OK so I actually finished this one the night before boarding the plane and had all intentions of writing a review on said plane but 10 hours with a giddy 2 year old meant this did not happen so here I am desperately trying to write a decent review now to do this book justice as it really was a great read.

Who watched the itv series Liar? 🙋‍♀️
Well I'm sure those who did loved it, the first series especially I'm talking about here, the secret reminded me so much of Andrew AND the guy WAS called Andrew too AND he was a doctor 🤯

Lots of twists and turns packed into this one guaranteed to keep you all perched on the tip of your seat. Characters were developed finely with detail, oh and those who love a police procedure storyline running along side, we had that here too and it was great, just don't ask me the coppers name now as I can't bloody remember it 😂 but she was fab anyway 👌

All in all, a cracking thriller perfect for cosy cold nights in and it's out now!

Thank you netgalley for the arc!

One of the best psychological thrillers I’ve read in a while.
Everyone’s got a secret and there’s a tangled web of lies to uncover.
The story focus on Elise, an air hostess married to the local GP. From the outside they have a perfect life living in a big house with their daughter Niamh.
However all is not as it seems and behind closed doors there’s betrayal and deceit going on.
The story unfolds as it’s told from various perspectives but will the truth ever be uncovered….

3.5 stars

This psychological thriller is narrated from 3 different POVs: Elise Buckley, an air stewardess, Niamh, her daughter and Jo May, a police officer investigating the death of a young woman in the village where the Buckley family lives.

The good: There are a number of plot twists to keep a reader’s interest as well as a good attempt at dealing with some difficult subjects: coercive relationships, domestic abuse, child pornography and suicide. Really villainous villain.

The bad: Despite their being 3 POVs, their voices sounded exactly the same. I would have expected, at the very least, that a 14 year old would sound different to her mother. I saw both of the big reveals coming quite a way before the ending and I doubt that I’m alone.

All in all it’s a competently handled novel but I just didn’t quite engage with the characters as much as I’d have liked to.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Avon Books, UK for an arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley, Debbie Howells and Avon Books for the ARC of The Secret.

Teenagers Niamh and Hollie are close friends. After struggling for some time, Hollie confides in Niamh about a secret that has been tearing her up inside, but just a few days later, Hollie goes missing and no one seems to know where she's gone, Niamh mother Elsie last saw her in the graveyard, and something was clearly upsetting her enough to skip school.

When Hollie is found dead, the secret becomes a murder enquiry but who is hiding the truth?

I should have loved this, it has everything that I look for in a thriller, suspense, multiple suspects, drip fed clues and reveals but I have to be honest that this one just didn't blow me away. I found the combination of the porn ring and the violent husband a bit too much in terms of subject matter and at times I felt like the story was chugging along without gripping me entirely.

I enjoyed the book overall but left me feeling a little meh once I turned the final page. I am definitely in the minority here, so maybe just not one for me personally

3***

Great read, page turner. Psychological murder mystery. A village with secrets. With an abusive marriage, several questionable deaths and child pornography. Totally believable and sadly showing the affects of abuse on not just the wife but also the children.

The Secret is a psychological thriller covering some unpleasant topics including child pornography, coercive control, suicide and gaslighting, which some may find challenging to read about.

I found the pace rather slow and struggled to maintain interest, skimming through some of the chapters. The surprising ending however, made it worth persevering to the end.

I didn’t take to any of the characters and the 3 points of view that form the basis of the book, all seemed the same, further diluting any individual personalities the 3 ladies had.

