Read this if you like: Multiple POV thrillers, small towns with secrets

In a small town, three mothers wave goodbye to their children at the school gates. We follow the POVs of all three women. Naomi has lived in the small village of Exton Cross since she was born, and she knows everything there is to know about everyone. Aleema hates the town. It’s been three years and she’s yet to make a single friend. She’s sure the other moms 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. Rumours will swirl that one of them knows why.

The character development on the 3 women is great. They all have issues but are very likeable. The beginning of the book felt a little slow but it had to set everything up. When the kid went missing it started flying. I didn't love how everyone was brushing it off like it wasn't a big deal that the child was missing. It's like they are were like "not my problem". There was a lot of mud slinging from the town's people. You really felt like you were in a catty small town while reading this.

This is definitely a page turner. This is my first read by this author and I will be reading more. I enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Avon Publishers for the ARC! ❤

Wow,what a read! I read it in one sitting so enthralled by this book.
I loved all of it the story,the characters,the location,the little rumours were very well thought out.
Well done to the author, a winner for sure

3.5 stars
In this book, we meet the three main characters at the school gates. Naomi has lived in the town all her life, Aleema has recently moved with her family to be near her husband's ageing mother, and Kelly is new to the town, her identity changed to protect her and her child. They are brought together through their children who have become friends.
One day, tragedy strikes as one of their children fails to return home. Fingers start to point in all directions, especially towards Kelly as her past is discovered. And then mud starts to fly all around under the guises of pretty much every social issue you can think of. Everyone accuses everyone else and it all degenerates into a bit of a farce and the missing child becomes a bit of an aside!
The author does manage to rein it all back in and bring it all to a satisfactory, albeit a bit obvious, conclusion but by then I had disengaged with the majority of the characters, not to my liking I'm afraid, and had all but given up caring.
Pacing was good and matched the narrative all the way through, plotting was solid but nothing really that special at the end of the day and, as already mentioned, I failed to connect to any of the characters.
It's a shame as I really enjoyed The Girl on the Platform, this author's previous book, but I'm afraid that this one was just not for me.

Little Rumours
I really enjoyed this thriller, I found myself getting into it quite early on. It’s told from the perspective of 3 women - Kelly, Aleema & Naomi. All completely different but their children are best friends and living in the quiet village of Exton Cross. Aleema is new to the area and looking for friends. Naomi has grown up in Exton Cross - she already has her friends and she isn’t a fan of incomers (or groggles as I now know them to be called in Devon). Kelly is also an incomer, she doesn’t want friends, in fact she doesn’t want to even talk to anyone. Kelly has a secret - and we learn this as the book goes on. I did guess whodunnit - and I managed to guess why, which was a bit disappointing, but I did really enjoy it. Despite their flaws I actually liked all 3 of the main characters. Looking forward to reading more of Bryony’s books.

Little rumours is a story that we can all imagine happening

A child goes missing, and no one has any idea what happened. However, a mom moved to town recently with her son and her background is a bit sus

What follows is a very tense and great read!

I got Little Rumours by Bryony Pearce, for free from NetGalley for a fair and honest review.

Little Rumours tells the story of how a small village reacts when a young child goes missing and people’s secrets and prejudices come out.

In simple terms Little Rumours tells the story of a missing child in a remote village, in England, however this to me is not the main part of the book.
This is because as a novel Little Rumours concentrates on how a close village can be very close, making it difficult for a stranger to break into friendships and how that prejudice can lead to people making the wrong choices.
While the story is the story of a missing child. The main characters are the parents of her missing child and their two friends. All of whom have their own secrets, that they hide or ignore to make the world think that they are OK in their lives.
While I Did Think that Little Rumours was a cut above the average missing persons novel, its ending was little bit abrupt for me. I do not mean that the ending was completely ruined, or the solution was unsatisfactory.
I just felt that it was a bit messy and rushed, that when Little Rumours was taken to the editor that they loved the book, but it was to long, so the decided to do the cuts at the end but keep the same solution.
Having said that Little Rumours by Bryony Pearce is still a novel that I will still recommend for some one who enjoys this type of novel.

I have read a few books about missing children before and this is up there as one of my favourites as it’s really well written with a couple of twists and a shocker of an opening chapter, which hooked me in straight away.

Written from the point of view of the three main characters, who are all mums. Their children are all 11 years old and are best friends. I really loved the relationship between these children.

The story is set in a close knit community in Devon. Naomi, mum to Leon, has lived in the village all her life. Aleema, mum to Mia, reluctantly moved to the village a few years ago to be close to her Mother in law. Kelly, mum to Joe, is the most recent newcomer to the village and has a new identity due to a terrible past.

One day, Mia goes missing. Her friends, Joe and Leon were the last to see her. The race is on to find her but does she have a reason to run away or has someone kidnapped her? If so, then who and why?

This kept me guessing right up until the end as it really could have had a couple of different outcomes in my eyes.

