Didn't capture my attention and engagement. Interested in trying it again though and hopefully it will take.

3.5. I haven't picked up a Nicci French book I haven't liked yet. I enjoyed the backstory of the serial monogamist that is the main protagonist. As a mom, the murder drawings and the strange behavior of the little girl would put me on edge too. I think I've just read too many thrillers because I called the killer less than halfway through. I would still recommend it to any thrill-seeking audience. This was an enjoyable and intriguing book.

Thank you to @Netgalley for this advanced reader's copy for an honest review.

Tess is trying to figure out life as a divorcee, when a strange shift in her toddlers bheavior causes her to think that she has witnessed something awful while timesharing with her father.

I can relate with Tess. As a mother of a son who timeshares with his father, at first I was overly concerned with what was going on when I wasn't around. My annoyace with Tess wears thin though when she just starts behaving so over the top and beyond any rational person. As the story progresses, instead of becoming more invested, I become more withdrawn and annoyed.

I don't wanna sound like a broken record, but this book did not feel like it had the same feel as all the other books by this duo. I was very unconnected to the characters and didn't really care to find out what really happened.

One of our rare DNFs of 2021. Seemed too off-kilter and out-of genre for our audience, and we lost interest pretty early on. This isn't to knock the author, it just isn't quite our thing.

The Unheard revolves around Tess, estranged from her boyfriend, and who adores her young daughter. Her daughter has been splitting time between her ex and herself, and one day when her daughter comes home, she says something cryptic that makes Tess believe that she witnessed something horrible. This thought worms its way inside Tess's head, and will not let go. Tess begins to investigate on her own, and even goes to the police (and a child psychologist) for help with the matter, but no one believes her.

This tale is creepy and scary, but in the best possible way. Tess's daughter is old enough to communicate, but isn't always able to explain, in detail, what she saw or is thinking. This puts Tess in a very difficult position. This book has a lot of gaslighting, and at times, I was uncomfortable (especially having a young child of my own). The terror that Tess was feeling was expertly portrayed by the author, and this book was easy to get into, and a pleasure to read.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was kind of ridiculous, to be honest. The title can be interpreted two different ways: either "the unheard" is Tess not being heard by police, or "the unheard" is the warnings her young daughter Poppy is trying to give her. In either case, it's not true.

Tess is concerned about a drawing Poppy made while at her father's one weekend. She (quickly) escalates things to the cops who actually kind of investigate? And she's convinced that Poppy saw or heard something so she spends the majority of the book trying to decipher it. So yeah, not really "unheard." Does she catch shit from the cops because of her wild accusations? Sure. But that doesn't change the fact that at least one detective believes her enough to look into things.

Tess is suspicious of every man in her life. At one point, when interrogating a murder victim's friend, she literally asks the woman if any names sound familiar and proceeds to rattle off practically every man in the book. It's ridiculous. At one point, she's speaking to her boyfriend and mentions the murder victim acting like she knows her. So he says "well she seemed to know you so you must know her." Um, no? That's not at all how shit works.

None of the characters were really likeable. Even now, a few days after finishing, I'm trying to think of one single one and I guess it would be Poppy's stepmother. She seemed fine, I guess? And some of Tess's friends but we barely get to see her interact with them. Overall it was a book that dragged - the plot wasn't complicated and could easily have been told in probably half the length. Characters weren't well fleshed out - Tess was the stereotypical overprotective mother, Jason (her ex and Poppy's father) was a cheating asshole, the neighbor Bernie was a horny red herring - the list goes on. Just a really disappointing read with annoying characters.

This thriller/mystery has an intriguing premise: what do you do when you believe what your young child is telling you, even when it sounds improbable and fantastical? Here, Tess spends nearly 500 pages answering that question, in occasionally tedious fashion, as everyone in her orbit falls under her suspicion for this potential crime.

I enjoyed certain aspects of this story, including Tess' relationship with Poppy, but felt it could have been considerably shortened. I have generally enjoyed Nicci French's books, but felt that this one dragged on a bit. Hopefully the next one won't disappoint!

Many thanks to Scene of the Crime, Harper Collins and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book.

This is the first novel I have read from Nicci French. In this slow building suspense story, newly single Tess and her three year old daughter try and build a life on their own after Tess and her husband,Jason, separate. Tess has her own place, a job, a new completely comfortable boyfriend, and things seem to be going well. That is until Tess’s daughter draws a disturbing picture, and she starts acting out, peeing her bed at night, cursing, becoming violent with classmates. Unable to let it go, Tess vows to do anything she can to get to the bottom of poor Poppy’s bizarre behavior. In what seems to be straw grabbing, Tess draws a connection between Poppy’s drawing and the apparent suicide of a disturbed young woman named Skye Nolan. With little to go on, Tess vows to get to the bottom of this mystery, but the deeper she digs the less believable she becomes. This is a slow burn for me. All of the real action seemed to be concentrated in the last 50 or so pages. It was interesting enough to keep me reading to the end, and all the little plots twists are in the last few pages, but they were some good twists that I didn’t see coming. This is a story that begs the question just how far would you go to protect your child? Thank you to Netgalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

One of my favorite thriller duos is back with a standalone novel and I couldn't get enough of it. The suspense, the tension, and the emotion brought to life with this story were amazing. There are twists, turns, and at times, more questions than answers. It is just the juicy, smart, and dark book I want from these two.

