I am currently ploughing through my TBR which is why the long delay in posting this review as I only just finished Magpie Lane on 04/04/23.

An 8 year old child has gone missing in the middle of the night in Oxford. Through the child's nanny's interview will police, and her recollections which form the bulk of the novel, the family's dysfunctional life emerges.

One of the themes of the novel is being an outsider looking in. The 8 year old is selectively mute and appears to be an outsider in her father and step mothers marriage.

Dee, the nanny is an outsider, in that she is Scottish and was not University educated.

I really wanted to love this novel. I love the theme of mysteries that unravel and then come together. This novel is full of red herrings, you do know that the narrator is unreliable, but she is actually quite one dimensional in that she didn't appear to have any form of personality.

This was to slow, and dense with to many self centred characters for me fully enjoy this.

After a chance meeting, Dee becomes nanny to the child of the new, controversial Master of an Oxford college, moving into the centuries-old Master's Lodging to care for Felicity, a strange and deeply vulnerable little girl, selectively mute, beset by fears, traumatised by the death of her mother. It's ironic that her name means "happiness", because eight-year-old Felicity is one of the unhappiest children it's possible to imagine.

Her father Nick is largely disengaged, and her pregnant stepmother Mariah can see things only in terms of how they impact on her, moaning anonymously on Twitter about the hassles of stepmotherhood. Neither seems capable of - or makes any effort to understand - what life is really like for Felicity and how she experiences the world. So thank goodness for Dee, who's a bit odd herself and the perfect person to enter Felicity's world and make sense of her often strange behaviours. And then there's Linklater, a "house detective" hired to dig up the house's past, who forges an immediate connection with Felicity.

We know from the beginning of the story that Felicity has gone missing - disappeared from her home in the middle of the night - and the narrative moves between the "present" police questioning of Dee - who seems to be their favourite suspect - and her memories of the past, relating events since she began caring for Felicity.

The reliability of Dee's narration is always a little questionable and you're left to wonder who to believe - Dee's account of events, or the version put forward by others, including the police. We see everything from Dee's perspective and while I was on her side, there are times when the reader has to question whether all her perceptions are entirely fair, as seen through the prism of her own experiences and past trauma.

There's a distinct flavour of the supernatural at times - all the priest's hole stuff is genuinely creepy and there's generally a bit of a Gothic tone going on.

The Dee/Linklater/Felicity relationship which develops is an absolute joy, and Linklater's encyclopaedic knowledge of historic Oxford adds an atmospheric dimension.

Speaking of which, the portrayal of the bizarre eccentricities of the rarefied Oxford world and the often unhinged apparent lunatics who inhabit it is a delight. ("Several of the dons would not be out of place on a psychiatric ward; at least one that I knew of was showing clear signs of dementia, and another was actually in custody having throttled a fellow mathematician to death.")

The truth when revealed is no surprise - indeed, it feels like the only possible outcome. The ending doesn't feel especially satisfying; however, it's hard to imagine how else it could have ended. I both do and don't want to know what happens afterwards (I can probably guess).

A fantastic read which will linger in my memory, I'm sure.

Enjoyed this book and found it gripping. Interesting twist at the end too. Looking forward to reading more from the author in the future.

“When the eight-year-old daughter of an Oxford College Master vanishes in the middle of the night, police turn to the Scottish nanny, Dee, for answers.
As Dee looks back over her time in the Master's Lodging - an eerie and ancient house - a picture of a high achieving but dysfunctional family emerges: Nick, the fiercely intelligent and powerful father; his beautiful Danish wife Mariah, pregnant with their child; and the lost little girl, Felicity, almost mute, seeing ghosts, grieving her dead mother.
But is Dee telling the whole story? Is her growing friendship with the eccentric house historian, Linklater, any cause for concern? And most of all, why is Felicity silent?”

This is another book in the sort of ‘did the nanny do it’ genre which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but not necessarily anything new. Dee has a past that she wants to keep hidden, a degree at Oxford that she hasn’t finished and secrets that she doesn’t want people to know about. She needs money so after a recommendation becomes the nanny for Nick, who has just been appointed College Master at Oxford. His daughter Felicity is a strange child, one who sees things others don’t and is mute for the most part, having just lost her mother this may not seen unusual but will she reveal to Felicity why this is so? I particularly liked the Oxford setting for this one.

This book is just fantastic.
The writing is so beautiful and atmospheric at times.
The characters are so complex and I suspected all of them at varying points.
A book for anyone who loves suspense novels or thrillers.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read amd review this book. Unfortunately this one wasn't for me and I gave up a third of the way through

This book is apparently “creepy and twisty” so I looked forward to reading it.

It’s told from the point of view of Dee, a middle-aged nanny who’s looking after the Oxford College Master’s daughter, Felicity.

The format of the story is Dee being questioned by police officers about the disappearance of Felicity. Felicity is only 8 and has selective mutism so the police are keen to trace her. Dee tells her side of the story and very slowly you build up a picture of what life was like for Felicity.

I found this book really slow going and it never seemed to pick up at all for me. I felt every little thing was mentioned and wondered if that was necessary.

I didn’t warm to any of the characters, apart from Linklater, who was quite amusing at times. The rest of them were a bit two dimensional and boring.
It felt like there was too much focus on Dee being Scottish as it was mentioned a lot and she was even making cock-a-leekie soup. Not sure why there was so much made of this as it didn’t add anything to the story.

I did enjoy the creepy elements of the story, but sadly they fizzled out and didn’t really go anywhere. It seemed like it was added in as an afterthought. I think more could have been made of this and it would have given a different dynamic to the story.