I found one of the characters annoying and felt deeply sorry for another. I’m not naming which ones as I’m sure you will pick your own side if you read it. I was certainly frustrated with a couple of characters and felt that certain actions should have been dealt with more seriously by the police. I did feel as though most of the story was pretty much true to life though (unfortunately).

📢 Mentions an overdose, maiming of an animal and abuse. Also the struggles of one of the women due to race/beliefs (which was clearly researched well).

Thank you so much to Netgalley, the Publishers and the author for an arc. Really enjoyed reading this as I had never read anything by this author before. A solid 4.5 stars for me.

Well this book was well worth reading.Started of a bit slow ,I nearly put it down.But then I got into it.What a excellent well written story,really kept me guessing.Would recommend this book and author to anyone who likes a good mystery

Little Rumours
by Bryony Pearce
3 stars
Three mothers live in a small village called Exton Cross. Naomi has always lived in the village her whole life, Aleema moved down with her husband Noah to take care of her mother-in-law after a stroke. Kelly is new in town. She is under witness protection as her husband was convicted of murder.
Feeling like the odd ones out Kelly stays to herself afraid to get close to anyone and Aleema just can't stand any of the other mothers around. After Aleemas daughter goes missing stuff comes to light and it takes trusting one another to find her daughter.
This book was okay for me it took too long for me to get into it it just felt like it dragged a bit in the beginning once I got halfway through then it picked up.
I enjoyed how they showed three different POVs I couldn't stand Naomi but I like Aleema and Kelly.
Thank you, Net Galley and Avon books

A brilliant thriller. I loved this book, I had my heart in my mouth throughout. The characters were well developed and really drew you into their world.

The book focuses heavily on loss and trauma and manages to show the many facets of this. The many ways in which people face loss, trauma and abuse.

A brilliant, twisty tale that will have you thinking about what you would do to protect those you love, and why lengths you may be driven too by losing those closest to you.

Having read and enjoyed The Girl on the Platform, I was so pleased to be sent this ARC copy to read.
Yet again, Bryony Pearce has chosen a difficult subject for the premise of her book. Living in a community which treats you as an outsider ... because you have a different faith, because you do not 'belong' and/or your child does not fit in. Liam, Joe and Mia are firm friends because they do not belong in this community and when one of them disappears the others close ranks for different reasons.
A fascinating book which I read in one sitting.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Bryony Pearce/Avon Books for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Little Rumours is a slow burner of a read that picks up pace about half way and doesn’t let up.
The book is told from Aleema, Naomi and Kelly's perspectives, this is what makes it a little slow at the beginning as you find out their back stories and who their children are, it was this I found a little confusing but not for too long. The story is based in a small Devonshire town with Naomi having lived here all her life and Aleema and Kelly being relatively new outsiders. One of these three womens children will not come home one evening and trying to work out who could have done it and why is a very well planned storyline.
I enjoyed this book, I thought the characters were very real and also likeable making this an enjoyable read. It was great following the lives of the women and how this tragic event made them react and how they were with their children and partners.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Avon Books UK for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed Little Rumours. It had secrets and lies, twists and turns and kept me hooked all the way through.

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

I so wanted to enjoy this but just couldn’t get to grips with all the characters and who was who etc,I tried a few times but in the end stopped as realised the book was just not for me,apologies

I really enjoyed this book, a couple of characters annoyed me but overall it was a great story that had me hooked. Would definitely recommend, 4/5

3.5 stars!! Wow that was a ride!!
This was written in 3 different perspectives and it was cool to see how the mother's viewed their lives and their children. I am going to be honest, I am not a big fan of the mothers but their children were so special and loveable and I just loved them and their friendship so much!!
This was a good read, not on the edge of my seat as I was expecting but still a good read! I finished this in one day!!

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
This comes out 3/21/22, keep your eyes our for it !!

Loved this one!! It was a quick, easy and entertaining read. The characters were all realistic and the storyline was excellent. I enjoyed all the small hints for big things upcoming in the book. Highly recommend!!

Little Rumours starts out right away with a terrifying scene for young Joe.

Now a few years later they are living in a small community that is in many ways unforgiving and unkind to newcomers. The children in this story are much more likeable than the adults.

Told by three different women who after a while all sound similar.

When Mia goes missing, almost everyone helps look for her. But some are still so unkind to each other.

You could feel the terror of Mia's parents who are of course desperate to find their missing daughter.

There were definitely pro's and con's to this one. I don't think I would want to live in this town.

Thanks you to netgalley and Avon Books, UK for the arc

This was quite an engaging psychological thriller. The pages flew by and I didn't want to put down the book. I did not particularly like any of the mothers, but I loved the friendship between the children, and the unraveling of the mystery.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

3.5 stars
This is a good read.
The story is told from three character’s perspectives and they are all women from the same village.
They are all parents and each thinks their child can do no wrong.
When Mia goes missing her parents are distraught and soon the village are out in force looking for her.
There’s plenty of secrets in this book and each one is slowly revealed as you get further into the book.
Not quite an edge of your seat read but an enjoyable read.
Thanks to Avon Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.