Little rumours by Bryony Pearce.
It started with a rumour. But rumours can be deadly…
In a small town, three mothers wave goodbye to their children at the school gates.Naomi has lived in Exton Cross since she was born, and she knows everything there is to know about everyone.Aleema hates it here. It’s been three years and she’s yet to make a single friend. And she’s sure the other mums whisper about her behind her back.Kelly is an outsider. New to the town, she arrives with nothing but her son – and a dark secret.By the end of the school day, one of their children will be missing. And rumours will swirl that one of them knows why…
Omg. What a read. So many twists and turns. 5*.

Aleema is a Pakistani woman married to Noah and mother to Mia, age 11. They are living in Exton Cross. They moved here 2 years ago to care for Noah’s mother after she had a stroke. Now that the woman is better, Aleema wants to move back to their home. Some people aren’t too friendly to Aleema because of her nationality.

Kelly and her son, Joe, age 11, are living in Eton Cross. Unknown to other people, Kelly has changed her name because her husband, William, is in prison for murdering 7 people. She doesn’t want people to find out who she is for fear of being shunned. She is trying to make friends but is hesitant to become too friendly.

Naomi has a son named Seth who is a few years older than Mia and Noah. The parents don’t get along well, but Mia, Joe, and Seth do.

When Mia goes missing, the parents first learn about Kelly’s past and believe that she or even Joe took Mia. The viciousness toward one another is vile. It builds until we finally learn what happened to Mia.

This is not a well-written review and I know I have given out spoilers. The story is dark and depressing. It also needed to be significantly shortened. My first book by this author. Hope future ones are better.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

It started with a rumour. But rumours can be deadly…
In a small town, three mothers wave goodbye to their children at the school gates.
Naomi has lived in Exton Cross since she was born, and she knows everything there is to know about everyone.
Aleema hates it here. It’s been three years and she’s yet to make a single friend. And she’s sure the other mums whisper about her behind her back.
Kelly is an outsider. New to the town, she arrives with nothing but her son – and a dark secret.
By the end of the school day, one of their children will be missing. And rumours will swirl that one of them knows why…

This is a brilliant read.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and found myself second guessing every thought I had continuously.
Can't wait to read what the author brings out next.
Recommend reading.

I was provided an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. This is my own hone\st voluntary review.

When a child goes missing, members of the village start to unravel and point fingers at each other. One woman and her son become the prime targets of the community outrage once their past is revealed. Are they only guilty of having a dark past or are they connected to the missing child?

It took a few chapters to get into this story but once you got a feel for the multiple narrators and their perspectives on the events the story picked up considerably. Each viewpoint is very different and just goes to show that there is always something missing or overlooked that can cloud your judgement. The pacing of this book is really important to the story as you see the narrators unravel the story intensifies keeping the reader engaged and wondering if they will find the missing child.


Thank you @netgalley and publishers for this eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

This is a book about a little girl who goes missing and the search to find her. But it’s really not. It’s about our insecurities and struggles with identity, the inappropriate discriminations and judgments we pass on others, how we each deal with trauma differently, and how dangerous groupthink can be.

The story rotates between three women whose children are best friends, but who are not friends themselves. Kelly is in hiding because she is considered “guilty by association” with her serial killer husband. Aleema is an “outsider” and a practicing Muslim in the small-minded British village. Naomi’s baby died years ago, but this isn’t played up enough in the story for you to really remember it; you’ll recognize her as the Karen of the village.

From a whodunit perspective, I thought it was pretty obvious. I liked how the author built out these characters’ struggles and not only internal dialogue but external push and pull of their relationships. I felt the middle bit of the book was a bit repetitive and tedious with all the searching the same places back and forth, but it was being used to describe the personalities of these women. This is what brought it to a 3 for me.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Avon Books UK. It is available now.

Three mothers, three secrets, One missing child!
Naomi has always lived in the village, she knows everything there is to know about everyone

Aleema, hates living in the village. In the 3 years she’s lived there she’s yet to find a friend

Kelly, the outsider, new to town. It’s just her and her son (and a dark secret)

They wave goodbye to their children at the school gates, but by the end of the day one child is missing!

I was hooked on this book by the blurb and had high hopes for it living up to them.
It wasn’t quite up there with the best I’ve read, however it was a good read
These 3 women are drawn together by the friendship that has developed between their children. Told in alternative chapters between each mum, I found myself running ahead to read more and find out the conclusion.
It wasn’t a massive shock when it was revealed but maybe that’s because I read a lot of this type of book

I did enjoy getting to know the characters and what made them tick.
I am keen tomexplore more from this author

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this title

Little Rumours
Bryony Pearce
Thriller
416 pages

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thank you to NetGalley + Avon Books UK for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Little Rumours is told from the point of view of three mothers whose children, despite coming from very different backgrounds are all friends. When one of their children goes missing, motherly instinct kicks in and each woman finds themself in a position to do what they need to to protect their child.

