Finding a dead body of her romantic predecessor is only the beginning of a nightmare for Rachel who is suddenly thrust into a murder investigation as a prime suspect. The problem is, she is not exactly who she says she is, as years previously she was already under suspicion for another murder. A terrific read!

3.5 ⭐️‘s

Twenty years ago at 19, Casey crossed the pond to nanny for a film producer and his wife in California. Soon she is convicted of a horrific crime and sentenced to death. Rachel is living a quiet life in a small village in the UK. When a crime happens in the woods very near her home, she is soon the prime suspect. Told in the two voices, this book was a good read although I found the police procedure to be a bit on the unbelievable side and I do have to say that I cringed every time the baby was left in the car when Casey was having coffee, but overall I still enjoyed the overall book.

A great thriller! You will be swept into a chaotic time and go back to 2000 for an even more hectic situation. I love the dual timelines and Claire meshed these two together perfectly. Thank you NetGalley, Amazon Publishing UK and the author Claire McGowen for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Pub date : October 19 2021.

I have been a fan of Claires for a long time and was really looking forward to this book. This book is possibly my favourite of hers so far. It has a great story, a rally likable character in Rachel and tension from the moment you start the first page. Cancel all plans and read this book it is superb!

This book was so good I read it in under 24 hours! Rachel has been unlucky enough to be embroiled in murder not once but twice! Both times as a prime suspect! Exonerated the first time but this time is she being framed? Has someone found out about her past? This is a gritty, fast paced thriller that’s easy to read and unputdownable!

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

This story centres around Rachel. One morning, Rachel stumbles across a dead body whilst walking her dog. But instead of calling the police, she flees the scene. Why? And what secrets is she hiding?

I really enjoyed this book. I’ve read all the books by this author and I’ve never been disappointed by any of them. The characters are always enthralling and likeable, and others suitably unlikable. We read this story across two time lines, which means we get to see why Rachel reacts and behaves the way she does. I loved all the little twists throughout, and the ending was very satisfying. I can’t wait to see what this author comes up with next.

A great dual narrative which made for an entertaining read. The given information is just right – the readers are not overloaded with info, nor does it feel like we are missing anything.
The dual narrative is always risky – for my own part I loved the present time narrative told by Rachel, but Casey’s narrative… not so much. She’s just so whiny and immature, (which, I guess, is the whole point).
But it is an intense and creepy story, and I found myself well entertained.

This novel was just ok. The character Casey just kept repeating the same mantra I didn’t do it over and over again which was overkill.. I guessed the two perpetrators quite early on which was disappointing. A few twists to keep me reading until the end. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for chance to review it.

I really liked the first book I read by this author. And this is really good too. I read it in two sittings as it’s so compelling. I’d try this and also recommend The Push by her. I’m going to try her other books now.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book.

A great read with hints of real life cases. Loved it and really felt sorry for Rachel.

A true thriller with twists and turns.
Grab a tea and hunker down, what a ride!
I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.

Excellent book! I was immediately hooked by the mystery and I loved the alternating viewpoints of what happened in the past as well as what was going on in the present as both got closer to figuring out what truly happened that fateful night. This was a page turner I couldn't put down!

A really good thriller with a double mystery.

There are two storylines connected by the main character, Rachel. The story begins with Rachel finding the body of her boyfriend's ex-wife's murdered in the woods. She instantly becomes the prime suspect. Unfortunately, this is not the first time that Rachel has experienced it. Years ago, when her name was Casey, she moved to Los Angeles as a babysitter for the Safrans. In a tragic turn of events, the entire family except the youngest child was brutally murdered, and Casey was found guilty of the crime. She always claimed to be innocent. So we're trying to find out not only who murdered her boyfriend's ex-wife, but also what happened twenty years ago in Los Angeles and whether Rachel/Casey is truly innocent.

I liked the whole idea and the execution. The author has done a great job of building an atmosphere of danger and confusion in the current part of the plot. You really feel that Rachel is being hounded and that she is alone in this situation. The police suspect her more and more and can arrest her at any time, accusing her of a crime she did not commit. Or did she?

The author also built the portrait of young Casey very well. A bit of a lost young girl who finds herself in a pathological situation from which she cannot escape. I loved how complicated her situation is and that Casey realizes it. I liked that this part of the story is not devoid of some reflection from the perspective of what happened next, and that Rachel herself tries to evaluate her actions and feelings at the time.

