There were so many twists and turns I didn’t know how it was all going to end. Seemingly ordinary people living ordinary lives but each and everyone of them has a secret that eventually gets told making each one of these people a suspect in a possible murder. It was page turning stuff, did not know how it was going to end until the very last page. Loved reading it and loved the story.

I normally don;t enjoy books where the chapters are written by different characters but this was the exception and I enjoyed the different voices that we heard. I enjoyed the twist at the end and thought it was appropriate for this character.

I just finished the 4th book in the Jo Spain Tom Reynolds series last week, which I loved, probably my favourite in the series so far. So I just had to jump to read this latest offering from Jo Spain, the new standalone, Dirty Little Secrets.

I absolutely loved it. Couldn't put it down. Set in the exclusive gated community of Withered Vale, Olive Collins is found dead in her house. We are introduced to a number of characters, all neighbours and all with their various secrets that they don't want exposed. Each chapter is told from different character perspectives and Olive is very helpful to the reader in her chapters revealing snippets of information on each one! The chapters are short and snappy, keeping the story moving along at great pace. I couldn't turn the pages quick enough to keep up!

Another winner for Jo Spain for 2019 and so very well deserved.

My thanks to Netgalley and Quercus Books

I really enjoyed The Confession and was delighted to get the opportunity to read Dirty Little Secrets by Jo Spain. This was another excellent read that had me gripped from start to finish. Someone is found dead (3 months later) in a gated community and it seems that each neighbour has their own secrets and motives. Whodunit? Great character development with the story jumping between several characters POV. Well done again Jo Spain!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers Quercus Books for a copy of this ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Tension builder


A completely involving "WhoDunnIt" psychological thriller, set amongst a small community.

Within a gated community of six houses, where everyone gets along and enjoys occasional community events, Olive is found dead. And no-one had noticed for months!

This great read delves into the lives of the occupants of this small community. Behind each of those pristine front doors are secrets that need to be kept secret. However now that the police are asking awkward questions it seems Olive wasn't as popular as first thought. As the inhabitants of each of the houses gradually let their secrets out, including the now deceased Olive at No. 4, so the suspense grows.

The investigation is led by Detective Frank Brazil, who is looking forward to retirement, and Emma Child who is at the beginning of her detective career. They make a great team, add humour, and really enhance the story. Hope to see more of them in future books by Jo Spain!

4*s from me. From the first chapter I was completely into the characters, and later on enjoyed trying to guess who did it (I got it totally wrong!). This is a great light thriller where the characters build up well leading towards the disclosure at the end. Great "curl up and enjoy" book.

I really liked this book, a good story and unusual characters, not all nice, it made me think about you should be careful what you wish for.

I first came across Jo Spain’s books last year when I read The Confession, a standalone novel and then The Darkest Place, her 4th Inspector Tom Reynolds Mystery book, both very good books. So I was keen to read her latest book, a psychological thriller, Dirty Little Secrets, another standalone book. I really enjoyed this very readable page-turner, keen to discover all the secrets.

It’s set in Withered Vale, a small, gated community of just seven houses, outside the small village of Marwood in Wicklow in Ireland. On the surface it is a perfect place where the wealthy live their privileged lives and keep themselves to themselves – until a cloud of bluebottles stream out of the chimney of number 4 and Olive Collins’ dead and disintegrating body is discovered inside. She had been dead for three months and none of the neighbours had bothered to find out why she hadn’t been seen all that time. But someone must have known what had happened to her – the question being who?

When DI Frank Brazil, near to his retirement, and his partner young Emma Child arrive it’s not clear whether Olive’s death was accidental death or suicide. But they quickly establish that the boiler had been pumping out carbon monoxide and the vents and the letter box had been taped up. It was then obvious that her death was either suicide or murder. There is plenty of DNA in the house, as it turns out that all the neighbours had visited Olive. She had tried to interfere in each of their lives and each one of them had something to hide, from past crimes, past relationships, addictions, and blackmail. They’re all suspects as each one had a motive for killing Olive.

I liked the way Jo Spain has structured her book – each character is introduced and gradually more and more facts about their lives and personalities are revealed. And Olive’s dead voice is interspersed among these people, revealing her personality, thoughts and relationships with the others, and showing just went on behind all the closed doors. I was fascinated and went from one person to the next wondering who was guilty, changing my mind as the book progressed. The characters are convincing and so it was easy to work out who was who and how they all interacted. The ending surprised me as although I had suspected what had taken place I hadn’t foreseen the whole picture.

I was hooked from the beginning to the end. Withered Vale went from being a place where the neighbours lived their lives in isolation to a much more united community as together they faced the enormity of what had happened.

My thanks to the publishers, Quercus, for my review copy via NetGalley.

What a fantastic read this was. Following a gated street after a murder. Playing neighbours against each other and laying there whole lives out for all. It was great. Huge mix of different characters thrown in. You always imagine these gated communities are close knit. Not one of your neighbours dying and lying unnoticed for 3 months. Follow this story one neighbour at a time in this who done it classic

My first novel by Jo Spain and what a treat! Compulsively readable - I was up late trying to finish it.

The main character, Olive is dead. Not newly dead but twelve weeks dead, recently discovered mouldering in her armchair. What sort of community doesn't notice a neighbour missing for twelve weeks?

Middle aged and a spinster, Olive lived in an exclusive gated community - one where everyone should have been close. When the land around her isolated house in rural Ireland was bought up and six other houses built around her, she was happy to have neighbours and looked forward to making friends. But it was not to be. Olive had a good nose for finding out people's secrets and very few of her neighbours were unhappy that she was dead.

