Magpie Lane is another compelling book by Lucy Atkins. The story centres around the disappearance of Felicity, a nine year old child who suffers from selective mutism. The narrative progresses through the police interview of Dee, who is Felicity’s nanny. From Dee’s perspective, Felicity’s father, Nick and stepmother Mariah are negligent and self absorbed, and the fact that they are expecting their first child together leads Dee to believe that Felicity will be marginalised further within the family unit. Felicity and Dee build up such a strong and trusting relationship, that Felicity begins talking to Dee when previously she only spoke in front of her father.
Throughout the book, we learn about the death of Felicity’s mother, as well as traumatic events in Dee’s own past. They also develop a new friendship with a local man, employed by Nick to research the history of the Oxford house they live in.
This is an intense and thrilling novel that allows the story to unfold gradually, while still keeping you completely absorbed. The characters are varied and believable, and the book includes incredible detail and research into the many different topics raised within the story.

It was probably bad timing on my part to read this straight after I read ‘The Turn of the Key’ as there were so many similarities and the main premise was the same; a nanny staying with a family and something happens to the child.

I loved how this started, the story coming from Dee the nanny being interviewed by the police. This carried on through out the book and I enjoyed these little interjections as the story progressed. For me, this is what kept the story going as this is definitely a slow burner of a book.

The setting of Oxford was described perfectly and I found some aspects of her writing rather spooky at times. I could really picture where the story was set and found the house fascinating!

Overall, the book keeps you intrigued and I definitely wanted to find out what happened but just found it a bit lack lustre in comparison to ‘The Turn of the Key’. Dee, the nanny is quite an unreliable narrator and the ending wasn’t quite as exciting as I wanted it to be.

An Absorbing thriller set in Oxford. Some interesting descriptions of Oxford which add to the structure of the story. A missing a child, a nanny and a mystery. Rather abrupt ending.

I enjoyed reading this book.

It's a well written psychological thriller with realistic characters and an interesting plot.

This is a mystery with a ghostly, creepy and eerie feel to it. It’s set in the university town of Oxford, and centers around a family that have recently moved into the Masters Lodgings, an old house with a fascinating and disturbing history. The story opens with the police interviewing Dee, the baby-sitter who has been looking after Felicity, a little girl with selective mutism, and who has gone missing from her home (the Masters Lodgings) in the middle of the night. The thing is though, Felicity is not your average little girl. Not only does she not speak (other than to her father), but she sees things, and suffers from night terrors and episodes of sleep walking that she can’t remember, making her fearful and nervous. It’s thus unlikely that she would have run away. Or is it?

With reference to priests’ holes, ghosts, witches hexes, bones of dead animals and strange happenings, this story is extremely atmospheric, and it’s a mystery that’s so different to anything that I’ve read before. It’s also largely a character driven novel, playing on the reader’s emotions and attachments to certain characters. It’s important to work out who you like and who you don’t, who you trust and who you don’t, and ultimately, who you believe.

I loved the fact that the story was told in the form of flashbacks, with Dee relating her experiences working for the family in question to two police officers who are interviewing her about the disappearance of Felicity. It soon becomes clear that Dee is a suspect, and perhaps their primary suspect, even though her recollections of certain events seem to be very exact and hugely possible. But as the reader, you find yourself starting to doubt Dee, and to wonder whether everything she’s saying is the absolute truth. And for me this just added to the addictive nature of the read.

This is a suspense / mystery novel that moves along at a great pace, and even though it’s largely character based, I was never bored. There are no twists and turns like one finds in traditional psychological thrillers, which is why I wouldn’t classify this one as a thriller, although many other people have. To me, this is part mystery, part suspense and part family drama. It’s a novel full of secrets, and it touches on topics of neglect, love, trust and how painful childhood memories can stick with us as we progress through our lives.
At times, this book reminded me of the hugely popular novel by Ruth Ware, titled The Turn of the Key. There are definite similarities regarding the setting, the eeriness and the plot. I think that if you enjoyed that novel, then you’ll definitely enjoy this one.

Overall, this is a fantastic novel, and I highly recommend it.

This book was not what I expected!

A selectively mute, little girl is missing.

Told from the p.o.v of the nanny during her police interview, the story flashes back and forth between now and before Felicity went missing.

This one is a slow burn as the story and characters develop, the ending was unexpected and let’s just say..... I couldn’t read this one when I was on my own, late into the night!

Magpie Lane had me hooked. A child has gone missing and the police talk to the nanny to attempt to unravel the twisted relationships of the family.