Both the slow pace and the topics concerned made it a difficult book for me to read.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

A village of secrets. Nothing and nobody is what outward appearances portray and behind the facade is a web of lies, deceit, unhappiness, abuse and betrayal. The initial investigation into the death of a teenager is the catalyst for an ongoing inquiry related to missing children and pornography which has, until this point produced nothing but dead ends. A middle class affluent group of unsavoury characters have no intention of revealing that which must remain hidden. An interesting plot line that on occasion is frustrating by leading the reader to believe the investigation IS lead by experts who seemed reluctant to interview suspects with any degree of expertise at obtaining facts and truth. An unnecessary distraction was introducing a prime detective in charge of investigation as herself an abuse victim. However, a mixture of wayward teenagers, disreputable adults, unsavoury actions and several fatalities lead to a suspenseful conclusion . The revealing of loathsome actions by an abhorrent character tied up the conclusion with answers to a mystery on several fronts. Many thanks to author, publisher and NetGalley for ARC.

Gripping and twisty thriller with a chilling end.

Hollie and Niamh are best friends, the only teenagers in a small village community. When Hollie disappears the police are convinced the residents must know more than they're admitting, and gradually layer upon layer of secrets are revealed.

Reading Between the Wines book review #5/135 for 2022:
Rating: 3 🍷 🍷 🍷
Book 📱: The Secret
Author: Debbie Howells
Genre: General Fiction (Adult)
RELEASED on January 6, 2022!!!

Sipping thoughts: I was so excited about reading this one. The suspense was so high, and I could not read fast enough to get to the “secret”. Unfortunately, this one fell a little short. It high such potential and a great climb but then just plateaued for me. I enjoyed The Vow and will read a future release but his author.

Cheers and thank you to @NetGalley and @AvonBooksUK for an advanced copy of @TheSecret.

#TheSecret #AvonBooksUK #NetGalley #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #GeneralFictionAdult

First book I’ve read from Debbie Howells and I’m still not sure if I enjoyed her style of writing.
This book was a slow burner and the change in POV’s all sounded pretty much the same so I wasn’t ever drawn to one character.
I guessed one twist pretty early on but the other one was a shock which is why I gave the rating I did.
The story looped round so much times I was starting to get a bit dizzy with it.
Too many secrets for a tiny village I think.

Wow Wow Wow. My first book from Debbie Howells and now I want to read them all. This was such a good story! Very fast paced and kept me guessing until the end!
The chapters were the perfect length to help me breeze through this story.
This book does have some CW: emotional and physical abuse/violence, child exploitation

However, this book kept me interested until the very end! Definitely recommend!

Although the blurb on this book does not indicate this, this title is centred in many ways around Dr Andrew Buckley's bullying control of his wife, Elise and his daughter, Niamh. It is hard to believe that his extreme behaviour is not more obvious to the local community. He is a very unpleasant, unlikeable character. The title may be The Secret but there are secrets galore in this title which are brought to the fore painfully slowly. So many of these secrets seem to have been kept with the intention of not hurting the feelings of innocent characters within the book.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Debbie Howells/Avon Books UK for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

The author's books are a hit and miss for me. This one was a slow burner, and unfortunately, it turned out not to be to my liking. I found that all the POV's sounded exactly the same, and it stopped me from rooting for any of the characters.
The ending, though, was shocking, and it saved the book from receiving one star.

This is an article headline that haunts the entire story. Elise spots this on a magazine cover whilst working as an air stewardess. It prompts her thinking about the other 90% and I think the writer cleverly reflects this ratio in the story.

A thrilling read, I was anticipating the final twist at the end – because there has been so much hype about it! Despite predicting some of the novel’s outcomes, I still enjoyed my first read by this author and am definitely going to seek out Howells’s other books.

Set in the sleepy village of Abingworth, it would appear that the mysterious death of local teenager, Hollie, leaves police stumped. The community seems to be full of secrets as the locals close off to the investigations. Told from the perspectives of Elise, Niamh and Jo, the police detective, the narrative details the events leading up to Hollie’s death and how Elise and Niamh are part of an even bigger story. Parallel to this, readers learn that the police are investigating a further, bigger crime that is linked to Abingworth, proving that this quiet village is anything but. This subsequently ties in nicely with the article headline, leaving readers question which category the different characters fall in to – good or not?

