Reviews

The Lying Room by Nicci French

antoniarose_x's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

sandygx260's review against another edition

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2.0

My favorite character was the poor little guinea pig.

That tells you all you need to know.

khushboomathuria's review against another edition

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5.0

My God. Brilliantly narrated, absolutely gripping plot, shady ass characters but such an in-depth exploration of love and fidelity and feeling desired and wanted. And the last chapter 2 chapters were SUCH A GOOD EDITION. It adds so much to the book and how it was wrapped up. Brilliant idea! Nicci French can do no wrong.

mg_in_md_'s review against another edition

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4.0

Having read and enjoyed several books in the Frieda Klein series by this writing duo, I was interested to check out this stand-alone thriller. The story begins with a mid-life crisis. A middle-aged, married woman named Neve is having an affair with her married boss, Saul. Their trysts have given her a spark that she knows is wrong, but she is nevertheless drawn in and carries on with the assignations. Neve's secret world is turned upside-down when she discovers Saul's body in their pied-à-terre after receiving a text to join him there that morning. Rather than calling the police, she first scrubs the apartment of every trace of her existence in Saul's life. She seems to believe that she will be able to keep her indiscretion secret and go back to her normal life without any consequences.

After leaving the apartment and calling the police, she begins to worry that she has forgotten or overlooked something that will upend her life. The detective in charge of the investigation seems to have zeroed in on her and she finds herself struggling to hold everything together as her suspicions grow about who around her might be guilty of Saul's murder. DCI Hastings seems to know more about Neve than her closest friends and family, suggesting her secrets will not stay hidden for long. There are many twists and turns along the way before the killer's identity is revealed. I did not deduce the perpetrator, but felt that the authors had played fair with the reader after I thought back about the clues/hints. I did not expect the story to end the way it did and appreciated it was not entirely tidy.

This review was based on a NetGalley copy I received from William Morrow and the Book Club Girl Free Friday program. Many thanks for the opportunity to read this suspenseful thriller!

mellwheatley's review

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3.0

3.5 ⭐️

I really enjoyed this! It definitely got me out of a reading slump and was easy to get into the story. I enjoyed the various characters and was kept guessing until the end.

rmarcin's review

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3.0

A woman, Neve, is having an affair with her boss, Saul. When she goes to meet him for a tryst one morning, she is stunned to find him dead in the flat where they would meet. She then decides to clean up the murder scene to wipe away any trace of their affair. However, when she discovers that she left something in the flat, and goes to retrieve it, she makes a terrifying discovery. Now she knows that someone knows about the affair and she doesn’t know what to do.
Neve tried to balance her family, her co-workers, and the detectives as she tries to find the truth about Saul’s murder. Unlikely relationships and secrets come out, and Neve is troubled more and more.
I liked the tension in this book, but I was not convinced of Neve’s ability to be so methodical and to find out the murderer. I found this to be unreal, which prevented me from liking this book more.
#TheLyingRoom #NicciFrench #NetGalley #BookClubGirls

melisser77's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

lorrietruck's review

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3.0

A decent domestic thriller, though sometimes a bit heavy on the domestic - so many details about the chores the protagonist was doing. An easy read to start the year.

beastreader's review

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2.0

I am a fan of this husband and wife writing duo. When I see a new book from this duo, I look forward to reading. I have had this book on my shelf for a while and finally found myself picking it up. Sadly, this book was a downer for me. It does not showcase just how great this husband/wife duo is.

There was nothing redeeming or interesting about the characters. In fact, I kind of found the main character, to be annoying. She was more about protecting herself to the point that she came off a bit conceited. To be honest, I did not find anything intriguing about this story and could not remember parts of the story I had just read recently. This book was a sleeper for me.

varshainthebook4's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0