I was so invested in the story of Dee, Felicity and Linklater; they should have been a family...3 pieces of a puzzle which slot together. The story had a melancholic feel to it and a tension that runs throughout.

My only issue with the book is the ending which left me with a feeling of loss, but I don’t think the book could have ended any other way, and shouldn’t have.

As all books by Lucy Atkins, Magpie Lane is well written, intelligent and atmospheric. All the characters are realistic and masterfully drawn out (Oxford being the central one). Although this is yet another book about a missing child and a dysfunctional family, the plot is quite unusual and the police interviews inserted in each chapter add interest to the story. I did found it a little slow and drugging in places, however, and the ending was a little underwhelming. Overall, a good read.

A missing eight year old girl, an Oxford master, a danish pregnant step-mother, an eccentric house detective and a Scottish live in nanny - what more could you want !! A book that you just want to finish to find out what happened BUT on the other hand you don’t want it to end.

The story is based around the disappearance of Felicity, the selectively mute daughter of Nick and step-mother Mariah. Dee is Felicity’s live in nanny and through the police interview of Dee, including flashbacks, we learn of the last few months goings on in the new masters home. Felicity went missing during the night when both Nick and Dee were in London but the police believe Dee maybe involved in kidnapping the young girl.

This is a great book that will have you hooked from the start. There are some brilliant characters which come alive on the page - some you will love and some you will hate. This is really one to add to your reading list and put it right at the top !!

Thank you to Quercus Books and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book.

I don't think I have ever read a more atmospheric book in my life.

When the daughter of an Oxford College Master goes missing, suspicion falls on the nanny - Dee. The book follows Dee as she reflects on her time with father Nick, his wife Mariah, and Nick's daughter Felicity. We get a picture of a dysfunctional family. There are so many questions - what really happened to Nick's first wife? Why is Felicity mute? What is happening to Mariah?

When I started reading this I wasn't sure it was for me - it seemed as though it would be a super heavy topic. But, after getting about 20% in, I couldn't put it down! The suspense was built up so cleverly, and the writing was just beautiful. I am not a maths person, but I thought the math references sprinkled in were a unique touch.

I ended up questioning everyone in this story - everyone seemed to have something to hide, and everyone seemed to be unravelling as we went on.

The chapters start with Dee being asked questions by Police trying to find Felicity, and then turn to her recalling her experiences at the house. It was so well done I forgot I wasn't experiencing the story in "real-time".

This book was haunting - but in a beautiful way. Completely atmospheric and suspenseful without being a classic 'thriller'. I would highly recommend this if you like contemporary fiction with a hint of mystery and suspense, and if you appreciate moody settings.

Thanks to Quercus Books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Magpie Lane by Lucy Atkins

Dee becomes a person of interest to the police when 8-year-old Felicity disappears from her Oxford home. Dee is Felicity’s nanny and Felicity is no ordinary child. She is the daughter of Nick, the new high-profile Master of one of Oxford’s colleges, and the stepdaughter of Nick’s glamorous and pregnant Danish wife, Mariah. Felicity is selectively mute. She hardly ever speaks and, when she does, it’s only to her father and never to Mariah. But now she speaks to Dee, the Scottish nanny who feels drawn to this strange child, who collects bones and other creepy things, arranging them in enigmatic patterns on her bedroom floor, to keep her safe from the ghosts she believes haunts her home, an old college building with a past. Dee joins forces with a curious and eccentric house historian, Linklater, to try and help Felicity understand what secrets the house hides. This is Dee’s side of the story and when Felicity vanishes what are the police to think?

I was so excited to read Magpie Lane and for two very good reasons. I loved Lucy Atkins’ previous novel The Night Visitor, with its gorgeously told creepy tale of the relationship between a writer and the housekeeper of a manor house. Secondly, Magpie Lane is set in my hometown of Oxford. I know well the lane, with its infamous history, that names the novel and I love where this book takes us – into the old colleges, the back lanes and alleys, the hidden churchyards, as well as into its stuffy and old traditions. This can be a claustrophobic place, especially if you’re not used to it and are unfamiliar with Oxford’s ‘town and gown’ divisions. For all its faults, this is the Oxford I know and love and, although it’s stifling at times, it is also so beautiful and so full of history.