We are given a large group of very distinct yet complex characters in this novel. From the members of the Safran family to Rachel's ex-husband to her current lover and even the victim herself. Everyone hides some secrets, which adds to the suspense. And we are following Rachel, who tries to untangle all these threads and not get locked in prison again. A really good story.

This is my first book by this author, but I will definitely try some of her other books.

I was unsure about this book as it is each chapter is alternated between Casey and Rachel and I'm not fond of 2 or more person narrators, but, wow, I found it real page turner. A good story, well written and very human.

Loved it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I read a free advance review copy of the book. This review is voluntary, honest and my own opinion.

‘What would you do if you found a dead body?’

Rachel Caldwell is walking her dog Brandy near her home in the British Lakes District, when she sees a dead body. Her instinct is to run, to get away from the scene, to not be involved. Because last time she saw a dead body, she was accused of murder. The victim is quickly identified as Anna, the estranged wife of Rachel’s boyfriend, Alex... which makes Rachel a suspect. And very quickly, quite a bit of evidence points to Rachel, and the fact that she is reluctant to share information with the police just heightens their suspicions.

Rachel has a secret. Twenty years earlier, as a nineteen-year-old named Casey, she travelled from the UK to Los Angeles to work as a nanny while seeking her big break as an actor. When three members of the Safran family were brutally murdered, Casey was found guilty and sentenced to death. Freed some years later, exonerated on appeal, she returned to the UK, married, and changed her name.

And now, Rachel wants to keep her past secret because who will believe that she didn’t murder Anna? Although Rachel was exonerated, there are plenty of people who still believe that she was guilty of murdering the Safrans.

Rachel does her own investigating, desperate to prove she is innocent. The more she searches, the more she wonders whether she is being set up. But by whom, and why? It becomes clear that someone knows about Rachel’s past.

Slowly small pieces of information are fed into the story, providing the reader with other possibilities to consider. The story shifts between Rachel in the present and Casey in the past: who murdered Anna, and exactly what happened in the Safran home 20 years ago? I figured out parts of the puzzle but couldn’t be completely sure until all was revealed at the end.

An engrossing read.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

This is a solid thriller and has some interesting cultural points that made the whole journey a great read.

I was not completely surprised when everything was revealed but that's not a bad thing; it's more because the author made a good trail for the reader and everything made sense in a way.

The characters were well developed and the pacing is steady, keeping the reader involved and interested.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and the Publisher for providing me with an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

I have read all the authors others works so had really high expectations and this did not disappoint at all! Ok, chances are it's not the more realistic situation but it's still very thoughtfully and realistically written. You do see why the main characters does what she does and we'd probably do the same!! It keeps you hooked and the flashbacks keeps you guessing as it drio feeds you little new tidbits which keep changing the way you see things. I really a lot of thrillers and there's always a degree of predictability but this was really good in keeping you guessing and keeping you changing your opinion every time new bits and pieces come to light. I really enjoyed it and can't wait for the next installment from the author

What a compelling story!. Poor Casey must have had the worst luck in the world to be found guilty of first degree murder three times and find herself on wreath Row. So trying to make a new life for herself in Yorkshire after being exonerated, she finds herself in trouble again.
I found this story easy to get into, and very believable. It flicked between Casey and her dilemma, and Rachel and her dilemma, which I found a little distracting to begin with but soon found this was the order of the story so went with it!. All in all, a great read .
Many thanks to Netgalley for the free ARC book for an honest review.

I love books by this author. This book was hard to put down. Rachel was a compelling character. You felt her anguish in everything she did and said. It took me a bit to get used to the jumping from present to past but ad I read I became used to the pattern. This is definitely a 5 star book!!

This novel begins with two stories, the first involves Rachel who finds a dead body while walking her dog in the English woods. The other is a flashback to America some twenty years earlier about an English nanny named Casey, working for a Hollywood producer and his family. I was intrigued by this method and wanted to know the connection and as the stories unfold and become involved, we find out. I enjoyed the writing and the characters were interesting, but I kind of figured some of the twists, but not the ending. Overall, it was enjoyable, but no wow moment.