The ending was so predictable and unsatisfying.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed with this book. The plot was just far too slow-paced and predictable for me.

Hmmmm wasn’t sure about this one to start with but then it got going and I loved it 😊 I enjoyed reading about Oxford and the nanny giving away her secrets throughout, I thought it was an engaging read and one I finished in a few sittings, will look out for more from Lucy.

This was a great page turner, but it was hard to get comfortable with it. All of the characters wer in some degree problematic and the focus, a sort of emotionally crippled child, created, at least for me, a sense of angst. Great book, but don’t read before bedtime!

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book.
Unfortunately I gave up with this book as it just wasn’t going anywhere and it was boring. I got 28% of the way through and just couldn’t keep going. I am not normally someone who gives up but this just wasn’t for me.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

While this was well written, Magpie Lane was predictable from the start and, while this can occasionally be a good thing, it didn't work in the book's favor this time. I'm not sure I was the audience for this book.

Absolutely amazing book. It has everything you want from a novel: gripping storyline, interesting characters and I am just gutted it’s over. Going to buy EVERYTHING this author has written!
A strong 5/5.

I received an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Quercus Books, and the author Lucy Atkins.
I really enjoyed this mystery thriller, and couldn't put it down. The characters were clearly presented and developed, and the author clearly knows Oxford inside-and-out, which added an interesting dimension. Lucy Atkins writes beautifully, and the anticipation built through every page of the novel. For that reason, I was a little bit disappointed by the end, the only reason why I can't give it 5 stars. Would highly recommend though, 4 stars!

Yep 5 beautiful stars from me.

What can I say.
Lucy Atkins is such a prolific author and knows just what her readers need to keep their attention.

The build up in this is slowly awesome with brick by brick laying a foundation that’s firm to climb onto and the higher it goes the less you breath.

It’s atmospheric and yields such a cobweb around you that you just don’t notice you are caught in that web. Nowhere to go until you satisfy your hunger and devour each page.

Can’t you tell I loved it

Although some of the (villainous) characters were a little unconvincing the tale is told in an interesting, twisty way that kept me engaged to the end. I don't know Oxford and would be intrigued to see how someone who did thought the setting added to the narrative. I really appreciated the central character being middle aged, particularly as she is unusual and felt 'fully formed'. I'd recommend this read to anyone who enjoys a mystery and whose enjoyment is enhanced by beautiful prose.

When we meet Dee, she has taken on a nannying role in Oxford in the hope that she might be able to live an unobtrusive existence, untroubled by even the most innocuous of questions about her background. The nanny with an agenda is fertile ground, as Leila Slimani famously detailed in 2018, but as with Slimani’s novel, ‘Magpie Lane’ is not just a one-dimensional thriller. Issues of class, mental health and absent parenting are handled superbly.

Dee is a more likeable central character than Vivian- the knowing, dubious figure at the heart of Atkins’ last novel The Night Visitor. Here we root for Dee, despite always knowing that she has the potential to subvert our faith in her at any given time.

Atkins is a master at channelling the inner workings of the unreliable narrator, sketching out ulterior motives, complicated anxieties and shadowy malevolence. Here, she crafts a tale that examines what it means to love and belong, against an atmosphere of tension and claustrophobia. An author continuing to go from strength to strength.

Wow... Another different read with a novel style of writing which started with a police interview. A missing child plot always get to me.

Felicity disappeared and nanny Dee was the suspect.

My first book by this author, I was quite pulled in by the secrets revealed as the nanny looked back on all that she had learned about the family.

Subplots layered up as the investigation fired up. The writing kept the mystery alive right till the end.

Overall, a fun read

I have been extremely busy so haven’t had chance to read this book yet. I will get to it as I’m loving the glowing reviews for it and when I do I’m sure it’s one that will feature on my blog

'Nobody, after all, wants to be reminded of how precarious parenthood really is - how parents fail their children all the time in small ways and big, and how, in the blink of an eye, those failures can prove catastrophic.'

Felicity is gone. And her nanny Dee is the prime suspect in her disappearance. But as Dee reflects on her memories of her time with Felicity and her parents, the truth behind the facade emerges: a disengaged father, an uninterested step-mother, and a desperately lonely young girl seeking solace in silence. Dee seems to be the only one on Felicity's side, and when she goes missing it's Dee to whom the police turn. But as the investigation continues, it soon becomes clear that Dee has secrets of her own...

I will admit, it took me a while to get into this one, due in part to its unusual narrative structure: Each chapter begins with Dee in an interview room with two police detectives, being questioned about the disappearance of Felicity. They ask questions, and Dee's answer then transitions into flashes of memories pertaining to her time with Felicity. It's an odd structure, but once you get used to it it is one that works very well, and makes for a very engaging read, albeit one that is a bit of a slow burner.

A further strength of this book was the fact that it also encompassed a range of side plots, all of which added to the suspense of the novel. Obviously, you have the main mystery of what happened to Felicity. But alongside this, there are also several other secrets waiting to be revealed: What really happened to Felicity's mother? Who is the young girl lurking in Dee's memories? What's behind all of the ghostly goings-on in the attic? And is Dee really as trustworthy as she seems?

This is definitely a read that keeps you intrigued throughout. I for one was desperate to know what really happened to Felicity, and I found the ending to be completely satisfying in that regards - don't worry, no mysteries left unsolved in this one! The characterisation was very strong, and the author makes great use of the Oxford setting. All in all, a great read, and one that I would definitely recommend.

Disclaimer - I was fortunate enough to receive an advance reading copy from NetGalley. This has not affected my review in any way, and all opinions are my own.