This book captured me at the very beginning and I thought the ending packed a decent punch, but the middle is a verrrrry slow burn, in my opinion. There is a lot of story/character set-up involved for each of the three women, and some other side plots that didn’t really have much to do with the main storyline. I really enjoyed the premise and like I mentioned above, I thought the ending was good! I just think it could have been 50-75 pages shorter and been equally as successful.

#caitsquietplacereviews #caitsquietplace #cqpthrillers #avonbooks

This one slowly builds until the point where a little girl Mia goes missing then it really takes off and grabbed my attention.
Briefly the story is set in a small community in Devon and is told from the points of view of three mothers Kelly Naomi and Aleema.
Their three young children are best friends. One day after school they meet up in the park to play, its the day everything changes.
Mia never makes it home that evening as the tale unfolds it seems all three families have secrets they`d rather didn`t become public knowledge. As in all small towns fingers start to be pointed and rumours abound as to who is responsible for the childs disappearance.
Could it really be someone in the community?
Will Mia be found safe and well, will she be brought home?
The mental torture the parents of the missing child go through makes this an emotional read. There is bullying among the mothers as well as the children, racism, petty jealousies and loneliness.
Although I thought I`d guessed the kidnappers identity as I sifted through the twists and turns and weeded out the red herrings I failed.
The final reveal completely threw me.
A gripping and compelling read and I thoroughly enjoyed it .
Thanks to Netgalley the author and Avon books.

Three mothers, Naomi, Aleema and Kelly live in the same village, Exton Cross, and each thinks they have a child that can't put a foot wrong. Their children, Joe, Mia and Leon are friends, which creates a bond of sorts between the mothers. One of the children, Mia, vanishes after an occurrence at the school they attend and a visit to the park.

I found Little Rumours engrossing even though it starts a little slowly while the characters are introduced. I appreciated the suspense threaded throughout the tale, which told of coercive control, homophobia, and racism among others. I certainly experienced 'just one more chapter' syndrome as the storyline hurtled towards the galvanic ending.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Avon Books UK via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

I received this book via NetGalley and give it my honest opinion.

I loved it!!! A great thriller with a twist. Set in a small Devon village the plot is great and the characters are described beautifully. Definitely a book you will not want to put down. I never write too much in my reviews as I don't want to accidentally put any spoilers, so you will just have to trust me on this. It is a great read and worth the turn of every page! Enjoy!

British Thrillers are my jam! Thanks to NetGalley, Avon Books UK and the author, Bryony Pearce this was a good read. I just enjoy the different way of saying things and I just find the suspense is very strong when I read either English or Canadian writers books...No offence to the US authors because I have my favourites there as well. This book was an emotional ride and it was very character driven. I really enjoyed the read.

Thanks again!

My heartfelt thanks to @avonbooksuk & #netgalley for reaching out and sending me this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I loved The Girl On The Platform last year and was so excited to read @bryonypearce's latest release. And I'm happy to report that this did not disappoint either.

Pearce has a way of writing domestic thrillers that are suspenseful yet very relatable.
Just like in TGOTP, we have family dynamics that are so real they could be people we know.
I especially admired how she handled mental health issues, bullying, and racial discrimination in this book without losing sight of the main story. That of a missing girl.

The setting is a small village in Devon where everyone knows everyone and gossip is a regular occurrence. When an 11-year-old girl and best friend of her son Joe goes missing, Kelly is sure her past will soon be dragged to the surface. No one knows that her ex-husband was a notorious serial killer who is serving his sentence behind bars, and she'll do anything to keep it that way.

We have multiple points of view in this book, which confused me a bit at first because each was written in first-person. But once I got used to it, the story picked up and and proceeded at a breakneck speed, escalating to a satisfying ending.
An ending I had not anticipated.

Another winner from this author!

Description 🔖

Naomi has lived in Exton Cross her entire life and has no desire to leave. She knows everything about everyone and makes it her business to keep in the know.

Aleema hates the small town life in Exton Cross. She’s been there for three years and not made a single friend. She is convinced that people are whispering about her behind her back.

Kelly is a complete outsider. She has just arrived in Exton Cross with nothing but her son and a dark secret.

All three women wave goodbye to their children at the school gates at what should be a normal day. By the same evening, one of their children will be missing and all of their secrets will start to unravel.

General Thoughts 🤔

I adored The Girl on the Platform (you can read my review here) so when I knew that Little Rumours was coming out, it went straight onto my TBR. Imagine my delight when I got my hands on an ARC. This book did not disappoint me and I enjoyed devouring the whole thing.

