I have read other books by this author and was so pleased when I got the chance to review this novel.

We meet Isla, she is coming back from an office party when she is attacked and knocked clean out. She wakes in the hospital and told she is a victim of a mugging. Anyway, Isla has PTSD and does not really remember what happened, Isla is obviously petrified of leaving the house and her newish boyfriend moves in to help look after her.

Isla struggles with her depression because of the 'mugging' and starts to listen to true crime podcasts to try and help jog her memory of who did this violent crime to her.

I really enjoy Sam Carrington's style of writing and really warmed to Isla. tHIS

Thanks to NetGalley, Sam Carrington and the publishers for allowing me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was an excellent but dark mystery. So many bad scenarios for the characters’ storylines but told with great twists and turns and details that are complete surprises. A great book for a thriller/mystery lover!

Thank you for an advanced copy of this book.
Very twisty story, will keep you wondering who the bad guy is right to the end. Really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend!

Why does someone want Isla McKenzie dead?

Is it the promotion she just received? Because she’s dating the boss’s son? Someone just mugged her and left her for dead.

Since the mugging, Isla is suffering from PTSD and has agreed to her new boyfriend Zach moving in to help care for her. Lacking the strength to get off the couch, Isla appreciates his attentiveness. She reaches the point, though, where she wonders if she’s relinquished too much control and, in an attempt to gain it back, she notices differences between appearances and reality. Added to this realization is her increasing awareness of secret keeping. Readers will have a front row seat to Isla’s recovery process and will be rooting for her independence as well as hoping she puts pieces of the puzzle together to make sense of what happened.

Carrington presents a reliable plot with a modern presentation of the narrative. Readers are given both Isla and Zach’s point of view as well as the transcript from a true-crime podcast. Don’t let the slow start fool you – Carrington is a master at setting the scene and knows exactly when to ramp up the action. As is with most of Carrington’s books, the author wants readers to focus on the ‘why’ not the ‘who.’ Carrington has had career training as a nurse, possesses a psychology degree and has put in years in the prison service as an offending behaviour program facilitator. Not only has this inspired her writing, it has also given it authenticity.

For those who love true crime podcasts and love focusing on the ‘why,’ this one’s for you!

Publishes December 9, 2021.

I was gifted this advance copy by Sam Carrington, Avon Books UK, and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

Wow, this book was crazy, and I say that because I went into it thinking it would be one thing, and it ended up being a lot different. Very interesting story about what can happen when someone tries too hard to impress their parent. Isla was mugged the night of a celebration for her promotion at work. Her boyfriend, who she met at work, moves in with her to provide comfort, but he just makes her life harder. She seeks help in solving her attack from a local true crime podcaster, which creates a situation where her attacker must deal with her or risk exposure. Very interesting and fast-moving, although I thought it took just a little bit to get going. Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

Isla is attacked when walking home from a night out with friends and colleagues to celebrate her job promotion. In the suspected mugging, she suffers a serious concussion, has a broken wrist and her phone and handbag are stolen. Following on from the attack, Isla is now experiencing amnesia and PTSD and has been left afraid to leave the house. Her boyfriend of a few months, Zack, has moved in with her ‘temporarily’ to help her while she is recovering and her days are now filled by watching true crime documentaries and listening to a local true-crime podcast called Christie’s Crime Addicts while Zack is at work. As Isla slips further into depression and splinters of memory appear to be coming back to her, she suspects that her attack wasn’t a random mugging after all and begins to look closer to home. Don’t the police tell you that most victims of violent crime are known to their attacker? As she becomes suspicious of everyone around her and what their possible motive could have been, Isla decides to play armchair detective on her own case and seeks the help she needs from the only source she can trust while she questions the loyalties of those who she thought were closest to her. I really enjoyed this book, it was mainly told from Isla’s POV and was well written. This is the first book I have read from Sam Carrington and I’ll definitely be checking her other book’s out now. I listened to the audiobook which I would highly recommend as it makes the podcast element that much better (plus there is bonus material at the end for audiobook listeners) I would say that this book is more of a cosy mystery than a typical thriller and for those who like that, there are a lot of nostalgic references for you to enjoy throughout the book. There are a lot of twists towards the end and the story gets a lot darker. Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy for an honest review. The Couple On Maple Drive is released on the 9th December 2021.

Suspense, tension, misdirection ... The Couple On Maple Drive by Sam Carrington delivers on all these fronts and more in a story which is part live action, part true-crime podcast, and all entertaining. I do love me a Sam Carrington thriller, and this one is top notch.