This Oxford is exactly what Lucy Atkins captures in Magpie Lane. Dee is an outsider, just like Nick and Mariah, and they resist its charm. Mariah removes all of the portraits of men’s heads from their lodgings. Nick is a television figure and an unpopular Master. He isn’t one to cope with the restrictions of his college’s Governing Body. He and Mariah see their stay in Oxford to be transitory, and so, too, does Dee. She’s reluctant to take the job at all. But then she falls for Felicity and Linklater comes along, a man who couldn’t be more steeped in Oxford tradition and history if he tried. He is almost part of its buildings, forgotten and neglected by the city that he has felt unable to escape. The descriptions of Oxford and its hidden places are so gorgeously done. I especially enjoyed the pages we spend exploring the quiet and secret churchyards, where so many familiar and significant figures rest unnoticed.

Felicity is a part of this world. Although this is on one level a missing child crime novel, that’s not really what Magpie Lane is about. This is the story of Dee, Felicity and Linklater, as told by Dee. There is a strong supernatural feel to it. There are moments that are genuinely disturbing. Felicity herself is the novel’s haunted child, while her home makes for a perfect haunted house. Linklater is almost the exorcist. Dee herself is a mystery. Glimpses of her past are revealed throughout and this is complemented by the questioning from the police, one of whom is intriguingly named Faraday (Dee really does seem to be inside a Faraday cage at times), which makes the reader also ask questions about the truth of what Dee has told us. Each chapter begins and ends with more of the interrogation, again told by Dee to us. In between the questions, Dee reveals more about her relationship with Felicity, Linklater and Felicity’s parents. It is utterly engrossing and not a little creepy.

Linklater is my favourite character of the novel. What a wonderful creation he is! He is completely eccentric, almost humorously so, but he also feels like a tragic character to me. He, too, is stuck in a cage, like Dee and like Felicity. I enjoyed his presence in the novel very much indeed.

Magpie Lane is such a delight. It’s clever, always beautifully written and its characters are all enormously involving, even Nick and especially Mariah, his wife who slowly unravels before our eyes. It’s a puzzle to work out as we try and understand Dee while we fall deeply for the troubled Felicity, just as Dee does. And all the time we’re reminded of the past forcing its way into the present. The past surrounds and fills this house. Lucy Atkins captures the atmosphere and chills of this perfectly, making Magpie Lane an irresistible and always entertaining read.

Other review
The Night Visitor

I enjoyed reading Magpie Lane. It's a well written psychological thriller that is strong in both character depth and plot. The Oxford setting and the creepiness of the house add to the atmosphere of this novel.

I'm not a big fan of psychological thriller but I couldn't help loving this story.
It's atmospheric, gothic, complex and I was totally enthralled by what I was reading.
The author is an exceptional storyteller and will makes travel to Oxford, discover secrets and get you to know a cast of complex and fascinating characters.
I thinks there's a lot of great character development and the description of Oxford are vivid and fascinating.
I loved the gothic elements, they're fascinating and well woven into the plot.
It was an excellent read that kept me guessing till the end.
I strongly recommend it.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Magpie Lane is an indisputably gripping story that completely enthrals from start to finish.

This fascinating domestic thriller acquaints the reader with Nick Law, a controlling Oxford College Master; his selectively mute daughter called Felicity, aged eight, who has vanished; his pregnant Danish wife Mariah, who is a wallpaper restorer; Dee, their mathematically fixated Nanny; and an eccentric house historian called Dr. Linklater. The addition of some ghostly haunting and Oxford University traditions and oddities made this book really quite remarkable.

The story is told from the perspective of Dee as she answers the questions of detectives Faraday and Khan at Oxford's police station, regarding Felicity's disappearance. The details of Dee’s past and her current her job with the Law family are teased out in small doses through Dee’s memories during the interviews. The characterisation from Lucy Atkins is marvellous - I could picture all of the players so easily though the standout character for me was Dee. I really liked the kindness, level of understanding and patience she had for Felicity. Her love of maths was fascinating and an interesting little quirk, making Magpie Lane slightly different.

The intricately woven plot was easy to follow in this sublime, atmospheric tale. As the bigger picture emerged, images of a dysfunctional, hardworking and stress-filled family surfaced. This slow burning, subtle story enveloped itself around me - a story of lives affected by grief, unfulfilled expectations and anxiety, but it also emanated a strong sense of friendship, trust and acceptance. I adored this book from the first few pages and as much as I wanted to discover how the book would end, I would also have liked for it to continue.

In essence, I adored Magpie Lane by Lucy Atkins and I would recommend it, and the author, with confidence.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel, at my request from Quercus via NetGalley and this review is my unbiased opinion.

