that a gunman (or woman) might shoot someone in the process.

We then go back in time to a few weeks before Christmas and meet the people who live in the house, Ben and Dominique with their children, teenager Ruby and Mouse, the youngest of the family. As the book goes on we learn that all is not well within the Thomas family, but the question remains, who fired the gun and why?

There are regular chapters that are back in the present day, to the police officer outside their house on Christmas Day. I am not always a fan of chapters that go back and forth in time but it worked incredibly well in Her Last Secret, building the tension and keeping the reader guessing.

I was often sure that I had worked it all out, but of course, I hadn’t. This is not a short book, at 408 pages it is quite lengthy but when reading it on my Kindle I had no idea that it was that long and it certainly never dragged. I only ever wished that it would hurry up because I was desperate to find out what had happened on that Christmas morning.

I thought that Her Last Secret by Barbara Copperthwaite combines all of the ingredients needed to make a brilliant psychological thriller. I thoroughly recommend it.

I received a copy of Her Last Secret from the publisher, Bookouture. I was under no obligation to review the book and all thoughts are my own.

Right from the start of this one you already know something horrific has happened, but you don’t know the details, just that the Thomas family is shattered, and on Christmas Day of all days. This is told mostly through flashbacks starting about a week before Christmas, then there are a handful of chapters told from a police officers point of view when he arrives at the families home after tragedy strikes. Every single family member gets to tell their version of events and while most of them were pretty unlikable, I was still highly invested in their lives, and I did have a huge soft spot for Mouse, the youngest member of the family. She was such a dear, quirky little girl and I really wanted to take her away from the craziness of her family and keep her safe.

This seemingly picture perfect family is anything but and they all have secrets they’re desperate to keep which made me suspicious and unsure of what exactly was going on. All of the characters are really well drawn and I really liked that Copperthwaite took the time to not only make these people come to life, but she gave them various problems and issues that were believable and really relevant today.

This was a not one of those action packed, tense psychological thrillers but rather one that was character driven and relied on a simmering, more subtle tension that increased as you get closer to the end. The conclusion was shocking especially since you’re already acutely aware that something awful happened but there were still plenty of surprises that were unpredictable and I really couldn’t have guessed what truly happened in the end.

Whoa, this was one heck of a psychological rollercoaster of a book! I knew that I was in for a treat, as I have read books by this author before, but this particular book takes the psychological thriller genre to a whole new level.

Dominique and Benjamin are living the ideal life: Benjamin is a successful businessman, Dominique takes care of their lovely home and they have two beautiful girls. Except there are so many secrets and lies in their family, it's only a matter of time before cracks begin to show in their perfect facade.

From the first page to the last, I found myself on the edge of my seat and wondering where the heck this story was going to end up. It is exciting, it is fast-paced and I found myself getting emotionally involved with all the members of this family, even when they weren't actually very likeable at all. I really liked the secondary characters too, especially Harry.

I thoroughly recommend this book, 5 well-deserved stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Where do I start in my review for this book……? How about OMFG this is Barbara Copperthwaite’s best book yet!!?? I am a massive fan of Barbara’s books and there is always that fear that you are not going to enjoy your favourite authors latest work but have no fear; Her Last Secret just blew everything else out of the water. Seriously. This book had me on edge early doors and that creeping feeling of dread just kept growing and growing. I was so overwhelmed at one point that I almost did a Joey and put my kindle in the freezer; my poor nerves were shattered.

Her Last Secret has the perfect ingredients of a recipe for disaster; a rebellious hate fuelled teenager, a trophy wife teetering on the edge, a husband desperate to keep up appearances and a mistress determined to get her man by whatever means. The final touch is beautiful, quiet little Mouse (Amber), named as such because of her demeanour. Having two daughters of my own my heart was in my mouth waiting to discover what would be revealed. As the story flits between the discovery of a crime scene and the days leading up to it we are teased with clues and details that reveal not everything is as it seems.

No spoilers here just go buy it, read it, love it! This book gets ALL the stars from me!

My thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this book.

Her last Secret- Barbara Copperthwaite- 5*
Dominique has a charmed life. A successful husband, two daughters, a large house and nothing to worry about. So think those who see her. Behind closed doors she has had something happen in the past (which we don’t know about) and the nightmares are starting again. Her friend Fiona is the only one who knows the full story. Meanwhile her husband Benjamin is having his own problems both with work and his mistress and their eldest daughter Ruby is living a nightmare at school and making plans to put it right. We know from the prologue that something has happened and as the plot grows the perpetrator could be anyone of a number of characters all with the motive to go through with it.This is a very well written book that draws you in, with an invisible thread of a sleeping volcano to whet the interest. The chapters after a while intersperse with the “now” just giving that little bit more to tantalise. A gripping book with short snappy chapters that keep the story alive. This is my first Barbara Copperthwaite book- and it most certainly won’t be my last. Stunning.I voluntarily chose to read this ARC and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased.

Barbara Copperthwaite always manages to come up with realistic and believable characters in relatable situations. None of the characters in Her Last Secret are particularly likeable. They’re stressed and harassed, flawed and damaged, seemingly vying for the worst-parent-of-the-year award and regularly made me want to punch them in the face. Yet, I couldn’t help but be completely invested in them. There’s one exception though, wee Mouse, or Amber as she’s called. I thought she was a truly delightful little bookworm and I adored her from the minute I met her.

Her Last Secret very much deals with the way people portray themselves, how they often wear a mask and hide their innermost feelings and turmoil. And also, the effect a web of lies, deceit and secrets can have on a family.

This psychological thriller is taut with suspense and intrigue. It’s quite dark, often disturbing and at times also incredibly sad. There’s an excellent and compelling plot which I thought was brilliantly constructed as we discover what happened in the week leading up to Christmas. This also leads to a rather long list of potential suspects and conclusions that kept me guessing until the end.

There are some secrets you can never tell.
The last thing to go through Dominique Thomas’s head was the image of her teenage daughter’s face and her heart lifted. Then the shot rang out.

They were the perfect family. Successful businessman Ben Thomas and his wife Dominique live an enviable life, along with their beautiful children; teenager Ruby and quirky younger daughter, Mouse.

But on Christmas Day the police are called to their London home, only to discover a horrific scene; the entire family lying lifeless, victims of an unknown assailant.

But when Ruby’s diary is discovered, revealing her rage at the world around her, police are forced to look closer to home for the key to this tragedy.

Each family member harboured their own dark truths – but has keeping their secrets pushed Ruby to the edge of sanity? Or are there darker forces at work?

I finished this book a couple of days ago and it’s been on my mind ever since. This book is brilliant! People to love, people to hate even people to feel sorry for. I ended up crying my heart out as the book finished. I loved it. 5*

This story is about a family and the secrets they harbor. Dominique, the mother, who appears clueless, but struggles with her own past and troubled marriage. Benjamin, the father, who has two big secrets he needs to keep hidden hoping they somehow will disappear. Ruby, the daughter, who is being terrorized by cyber bullying. Mouse, the youngest daughter, who just wants to lose herself in books. Kendra, the mistress, who will go to any length to get her way. These people all are struggling with inner turmoil and do not know what to do or where to turn.

This book was so well written and the story so compelling that I could not put it down. The way the author weaves this tale together and ends it with no stone unturned was simply brilliant. Cannot wait to read more from Ms Copperthwaite!

There are some secrets you can never tell.

They were the perfect family,successful businessman Ben Thomas and his wife Dominique live a enviable life,along with their beautiful children,teenager Ruby and quirky younger daughter,Mouse.

But on Christmas day the police are called to their London home,only to discover a horrific scene,the entire family lying lifeless,victims of a unknown assailant.

But when Ruby`s diary is discovered,revealing her rage at the world around her,police are forced to look close to home for the key to this tragedy.

Each family member harboured their own dark truths - but has keeping their secrets pushed Ruby to the edge of sanity? or are there darker forces at work?.

