A really well written piece of fiction, with numerous twists and false trails to wander down.

I've only voted four stars as it did not grab me enough to make it read it in as few sittings as other books do, so much so that at one stage I had forgotten that I was reading it (I tend to have three or four books on the go at any given time, whether on my phone, Kindle or PC and through the Kindle or the Netgalley app).

I think I was also comparing it to "Girl on a Train" which really drew me in and this fell a little short of that reading experience.

Having said that, it is a very good story.

Utterly fascinating and complex characters, real in that they’re not necessarily likeable but they’re definitely engaging. An unpredictable storyline

Very clever characterisation and plot twists keep you guessing in this one, which is much more in line with the style of her debut. Really enjoyed this one!

I thoroughly enjoyed this psychological thriller from Paula Hawkins. It is full of twists and turns, and I was unsure most of the way through, who the killer was, as things always switched so quickly. I love when a book confuses me and I can't work it out, as then I get a surprise when I find out 'who done it'. The story has a lot of characters and they all have their own back stories of tragedy and heartache. My favourite character was Laura, who has disabilities after a road traffic accident. The other characters, such as Muriel and Clara, were all uniquely odd in their own way and I loved reading about them. The main story is that a young man is found murdered on a canal boat, and as the story progresses, we eventually find out who killed him. It could have been any of the main characters and I really enjoyed trying to work out who it was. This is a great story which I found very interesting, mysterious and unique, and I highly recommend it.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting book full of twists and turns which I’m sure will be enjoyed by most if not all of Paula Hawkins’ many fans.
Set once again in north London, but this time centering around canal boats rather than trains! The characters are all believable and although I thought I had it all figured out by about halfway through I was surprised by the twist at the end.

I loved 'The Girl on the Train', wasn't as sure about 'Into the Water', so was interested to see how I felt about Paula Hawkins latest novel.
I certainly had high hopes, and have read some very good reviews, as well as some less enthusiastic ones.

It is a visual story, with the location around Regent's canal expertly described and easily imagined. It uproots the suburban concept of curtain twitching and nosy neighbours, replanting it in a fascinating setting.

The characters are strong and distinctive. Plotting is tight, with many twists and everybody has a, mainly tragic, back story to tell ,which equally means they are all suspect.

So why am I not raving about it? Overall, I felt I just needed to like the characters more. There is so much lying and deception, that ,apart from Irene , I didn't feel a connection with any of them. In spite of that, it is extremely well written, as you would expect, with a final twist that neatly explains everything, albeit in a shocking way.

As with Girl on a Train, the story unfolds gradually and in different times for you to piece together who did what, why and when.
The writing draws you in and you need to know how it will all end and who comes out on top - if indeed anyone does.

I thought this book was a really good physiological thriller after reading the author’s previous book was really looking forward to reading it and it didn’t disappoint. From start to finish it got you hooked and was a really well laid out story with lots of very interesting characters who were so different but was very good the way they were all able to be connected together. Would really highly recommend this book.

I loved A Girl on the Train so was excited to read Paula Hawkins new book, A Slow Fire Burning. Daniel has been stabbed at home on his houseboat and is found by his neighbour, Miriam,
There are five main characters, Miriam, Laura, Angela, Carla and Theo. All have had trauma in their past making them flawed but would this have given them reason to kill?
The story moves between characters and timelines and gradually the characters lives are woven together until finally we find the killer.
For me, I found little in the characters to like. I know it was deliberate but I eventually didn't care about them. The stories also didn't meld together making it disjointed.
I also thought that more would have been made of the houseboat community setting but Daniels home could have been anywhere.

This was a good read but at times I struggled a bit as it was a bit of a slow burn and I wanted things to speed up . However I still recommend this book.

A murder mystery ……… can you work out who the guilty party is ? A whodunnit from the author of ‘The Girl On The Train’

A murder on a houseboat leads to a police investigation with plenty of suspects. The more we uncover the more motive there is. Daniel is found dead on his houseboat by neighbour, Miriam. Could Miriam have killed him ?

Laura was seen leaving the houseboat and was one of the last people to see Daniel alive. Could she have killed him ?

Daniel’s Aunt, Carla, and her husband, Theo, have some animosity towards Daniel and his recently deceased mother. Could one of them have killed Daniel ?

There are plenty of suspects and the more we discover about the characters the more we find reasons as to why they could have been the culprit. But who did really kill Daniel ? And why ?