The way that characters alter over this story adds to the thrill of this read. Appearances can be deceiving and even though Howells demonstrates truths about particular relationships quite early on in the book, I enjoyed watching how so much alters over the police enquiry. Character reactions evolve and seeing how the community responds to Elise was especially interesting, considering how she is married to the local doctor. There is a lot of suspicion and distrust amongst the villagers and I think this added to the intensity of Hollie’s death.

Although there is a lot of sadness behind the story, I think Howells handles this in a sensitive manner. Elise’s loveless marriage, coupled with her desire to protect Niamh, adds to a lot of tension in the narrative. Indeed, Elise’s intentions at protecting Niamh after Hollie’s death proves significant to the police investigations and, added with the fact that Niamh’s narrative is few and far between, meant that Howells really builds the intensity of the story before any revelations come to light.

This was an exciting, twisting book but I do wish less attention had been paid to the final surprises. I think this would have made the story give a greater impact if I had not been anticipating it! Despite this, I thought the story thrilling and intense. I loved how the narrative switched perspectives to add further dimension to the plot and, with the very short chapters, it was difficult to not read this quickly.

With thanks to Avon books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book kept me captivated throughout. I loved all the surprises throughout. A small village mentality of protecting each other but hiding behind a smoke screen of suspicion but never confirmed secrets. The characters were people you might meet in your life and felt real.

A true twisty page turner of a book. Told from the point of view of the main characters which made it all the more engaging.

I really liked this and what a surprise ending, I didn't see that coming. The small village where everyone thinks they know everybody secrets but they don't!

I Really enjoyed this book, I liked the way it was written with each chapter from a different main character. I thought all the characters were great and believable. A quiet village setting with lots of twists and turns which had me guessing right to the end.
A real page turner.
This was my first book by Debbie Howells and I am pleased to discover there is a back catalogue which I will look forward to reading. If you like a psychological thriller this is highly recommended.

A slow-paced thriller that deals with coercive control among other evils, this one does require a trigger warning for a few descriptive abuse scenes.

The death of a local teenager in the tiny village of Abingworth unravels a string of secrets concealed under a toxic layer of lies, abuse and gaslighting.

Despite the many glowing reviews that prompted me to request for this book, I simply couldn't bring myself to like it. While the subject matter does deal with a heinous crime, the plot itself was stretched out. For over 70% of the narrative, the various characters reiterated that 'they couldn't reveal the truth' or 'there was no point in saying the truth.' Instead of adding to the intrigue, this held the story in a sort of loop where after a point, it began to feel repetitive.

The characters are well fleshed out - be it the tyrannical psycopath husband Andrew, abused wife Elise or traumatised teenager, Niamh. It was irksome to note that Dylan was mentioned only in broad strokes despite being an important link in the mystery. While I was invested in the investigation part of the storyline, the domestic abuse and coercive control part seemed way too preachy, especially in Jo's POV. Instead of allowing the story to speak for itself, parts of the narrative read like an article imparting information rather than a scene unfolding to evoke emotion or outrage in the reader. While the author's prose is commendable, her story telling technique needs much work. I really did like the ending though; that was one plot twist that I didn't see coming.

Overall, a decent plotline whose execution was found wanting. I believe there was a good story in there that could have been written better. Thanks to Netgalley and Avon Books for providing a digital copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This psychological thriller had me gripped by the synopsis, and although this was averagely paced, the short chapters made this an interesting, intriguing, and entertaining read.

Told by multiple points of views, a favorite writing style of mine, “The Secret” did not disappoint. As expected from this genre, there were different revelations to unfold and when it came to twists, shocking moments and surprises, this author writes well. The conclusion was powerful and definitely unforeseen.

There are a few sensitive issues within this story, that some readers may find upsetting and it would be beneficial to research fully.

Overall, a good thriller that I would definitely recommend and I look forward to reading more by this author.