I usually enjoy Lucy Atkins work, but this book did not work for me, sadly. It’s well written, and starts off very well, but then it becomes a very slow meander through bits of Dee’s police interview, in which she withholds more than she actually tells them, depending on her whim, alternating with the activities she and Felicity have been involved in to fill their days after school. The narrative did not ring true for me, and when I reached the part where Dee starts taking Felicity to visit graveyards, I’m afraid the story completely lost my interest, and credibility. I gave up at about 45% in to the book.

There are too many books about lost children on the market right now, which I usually avoid. I had hoped that this one would be different, rather more original. But it is just very strange, with characters I couldn’t care about, apart from the poor tortured Felicity.

My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this title.

EXCERPT: 'A little boy died here!' Mariah's voice trembled from the bed,close to tears. 'A little boy was murdered in this house!'

I walked over. 'What?'

'That house detective person just phoned-I'd forgotten all about him. He was asking for you, for some reason, he says he's trying your mobile but you won't pick up. Why's he phoning you ? I was sleeping-he just woke me up and he told me to tell you a little boy was murdered here. A little boy was poisoned in this house! In the First World War! Oh my God, a ... little ... boy' Her words dissolved into sobs.

I tried to soothe her. 'Ach, I'm sure lots of people have died here,' I said. 'It's a 400 year old house.'

The room was boiling and the air smelled sweet and sickly. 'But a child was murdered here!' Mariah wailed. 'This is so horrible. So horrible. It makes sense now, the atmosphere in this place. Don't you feel it? You have to!'

ABOUT THIS BOOK: 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 was Felicity silent?

MY THOUGHTS: Step up into the spotlight, Lucy Atkins, and take a bow. Magpie Lane was one riveting read. One that started out quite innocuously, then slowly cranked up the tension until I was forgetting to breathe.

The story is revealed as Dee, the Scottish nanny, is interviewed by the police about the disappearance of the child she cares for. Felicity is selectively mute, following the death of her mother. Bereaved and bullied, she cannot speak to her stepmother or at school. In fact, other than a few words to her father, Felicity speaks to no one, until she senses a kindred spirit in Dee. But Dee has secrets of her own. Ones that would come to light if any of the desperate parents who employed her ever bothered to run a police check.

And then there is Linklater, employed to write a history of the house the family occupies in Oxford. For some reason, although Felicity is terrified by the ghosts that inhabit her room, she is captivated by his ghost tours through the graveyards and streets of Oxford.

This is such an atmospheric read, both setting and characterwise. I was appalled by the 'absolutely horrible' and 'narcissistic' parents this poor child had, and totally captivated by the story that unfolded. We learn a little of the history of Oxford, a little about mathematics, and there are frequent literary references and a few musical ones.

I had an inkling of an idea as to what had happened to Felicity but we are held in suspense until almost the end.

I had previously read The Other Child by this author, but now I will also be reading her other two novels.

🎓🎓🎓🎓🎓

#MagpieLane #NetGalley

'Even in something as apparently concrete as maths, things can be right and wrong at the same time.'

THE AUTHOR: Lucy Atkins is an award-winning author, Sunday Times book critic and journalist. Her new novel, Magpie Lane, is a literary thriller narrated by the nanny of a missing girl, and set in an Oxford College. Her other novels are The Night Visitor, The Other Child and The Missing One.

Lucy reviews books for The Sunday Times and has written for newspapers such as The Guardian, The Times, The Telegraph, the T.L.S, and many magazines. She has also written several non fiction books.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Quercus Books via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of Magpie Lane for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon and my webpage sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

My thanks to Quercus Books for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Magpie Lane’ by Lucy Atkins in exchange for an honest review.

It is a psychological thriller with a definite Gothic feel. I obtained its audiobook edition, narrated by Susie Riddell, who voices the novel’s narrator, Dee, with a soft Scottish burr.

The plot focuses on the disappearance in the middle of the night of Felicity, the 8-year-old daughter of a recently appointed Oxford College Master. The family’s Scottish nanny, Dee, is extensively interviewed by the police to provide them with details of the family. While doing so she reminiscences back over her time with the clearly dysfunctional Law family. We also learn more about Dee’s own past.

With these type of thrillers I believe it is always best to read ‘cold’ without too much plot information in advance in order to avoid spoilers, so no further details. It’s a slow, character driven story though beautifully evokes Oxford.