I loved that the story wasn’t over complicated and I think it somehow kept me focused on trying to workout where this missing child was. I knew that the answer was going to be right under my nose, however there were so many possibilities, it could have ended up being anyone. That’s not to say I didn’t guess correctly. Gave myself a little pat on the shoulder for that.

Characters 👫👭👬

I felt like the characters in this book were easily separated into groups; the grown ups and the kids. Sometimes it was hard to distinguish between the two.

Maybe that’s unfair and I shouldn’t tar all the adults with the same brush but my god I found some of them frustrating. If it wasn’t a parent protecting their child despite thinking they could be a criminal, it was a parent completely ignoring the feelings of their child because “they knew best”.

The kids in this book were heroic. Though I’m sure they were terrified, they put friendship before everything else. I loved that Joe, Leon and Mia were best friends, no matter what and accepted each other for who they were. I think their parents could have learned something from them.

Writing Style ✍️

As already mentioned, this story wasn’t overly complicated, however I think it worked for the book and I didn’t enjoy it any less because of it. That said, it became quite obvious to me who was responsible about mid way through and I think that this could have been drawn out longer to add to the tension.

I really liked that the book was told from the different women’s perspectives. It was interesting to read how they all felt about the same thing and also just how ignorant they were to each other’s experiences. I think the author did a great job of creating three very different characters that all co-existed in the same story.

Conclusion & Scoring 🎖

So this book wasn’t quite The Girl on the Platform for me, but I definitely did still enjoy it. It was tense, twisty and turny and I was turning the pages super quickly. I look forward to seeing what Bryony Pearce blesses us all with next.

Three mothers. Three secrets.

While I can like a big secret trope, when too many characters have too many secrets, some of them are going to fill a little less than significant when such a big deal is made of them.

I liked the multiple p.o.v.

I didn’t like the ending or the red herrings.

Told from the POV of three mothers living in the same town. All of them have secrets and when a child goes missing, the town needs someone to blame. Everyone has something to say and a witch hunt wrongly accuses one of the residents. An unexpected ending.

A tense child is missing read. This one didn't draw me in I had a hard time connecting to the characters. Not a favorite of mine but might be of yours give it a try.

Thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for an early release of this book.

I absolutely loved this book. A great twisty psychological thriller that keeps you guessing.

A small village, three mothers and secrets galore. Naomi has lived in Exton Cross since she was born. She loves the village and is very much part of the furniture. She knows everyone and everything about the village. Aleema has only moved to the village a few years ago, due to her mother-in-law’s I’ll health but she has no friends and is very much treated as an outsider. Kelly is the newest member of the village and keeps herself to herself. She has no interest in making friends and being part of village life.

One thing all three mums have in common are their children are all best friends. But one day one of the children fails to return home. What has happened ? Who knows what has happened ?

This is a great gossipy psychological thriller with plenty of twists and turns. There are plenty of secrets to be discovered and some fantastic characters. A book or to be missed.

Thank you to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book.

I was intrigued by the idea of three very different women in a small village who are faced with the disappearance of one of their children. It was however a bit of a struggle to get into the story because of the many, many names and family relationships you read about in the first few chapters.
I related best to Aleema, because she’s in the village for three years now and the other mums just ‘don’t want her’ because she is Muslim and comes from another country. She is very lonely and the fact that she must take care for her mother-in-law isn’t helping. Naomi is sort of a Twitter-account because she is all over the place and knows everybody and everything. And Kelly, poor Kelly. I cannot imagine how much shame and fear she must deal with, not just for herself but also for her young son Joe. And then the other family members: one husband that’s away for work a lot, one husband who is torn between his wife and his family, and one husband who is… well, you can guess maybe from the blurb.
The book sometimes reads very intense, for instance when the parents of the missing child first think she must be with a friend, but slowly discover she is not. She’s nowhere to be seen. It’s cold, it’s dark and they start searching frantically, getting help from other villagers. At other places it reads more slowly, and I noticed my mind kept wandering.
I found the plot a little too complicated, but I enjoyed the way Bryony Pearce made it very clear how things can work in little villages. Not always as smoothly and friendly as you would think.
Thanks to Netgalley and Avon Books for this review copy.

This storyline revolves around 3 children aged 11, one of which goes missing. The story is told from the points of view of the 3 mothers, all of which look at their children through rose-tinted glasses and refuse to see their flaws. None of these women are friends, more like acquaintances through their children, but each brings their unique dynamic to the group.

The writing flowed well, and the plot twists made this an exciting and entertaining read. If you are fans of domestic thrillers, this is the perfect book for you! The conclusion was a little predictable for my own personal preferences, but this did not dampen my enjoyment. I will certainly be reading more by this author!

I really enjoyed this book. It was an easy read and well written. The second half kept me gripped and I couldn't put it down. I can't wait for another by this author