This is the story of Isla - friend, fiancé, victim ... killer? From the very beginning of the book I found myself pulled into the mystery and atmosphere of this tale. It begins with a report from the true crime podcast of Christie's Crime Addicts, live on the scene as a serious situation unfolds. The whats, whys and wherefores are yet to be revealed but it doesn't take a supersleuth, or even an amateur detective, to start to make some suppositions about what dark deed might have been, for as soon as we meet Isla, the protagonist and central focus of the ensuing story, we really do get a feel for the direction this book may be heading. For whilst the podcast may be live broadcasting, the majority of the story is set in the days preceding that most intriguing of beginnings, laying the foundations of a story that is packed with misdirection and mystery and which forces us to ask far more questions than it initially offers answers for.

Isla has been the victim of a vicious attack, one that left her with gaps in her memory, gaps which are slowly starting to filter through. I loved the way in which the author has combined Isla's present, or, more accurately, recent past, with flashbacks to events leading up to that fateful night when everything in Isla's life changed. It makes for a kind of three tier story. The before, the present and the what will come. It might sound as though that could be confusing with the multiple timelines, but Sam Carrington has blended the three threads together so well that the story flows despite seamlessly. And in doing so she has served up a whole host of possible suspects into the attack on Isla. Did I have in the back of my mind from the start where this story was going to lead, who had been behind Isla's attack? Yes. Did the author still manage to surprise, and shock, and provide so many twists in this particular tale that I found myself second guessing what was really happening? Absolutely.

Character and their motivations are something that Sam Carrington excels at, and in Isla she has developed a character who is perhaps equal parts sympathetic and frustrating. There is no doubting her role as victim, and given the nature of her attack and subsequent revelations, she has every reason to be afraid. There were times when I just wanted to grab and shake her, others when it felt like she needed to be wrapped in cotton wool, but the more I came to understand her situation, the more nervous I felt as a reader, understanding far better than she did the kind of risk, and pressure, she was under. Her agoraphobia and the subsequent sense of claustrophobia cause by her situation, was almost visceral, and portrayed perfectly. As for those around her - well aside from the podcasters, and in particular, Jase, it was hard to get to like any of the other main players in the book. There was just something ... wrong about each of them, and I found I viewed them all with caution and, just sometimes, downright hated each in turn. Their motivations, their behaviours, were believable and authentic but ultimately suspect. It made the story edgy, kept me on my toes and kept my absolute certainty about a certain person's guilt just at bay, at least until they showed their true colours.

If you like a suspense laden, multi layered, character led psychological thriller then you should definitely read this book. Sam Carrington has pulled a blinder yet again and kept be thoroughly entertained and engrossed by each and every page.

The Couple on Maple Drive is an amazing book. It is a complete page turner with so many twists and turns I did not know what to expect next. I was on the edge of my seat throughout and I could not put it down. I highly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for my ARC.

Struggled a bit to get into this book. The writing is a little too descriptive for me which affects the page turning quality I like in a lot of other books. That being said I enjoyed the story, a little slow at times but easy to read nonetheless.

I enjoyed the first part of this book and hoped it was going to be a real good thriller. Unfortunately it soon went a bit downhill for me and I thought the story line was weak and too predictable. I had sussed the obvious culprit very early on, and after that everything just seemed to drag on with unnecessary red herrings to spin it out. I liked the true crime podcasts, and the author’s writing style, but the majority of the book was just too unbelievable and didn’t grab me at all.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest review.

Well where do I begin? Unsure how a written review will do this one justice.

The Couple on Maple Drive is a book which is laced with tension and suspense. I have found myself gripped by this one, it has been impossible to put this one down.

I have to admit. This started slower than I initially like. I wasn’t instantly gripped but as soon as Carrington knocked it up a notch I was completely sold.

I adored Isla, I think the plot of female making her way home alone is current and relatable. This has been a book that has kept me guessing from the beginning.

This is well-written and filled with a mixture of characters. I have definitely enjoyed this one and will be adding more by Sam Carrington to the TBR.

I definitely recommend this one to fans of the genre.

When Isla is mugged her boyfriend Zach moves in with her to look after her. Isla starts to suspect it was not just a simple mugging and sets out to discover the truth. An absorbing story with good characters.