This novel captured my attention from its opening pages and held it throughout. I am a devoted fan of mysteries like this that combine strong plots and characterisations. Add to this the unsettling atmosphere of the ancient Master’s Lodging with its possible hauntings. It was a wonderful reading experience.

I found ‘Magpie Lane’ a quite melancholic novel, exploring themes of grief and loss alongside those of love and connection. I found myself relating deeply to Dee and Felicity and could appreciate the delicate bond that grew between them.

This is the kind of novel that I am certain will appeal to reading groups given that it provides plenty of scope for discussion.

Note: the nickname given to Dee by the Daily Mail, ‘Nanny McFlee?’, was totally on point for that newspaper’s headlines.

I am now keen to read more of Lucy Atkins’ novels and will look forward to her future projects.

Highly recommended.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

Felicity is eight years old. Her dad, Nick is an Oxford college master and her stepmother, Mariah is a designer. They hire Dee to be Felicity's nanny. Felicity is a selective mute. But now Felicity has disappeared.

This is another story about a dysfunctional family. The story is told from Dee's point of view. It's action packed, tense and a bit creepy. We are told the story through the police interview and the events that took place over the months leadingupto Felicity's disappearance. It's also a story you can't say too much about incase you spoil it for potential readers. There is quite an interesting twist towards the end. An interesting read.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review.

An eight year old girl is missing. This is a troubled child since the death of her mother when she was four years old . The book focuses on the dysfunctional relationships within the child’s family, the father his new pregnant wife and the nanny. The background is Oxford University and the complexities of university life.The story is told from the nannies perspective while she is being interrogated by the police.

This book is a slow burn, a bit too slow at times however the writing was descriptive , beautiful and creepy . This was a good story but the ending was disappointing almost too rushed after such a complex build up.

If you like your thrillers to err on the side of a ghostly creepy nature where location and setting is paramount then look no further than Magpie Lane by Lucy Atkins.
Set in the esteemed university world of Oxford, the Masters Lodgings are currently occupied by Dr Nick Law and his selectively mute daughter Felicity. His wife Maria is quickly cast as ‘evil’ stepmother, pregnant with their child and both are simply at a loss as to what to do with Felicity, when they hire nanny Dee quite literally after a chance encounter on a bridge.
With talk of priests holes and ghosts and witches hexes it is a very strange world that Felicity inhabits, collecting bones of dead animals and I do think Dee encourages this unusual behaviour. Felicity is very much isolated from the world and even those closest to her, haunted by the death of her mother and only able to talk to her father Nick. The nurturing Dee manages to bring this little girl alive in her presence, slowly bonding over time and building up trust so that they develop a loving relationship where previously there has been none. Felicity is a difficult child to relate to; I felt that maybe she was possessed by all these ghosts that inhabit her surroundings but that doesn’t make the obvious parental neglect acceptable. Neither Nick or Maria are likeable, wrapped up entirely in their own academic worlds but I did like how this house casts a spell over this family, sending Maria into a downward spiral of paranoia, far from the woman Dee initially meets.
Told in the form of flashbacks, this thriller centres around Felicity going missing and all suspicion seems to be cast on Dee as you discover from the police interviews that intersperse the storyline. I never quite got the measure of Dee wondering if she is truly to be trusted which adds another level of intrigue to the whole narrative.
I think what I loved most about this intelligent and atmospheric read is the setting, steeped in history, all the back alleys and cemeteries in possession of secrets and murders and fascinating anecdotes of long ago individuals which are brought to life by the character Linklater, the house detective researching the Lodgings history, which is revealed to be none too pleasant. He is portrayed as a typical hapless academic but makes a perfect companion for both Dee and Felicity. In fact he is probably my favourite character and I would love to be escorted around the streets of Oxford on one of his tours!
Magpie lane is a gripping read which is full of secrets and I absolutely loved the eerie goings on that quite frankly would freak me out. There’s no way I could have slept peacefully in that house and Felicity reminds me of one of those porcelain dolls with big staring eyes that open and shut when you rock her back and forth!!
If I’m being totally honest, I did feel a little bit disappointed by the ending because I think I’d been expecting some shocking revelation, although I can’t express what I’d been hoping for!! The build up had been riveting but I did like the ambiguity and appreciate not every tale has to be wrapped up neatly. That’s the only reason I have given a 4 star review rather than five. Definitely recommend and if you have read Ruth Ware’s Turn of the Key then I imagine you will enjoy this also.
My thanks as always to the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read in exchange for an honest review.