Having not read Nicci French in years, it was a pleasant surprise to read this book and see that they (a husband and wife writing team!) are still at the top of their game.

Even though, in retrospect, Nicci French has been doing psychological thrillers since before they were even a genre, I would classify this one as both a psychological thriller (quite literally) and a Mystery with a capital M. The mystery concerns Tess and her young child, who may or may not have witnessed either a murder or a threat to murder. The child is acting out and drawing very specific pictures …. one of which matches a story Tess finds in the newspaper. But who was the killer the child witnessed? A short list of interesting suspects, from Tess’ own ex-boyfriend (and her child’s father!) arises.

As always with this author, the mystery was tantalizingly written and laden with suspense. I guessed the ending, so was not completely surprised, but still very much enjoyed the rude.

Thanks to William Morrow and Custom House and NetGalley for the ARC and for reminding me that this longtime favorite writing team is still going strong!

3.5 stars

I enjoyed following Tess as she tried to make the police see that something was a murder and not an accident. I admit that I was surprised that certain action was not taken by the police regarding Tess. Where I live, if someone did what she did, they would be in jail and/or fined. The protection a mother has for her child (in this case 3 year old Poopy) is very strong. A mother will do what she feels she must to protect her child.

Tess spent years with Jason, producing a daughter named Poppy, however they never married. Jason breaks up with Tess and gets a new much younger woman who he marries and moves into their home. Tess is working through the hurt and trying to co-parent with Jason. Tess has a new boyfriend she likes and is adjusting to living in her new home with Poppy. When Poppy comes home after a weekend with Jason and draws a frightening picture Tess is convinced Poppy saw something while in her fathers care. Poppy continues to show odd behavior, and Tess is determined to find out what Poppy saw. As Tess starts to question everyone in her life, she appears to be coming unhinged to all those around her, however a series of events shows Tess just may be on to something and maybe Poppy did see something.

I have to say Tess is probably one of the most annoying characters I have ever read about. I really did not like her at all. If I didn’t want to know who “did it” I would’ve stopped reading. This character just did so many things that made no sense and literally made her look stupid. I do my best to try to find redeeming qualities in books or characters I read about but this main character had none. I will say the rest of the story and the suspense kept me going because I really wanted to find out what really happened, but to make this main character a woman who really acts like she doesn’t have a clue really turned me off. I do want to thank Scene of the Crime and William Morrow Books for the ARC.

Tess is an overprotective single mother sharing custody with her former partner Jason who has recently remarried. One day her three year old daughter Poppy comes home from time spent with Jason exhibiting disturbing behavior. She has drawn a black picture of a woman falling from a tower. Tess suspects she has witnessed a crime. No one pays attention to her. She discovers there has been murder and suspects almost everyone she knows. She goes to the police several times and appears more and more delusional as she tries to protect her daughter from danger. She makes many bad decisions as she tries to learn the truth. I found the plot and characters unbelievable, but still couldn’t put the book down through all the twists until the solution was reached.

I received this an an advanced reader copy from NetGalley

This book grabbed my interest as a mother thinks her daughter witnessed a crime when she draws a picture.
But things go strange as she tries to find out if her daughter did see something bad happen or not.

It was a good story, sometimes I thought things were a little strange, but I did enjoy the book!

This story was all over the place and I did struggle to follow the plot. The author tried to insert red herrings to throw the reader off course and it frustrated rather than engaged me.

After Tess Moreau's small daughter announces after a week-end with her ex that 'He did kill her ... Kill and kill and kill', Tess investigates, digging herself deeper and deeper into trouble.

Many suspect she's becoming unhinged, including the police.

The tension escalates to a stunning conclusion, when only Tess can save herself - and her daughter.

The Unheard by Nicci French is a fantastic edge of your seat suspenseful book.
The characters are well written. The twists were shocking and left me with my jaw on the floor.
I really love this author's writing style.

Fantastic!

I've been referred to Nicci French for awhile but haven't read a book until now. And what a treat!! I was completely intrigued from the first page. Our mother believes her daughter has seen or experienced something terrible, while away from her home, but what could it be. As she tries to learn more from her daughter who is now acting out in some incredibly uncomfortable ways, we realize the child is a very unreliable narrator. Many of the friends and family we meet along the way become suspects and you really just don't know who you can trust. I was pretty sure I had the twist figged out at one point, until I was proven wrong. This was a great psychological suspense novel and a perfect read as a stand-alone novel by this team of writers. I'll definitely pick up more books by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC. This book did not disappoint. It's a classic case of whodunit mystery. I enjoyed the element of a child being involved and starting the whole investigation.

Working for a school district it isn't hard to put myself in Tess' shoes. My girls are a little older, but it is interesting to think how you would react if you suspected your child (or a child) had witnessed something terrible.

When Tess notices a change in her daughters behavior she starts to question why...what has she seen by her Dad? What is happening? This was a book that was hard to put down and had enough twists to really keep me interested.

Quite good and I would highly recommend.