This emotional roller coaster starts with the arrival of Chief Inspector Paul Ogundele at the home of the Thomas family where he is confronted with a scene of carnage and numerous bodies.Then the story slips back in time to the 17th of December and we are introduced to Ben,Dominique,Ruby and Amber/Mouse.You then follow the events,secrets,lies and mistakes that lead up to whatever happened in their home in the early hours of Christmas day.The sections of the story alternate between all four members of the Thomas Family but there is also the occasional chapter that follows Inspector Ogundele`s investigation of the crime scene.All the characters are realistic,well developed and believable,I really liked little Mouse,Inspector Ogundele and Ruby`s boyfriend Harry.I know some other readers will probably label Ruby as a spoiled brat but I felt a lot of sympathy for her,it's hard when you feel that no one is listening to you and you feel unloved and unwanted.

As each day passes and the tension builds and builds,Barbara Copperthwaite moves her characters into their positions for the final act in this enthralling drama.You know something bad is going to happen and when it does the events of that fateful night are shocking,breath taking,gripping and heart breaking,at one point I was almost in tears.I absolutely loved this well written,emotional roller coaster,the twists in the story keep you hooked,trying to work out what happened that night.Highly recommended.

This book is centred round the Thomas family and the run up to their Christmas. It starts with Christmas Day and the police are at the Thomas house where shots have been reported and they find a blood covered scene. It then runs from a couple of weeks before and is a tale of betrayal, bullying, love and deceit as told by the various characters. You already know the Christmas Day scene so in the run up to that day you are aware that something goes very wrong in the family and all the way through the book the tension is escalating but so cleverly done that it could be a number of things that tip them over the edge, the ending though was such a surprise that I wasn't expecting quite what happened. A great read and so much more that 'just another psychological thriller. Barbara Copperthwaite really knows how to ramp up the suspense.
Thank you to NetGalley for my copy of the book.

Ben Thomas on the outside has a successful life with a beautiful wife and two gorgeous daughters. If you look closely enough though you can see the cracks in their perfect life with everybody hiding their secrets. On Christmas Day the police are called when a gunshot is heard from their house and arrive to see a horrific scene of an entire family lying lifeless on the floor. The story goes back and forth from the present to a week back trying to figure out what exactly transpired before the incident to lead to this gruesome scene of crime.

A quick psychological read with unlikeable characters that made the book even more interesting. Barbara Copperthwaite builds up the suspense slowly and surely and kept me hooked till the end. A definite must read from me .

Many thanks to Bookouture & NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review.

WOW – I am speechless.. well obviously not literally as this review would be pretty short but what I mean is that I am absolutely blown away by this book. This is the 3rd book I’ve read by Barbara Copperthwaite – all different and all fabulous in their own way (#TeamAdam), but this book really, really got under my skin.

The story starts on Christmas Day and the police have been called to a respectable family home in London where 2 gun shots have been reported and upon investigating the house they uncover a really gruesome crime-scene.

The story then takes us back a week prior to Christmas day and is told through several of the main characters and builds up to the inevitable Christmas Day tragedy. My emotions were all over the place ranging from sympathy to anger and affection to suspicion – each character was so believable and managed to really captivate my imagination from the first page until the last.

If you enjoy psychological thrillers full of secrets and lies, betrayal and loyalty, then you will LOVE this book.

Barbara Copperthwaite certainly weaves a wonderful and at times twisted tale taking the reader down several paths and then back-tracking with a couple of shocking u-turns! I feel slightly dizzy now and need a lie-down with a soft pillow and lots of chocolate. 5 stars from me.