Detectives Frank Brazil and Emma Child suspect foul play. Together they make an odd and entertaining couple and the perfect foil for each other. He is the crusty, experienced policeman looking forward to retirement and she is the up and coming bright young woman not long out of training college. In deliciously told alternating chapters Olive tells of her relationship with her neighbours while they tell their side of the story. Frank and Emma soon discover that everyone has dirty little secrets and a motive for killing Olive. An excellent murder mystery - it kept me hooked, right up to that delightful twist at the end!

Six neighbours, six secrets, six reasons to want Olive Collins dead. Think Miss Marple meets Brookside. A gated community where someone is murdered, and all the neighbours have motives to kill. Every page keeps you guessing until the very end. Amazing read and such a unique and fresh story. Well done Jo Spain.

Oh my, what storyteller Jo Spain has become. Absolutely enthralling, riveting read.who knows what goes on behind closed doors, I was totally shocked at the ending but then that's how good Jo is. Definitely recommend this story

Wow what a thrilling read. A real page turner loved it! Interesting characters, fantastic story would recommend this to anyone.

Having loved The Confession I had been eagerly looking forward to reading this. I love Jo’s books, the story telling is fantastic and you really feel like you know the characters. This one is the same. Once I had got to grips with all the difference residents I was absolutely absorbed with all their stories. Twisting and turning, my opinions of the neighbours was constantly changing and the ending was both surprising yet in a way satisfactory.
With thanks to Quercus for my early copy.

I loved this book! Really excellent, although it did take me a wee while to get into at first as all the characters were introduced. Stick with it though, it is definitely worth it!
Middle aged Olive is found dead, her body rotting for the last three months. She lived in a gated community and the killer appears to be one of the residents. When detectives Frank and Emma - both characters written brilliantly, I loved their quirks - begin investigating Olive's death, none of the neighbours seem unduly upset, in fact some seem positively relieved that she is dead. Each neighbour seems to have had some kind of disagreement with Olive in the past, and as these are revealed, we also learn of these events from Olive's point of view.
Very cleverly written, each neighbour has a 'dirty little secret' and I do love a story with dysfunctional families and twisted characters! Extremely enjoyable read, I would definitely recommend.

This is Jo Spain's latest standalone psychological thriller set in a privileged and wealthy gated community development on the outskirts of a village in Wicklow in Ireland. The police descend on this tiny neighbourhood after the body of Olive Collins, a retired woman in her mid-fifties, is discovered in a liquified state after lying undiscovered in her home for three months. 53 year old DI Frank Brazil is looking forward to retirement, tired after all he has seen, but he is dismayed when evidence suggests that this could be a suspicious death requiring an in depth investigation rather than what appeared at first to be a suicide. His partner, 28 year old detective Emma Child is more ambitious and delighted with the challenge that the inquiry represents.

On the surface the small community appear to be respectable and normal, but why did no-one check on Olive? Surely it would be neighbourly to inquire when she is not seen for so long? In a narrative that is relayed through the perspective of those on this estate and the police officers, we find much bubbles below the veneer. There are secrets galore, porn addiction, affairs, rivalries, petty feuds, efforts to stay below the radar for a number of reasons, confrontations, conflict and more. Olive herself was a desperately lonely woman who made strong efforts to get close to her neighbours, only to be constantly rebuffed which she did not take well. She was partial to interfering in the lives of others, jealous, issuing warnings, taking advantage of others, judgmental, and not above engaging in machinations to engineer particular outcomes. The police begin to uncover the seething mass of emotions of hatred, rage and more directed at the dead Olive, unmasking a host of suspects.

My favourite highlights of the novel was the developing relationship between Frank and Emma, the twisted ending and the characters of Alison Daly and her daughter, Holly, with their traumatic history. Jo Spain's novels are always a delight to read, guaranteed to be gripping and compelling, full of suspense and tension, with a great cast of characters. This is a engrossing and entertaining thriller that I was glued to throughout until I reached the ending. A wonderful psychological thriller! Many thanks to Quercus for an ARC.

Thank you Netgalley and Quercus for the ARC.

Bam! and we're off! This book starts with the most imaginative prologue I've read in a long time.
Unfortunately it's mainly downhill after that.
We're stuck in a small wealthy gated community in the Irish countryside. When one of the residents is found dead in her home, the other six pretty soon become suspects in the mystery. Is she murdered or was it truly an accident?
The chapters jump from one house to the next and all of the residents appear to harbour secrets that could influence the case. The writing is pleasant enough with indepth characters, but the pace is too slow for me and the stories too trivial. I feel trapped in this sad neighbourhood. Eventually it just sizzles out.
It took me almost two weeks instead of my usually two days to finish this book. I'm a big fan of Jo Spain, but this one disappointed me. Just an okay mystery without thrills.

This is a real characterful psychological thriller set in a small housing estate. How well do we really know our neighbours? I certainly look at mine in a different light! I really liked the characters in this book and the investigating detectives, especially Emma. A gripping read with a surprise ending that I never saw coming. Definitely one to read.Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC. reviews on Goodreads and Facebook.

Dirty Little Secrets - what a read! This book as with all Jo Spain's books had me enthralled from the first page! Set in the community of Withered Vale we are brought into the lives of deceased Olive' s six neighbours... each with their own secrets! A fantastic psychological thriller from start to finish that will keep you reading until the small hours! Full marks yet again!

This is the first book I have read by Jo Spain and I will be going to amazon to buy more straight away!

Full of secrets, twists and turns. I sat down this morning thinking I’ll just read the first few chapters and before I knew it I had finished it!

I will definitely be recommending this book, and author, to everyone.

Thanks to Quercus books for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I will add amazon review on publication date

Jo Spain has a gift. This was a wonderful read to start the new year with. Her character development is fantastic - providing just enough detail from the beginning to make it feel as if you have known them for a whole series. The story quickly develops to set the pace nicely and leave you wanting more from each characters viewpoint.