I’m not 100% sure what I made of this book. I’ll start off by saying I love the cover that really drew me in and made me request an advance copy of this book and I did really enjoy reading the second part of this book there were a couple of twists at the end that I didn’t expect however I did find this book very slow to start with and for me it only seemed to get going around the half way point. I also love Sam Carrington and have read some of her other books so I was really excited to see what this one had in store.

This book was told from Isla’s point of view, the poor woman had just received a promotion and was out celebrating when on the way home she was mugged I automatically felt sorry for Isla and wanted to know who had done it and I felt angry for her that such a positive event had lead to the worst night of her life.

Poor Isla also found she couldn’t remember anything from the night that she had been attacked. Isla soon found she was unable to trust anyone around her and started to suspect just about everyone around her. For me I worked out who had mugged Isla pretty early on and thought it was quite predictable, naturally I carried on reading to see if I was right or not.

As I said above I did really enjoy the second part of the book and I’d definitely say bare with it and keep going as it does get more twisty and exciting as the book goes on. On a more personal note I love the fact this book was set in Devon and as I live near to where it’s set I could picture so many places so clearly in my mind that at times I could actually place myself in exactly the right place where the boom had been set which is always nice.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an advance copy of this book for an honest and open review.

I have read previous by the author and loved them
This book was ok, Isla is attacked on her way home from a works ‘do’ and then ( with the help of a podcast true crime team ) we spend the book with her as she slowly remembers what happened and works out why she was targeted
I didn’t really gel with Isla, nor Zak her partner nor Nicci her horrendously awful best friend, all fairly wooden in character and well nothing much to like about any of them tbh
The plot is intriguing, the podcast parts really well done and add a breath of fresh air to the story, it does go back and forth a lot between before after now and before before etc
There’s little else to say, wasn’t bad and had a robust ending that held my attention
I look forward to the authors next book

6/10
3 Stars

This was OK. Lacking any kind of real twist, but moved along at a good pace. Weak point was the written dialogue, very unrealistic.

Isla the victim isn’t the most endearing protagonist however after her viscous mugging she is trying to work out who did it. With the help of Christies podcast crime team’s help she goes looking for answers. Murder she Wrote (the tv series) is mentioned in the book and the book definitely gives off vibes of this show.
I want to thank Sam, Avon & Netgalley for giving me an advanced copy of this book.

Bit of a slow starter this one, and nearly didn't finish it. I'm really glad I did. Isla was brutally mugged and left to die. On gaining conscience she found out that her attacker had meant to kill her. Recovering at home slowly with the almost smothering help of her boyfriend whilst listening to local real crime podcasts, she begins to piece things together to discover why someone wanted her dead.

I did like this book, and was more than happy to keep reading it. However, whilst i enjoyed the writing style of this author and the plot line itself, I found the book to be predictable.

I would recommend this book to others who have not read many thrillers, however thrillers are you genre of choice, I would not rush to recommend, purely due to the predictability issues.

Would be keen to read more from this author.

Isla is off work suffering from concussion and a broken wrist, She was attacked while on the way home from a party to celebrate her promotion at work. Her boyfriend Zach (her boss's son) has moved in to look after her but soon she begins to suspect that he was the one behind her attack.

I found this to be a slow burning rather boring read, Isla is not an appealing protagonist and other characters are not particularly well developed. Isla is always suspecting someone new, even at one point being suspicious of the true crime podcasters to whom she has turned for help. There's far too much repetition for my liking and an awful lot of ruminating on Isla's part. If you want a good read with a crime podcast as background try Denise Mina's Conviction. I couldn't recommend this one though. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

After reading some of Sam Carrington's book, I was glad I got this ARC from Avon. But my excitement is shortlived and I have to say, I have mixed feelings about this book.

Isla is on the bout of getting the promotion. Her friends hosted a party to celebrate Isla's promotion. On the night of the party, Isla was brutally attacked causing her to suffer from retrograde amnesia as she has vague memories of what happened that night. As her memories come back to her, she starts suspecting her boyfriend Zach might have something to do with her attack, even though the police ruled out as mugging gone wrong.

This was a slow burn and I was bored at some parts that I actually skimmed through the book. The plot was OK but was far too predictable. This was not one of her best but nonetheless it was boring and flat and predictable. I don't have anything else to say. However towards the end, the story got teeny weeny interesting though I knew the ending will happen in that way. I do however like the backdrop of Crime Podcast with one of the members of the podcast, Jase helping out Isla.

Thank you Netgalley and Avon for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.