A good suspenseful read that I finished in a few days. The book starts out eight days before Christmas Day the precede the shocking events that have taken place in the Thomas family. This is a psychological novel that focuses on the family members themselves, one by one, presenting the breakdown of what appeared to all as a tight family unit. We’re given a succession of calamities, broken dreams, innocence corrupted and pure misery - but it was believable to me. The author holds all the cards till the end when you finally realize who "Her Last Secret" is talking about. It shocked me and made me smile. : )

A loving family, the sound of gunfire and a gruesome find for the police in the early hours of Christmas Day.
This was a very original idea for a story. I love how the author tantalises the reader with snippets of what happened on that fateful , festive morning, whilst bringing the story forward day by day.
My favourite character is the youngest Daughter Amber aka Mouse, so called because she likes to burrow away and read in peace and quiet, often to hide away from the pressures of the family life going on around her. This family love each other but don’t always make time for each other.
Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC of this book. I can’t wait to see what Barbara Copperthwaite comes up with next.

Starting at Christmas Day, then going back a couple of weeks had me hooked. I was keen for the story to get back to Christmas Day and find out what had happened. Looking at the family with their lovely house, cars, watches, posh schools etc you’d be thinking that here was a successful businessman with the perfect life. Wrong! Things were not so rosy in the Thomas household. It drew me in, keen to get to the bottom of each family member, their friends, their colleagues, their schoolfriends. Dominique’s nightmares were awful, so vivid.
Thoroughly recommend this book, a read filled with tension!!
Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for the review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

They appear to be the perfect family living in their beautiful house. People don’t know that wife Dominique is a paranoid wreck, that husband Ben is trapped in a web of deceit. They don’t know daughter Ruby lives in fear of the next abusive text. But someone knows all their secrets.
This is a very ingenious and well written rollercoaster of a novel. The novel starts with the police arriving at the Thomas house on Christmas Day after reports of gunfire. The scene that greets them is shocking.
The build up to what happened is told in a series of flashbacks building up to the eventual grisly outcome. Interestingly, although we know what happens in the end, the reader gets caught up in the lives of the characters and is swept along in their issues, wondering how they will be resolved.
A real page turner – it dropped a star for me because I found the characters very unlikeable and felt the ending was a little farfetched. Still kept me up reading it though!

Wow! This author NEVER disappoints! This was another of those books that, once I started, I just had to finish as the story stayed with me, the characters burrowing into my head and demanding to be heard. I was thinking about the story, the characters when I was not reading the book. It consumed me and I didn't want it to end at the same time as wanting to know what had happened next. Another brilliant story by an amazing author. I highly recommend this absolutely fabulous book to everyone!

Her last secret by barbara copperthwaite.
Christmas day and chef inspector paul agundele is on a call. A family's home. Gun shots fired. What will he find? Is the family still alive? Will we find out how it got this far? Who fired the gun?
Omg. What a read. Twists all the way through. Couldn't put it down. First I had 1 suspect then it got turnt around. Certainly didn't expect that. This is a must read and I would highly recommend this book. 5*.

An interesting book telling the story of a family hiding both secrets and feelings. We see their seemingly perfect front begin to unravel and their story is told alongside the Police reaction as they are exploring their house. The novel is well-paced and kept me reading. It was a thriller but also a family drama.

I have read many psychological thrillers, and I can get into a rut with them. Clues early on make me think, "oh, lord, it's this formula again."

Not this one. There are some familiar themes, yes. But this is a spectacular book. It's fresh and scary and so much fun to read! Can't wait to read the rest of her work!!

The publisher provided me with the opportunity to read this in exchange for providing feedback. (via NetGalley)

This was easy to get caught up in and moved at a fast pace, with a lot of twists. I enjoyed this and had a hard time putting it down. Well written.

Same...just same. Set in London or nearby, everything SEEMS PERFECT in a perfect family....we ARE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO PUT IT DOWN.....just like GONE GIRL. JUST like GIRL IN THE WATER.PLEASE, someone write an original plot and develop your characters so that we can either love em or hate em!!!!

I discovered Barbara Copperthwaite when I read her book The Darkest Lies and when I saw that she had another book coming out I downloaded it as soon as it was available. She didn't let me down and her new book is even better than The Darkest Lies. Her characters come to life and although they are not always likeable they are very real.

Her plots make sense and she does a great job of tying up the loose ends. Speaking of which, I loved the ending of this book....no spoilers, though!

Highly recommended.