A great whodunnit with plenty of twists and turns. This one was a real slow burner for me but I did really like how we gradually uncovered little snippets of information from the past stories of each of the characters. Definitely one to stick with and real lose yourself in.

Thank you to Random House UK and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book.

I’m sorry but I hadn’t realised this was an unedited book. The errors (words beginning with ‘f’ and it’s subsequent letter) was too distracting. This is an author I like so I didn’t want to spoil it for myself.

My rating is based on the few chapters I read before deciding to stop.

Firstly, 2 stars is not bad in my opinion. I thought this book was well written and the story was good. Unfortunately I just couldn’t really connect with the characters and I guessed all the plot twists before they happened. Just for reference I do enjoy thrillers, but I don’t read a lot of them, soI am guessing that this may be quite predicable avid thriller readers. That said I know loads of people that I think would love this, it just didn’t do it for me,

In this we’re follow a range of character, who are all linked to the one family in some way if not members of the family. Daniel is found dead of his houseboat and the hunt is on to find his killer, and find out why they did it. The relationships between the characters are all explained well and I did like the way they are all linked together in a ten degrees of separation kind of way. I just found them all a little emotionally flat, hence not feeling connected to anyone that I could root for, or even feel eager for them to get caught.

Overall, this is still a good thriller and I would recommend it.

A tantalising slow fire burning thriller that still had me on the edge of my seat. For a reader who absolutely loved reading Girl On The Train, Paula Hawkins newest book A Slow Fire Burning has delivered and it was exactly what I expected.

Set in the streets and the houses near the Regents Canal that snakes in between Islington and Clerkenwell London.
We are introduced to three main female characters Miriam, an older woman who is an observer, Laura who is often judged as a crazy, maybe dangerous woman and Carla, a middle aged woman who is still grieving her sister and now her nephew Daniel who suddenly is found brutally murdered. How damaged do you have to become, to be willing to commit a murder?

Another thriller, where I didn't know how the book was going to end or even could pinpoint who the murderer was, there were so many twists and untwists in this book it was hard to keep up. I think this was my first book where I actually laughed at a couple of the twists in the book, which was different compared to having an "aha" moment. Which obviously, I still did have in this book.

I highly recommend reading this book, if you don't mind a slow pace book but still grips you enough to turn the pages kind of book. If you loved Girl on The Train, you will definitely love this one.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishing for granting my first wish list book off Netgalley for an exchange of an honest review.

Trigger warnings, sexual scenes, child abuse, death.

The very definition of page-turner – it’s wonderful. What a lesson in character building – it's a wonderful, dark twisty, clever, study of human nature. And wow, Paula keeps you guessing, misdirection on steroids. It’s a fantastic read, I doubt I’ll read anything better this year.

After reading Paula Hawkins previous books, I was excited to be able to read this one

A body is found, and the story involves several suspects linked together without really knowing each other.

It’s full of twist and turns, and brings a different type of writing which darkens the story even further.

Highly recommend this book

Once again Paula Hawkins did not disappoint. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved the different perspectives from the different characters and how their lives all intertwined.
A mysterious thriller which kept me wanting to read more. It wasn't too heavy and I didn't have to think about the storyline too much which meant it was a perfect bedtime read.
Thank you to Paula Hawkins, NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

A murder mystery but definitly not an "easy read". The three main suspects, Laura, Carla and Miriam all have connections to the murdered victim and all have have a motive. The book has a very slow start and the story is told from many POV's, but that in the end gave you a really good feel for the different characters and how they were connected. Overall this was a rollercoaster ride of twists and turns which keep you guessing until the very end.

Thanks to Netgalley/random House for an advance copy of this novel.

This is well up to and probably even beyond the extremely high standards of the author's previous work.

A whodunnit, but more important is the why.

The book does feature a murder, but it's really about the great characters. Real people with real motivations, with back stories that slowly emerge to change your perceptions. One character in particular you should not underestimate.

Some surprises and twists, a lovely friendship, revenge, betrayal, love and hate, All human emotion is here.

Loved it.

Oh, and Miriam is Miriam Margolyes, isn't she?

This was really good!

I loved the complexity of the characters and them not being "side characters" but well developed with back stories.

I adored the use of Hackney as the setting. It was refreshing to see boats as houses etc.

I didn't know who the killer was but I spent my time thinking I was 80% right and I definitely was NOT.

Great suspense.

Not highly rated because at points there was too much going on. For such a small book there was soooooo many characters to keep track of, the big picture etc kept taking a back seat.

I can see that being done on purpose to confuse the reader but this specifically made the book drag for me.

All in all, a good book!