I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an early copy of Little Rumours.

What would you do to protect your family?
In Little Rumours we follow 3 families, all with small children, who are best friends whom live in a small village. Joe, Leon and Mia.
When one of the children goes missing all the families deep dark secrets come to light. The village rallies together but are they doing it for the right reasons?
I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen next. A thrilling, page turner.

3.5⭐
Genre ~ domestic thriller
Setting ~ England
Publication date ~ March 31, 2022
Publisher ~ Avon
Est Page Count ~ 410 (p+ 48 chapters +e)
Audio length ~ 10 hours 33 minutes
Narrators ~ Avita Jay, Emma Powell
POV ~ multiple 3rd
Featuring ~ small town, missing child, dead animals, suicide attempt

I appreciated the author adding the Devon Dictionary at the beginning, so I wasn't scratching my head wondering what the heck a word meant.

3 eleven year olds are best friends ~ Joe, Mia & Leon ~ one of them goes missing.

Kelly and her son, Joe, are trying to start over after learning her husband is a serial killer.

Aleema/Alima ((book spelling vs audio spelling) has trouble fitting in with other mom's, which she thinks is due to being Muslim. She and husband, Noah, have a daughter named Mia.

Naomi is Leon's mother and a busybody.

This dives deep into motherhood and how they each try to protect their child. My heart was really pounding a bit when the child went missing. I thought the mother acted appropriately frantic. Can't say it was a surprise about who did the kidnapping, but I was surprised about the why. A bit slow moving, but overall a fine read.

Regarding the dead animals ~ I don't like it, but know it's often written with books that might have a troubled child. The torture is not on page, but it's described what the animals look like after the fact.

Twisty thriller that seems like it's about one thing, but has so many layers. The main character is well fleshed out, with an interesting story being in witness protection. Overall, a good read.

A well-written, entertaining suspense novel that keeps you guessing! This is easily one that you'll want to devour in one sitting!

A fine thriller. The cover is ok could be a little more descriptive as it both looks and feels like ive read this before. Thank you Harper for the ARC for my honest review.

An absolute must read thriller! So many twists and turns that you don’t see coming! I’m so happy I was able to receive a copy of this!

I found this to be a slow burn mystery where secrets, suspicions, and rumors abound when a child goes missing. Unfortunately, I really didn’t like the characters and it was frustrating getting through the story.

3 for neutral, was unable to access my netgalley account for months, until today. Because of this, I was unable to see which books I needed to read. I apologize for the inconvenience and hopefully will not have any more issues in future.

Little Rumours is about a small town in the County of Devon told from the point of view of Kelly, a woman in an identity protection program related to her ex-husband's infamous and sociopathic crimes. She has a son, Joe, who is eleven. Naomi is native to the town and don't you forget it! Her son Sean is Joe's best friend. Kelly doesn't want friends, which is a good thing when it comes to Naomi, who will not let some incomer into her circle. In fact, she is considering forbidding Sean from playing with Joe. None of US like Naomi. Aleema, a Muslim woman who is married to a local man, Noah, eels like a fish out of water. They moved to the village from a larger city to care for her mother-in-law, Mary who suffered a stroke. Although Mary now seems fine, Noah is reluctant to go back "home." Their daughter is Mia. As with Kelly, people are less than welcoming to Aleema. Mia forms the third best friend with Joe and Sean. They are all in the sixth form at the local school and are inseparable.

As with any thriller, it's hard to say much about Little Rumours without inadvertently putting in spoilers. So with my usual, "a bad thing happens," the dynamics among these women and others in the town shift in dramatic ways because of the bad thing that happened. Suspicion of the incomers (we'd call them outsiders) and small mindedness lead to rather horrible behavior and all the while, the bad thing continues unsolved, poisoning the village. Pearce is a great plotter, giving us lots of information to conclude who did it and why. We know some things for sure, but the behaviors of the characters can cause us to doubt the for sure information, with good reason. Who is the woman in the red coat? This is a fast-paced, entertaining, sad, fairly scary but not a way in the deep end thriller where I have to stop reading for a few hours to calm down. In face, it's fair to say I couldn't put it down. I got a great picture of the language and culture of a village in Devon with a fun glossary of unfamiliar words up front in the book. . While there are cops and family members and friends and eleven year olds trying to solve the "bad thing that happened," and every single character is stressed out through the roof, the resolution is both surprising -- and not. I can highly recommend this one!

On the surface this is a book about a missing child, however when you peel back the layers it's so much more.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy. This was a pretty good book. It was a quick read with a good storyline. And the characters weren’t all horrible. It’s the first I’ve read by this author and already added her other book to my tbr. Definitely recommend.

Well written and easy to read. Hard to put it down to go to bed. Once you start this book you have to keep reading!

This book went above and beyond my expectations! I was so excited to read this one and it was amazing! Kelly is the wife of a serial killer. No one believes that she had no knowledge of the killings so her and her son, Joe, go into witness protection. A little girl, Mia, goes missing, and she's friend of her son's. All of a sudden she's under suspicion again. Is her son like her ex husband? Or did someone find out who they were?

I love the multiple povs. I love the raw triggers and how you can feel the emotions. I felt like I guessed The Who dunnit oretty easily because I read so many thrillers but I liked this book a lot! I look forward to reading more from pierce !

I’m ready to read Little Rumours again. It was satisfying and impossible to put down. A relentless page turner that had me on the edge of my seat. Multiple points of view add to the suspense. Follow the breadcrumbs and don’t forget to buddy read with a fellow booklover.

Highly recommend this psychological thriller by Bryony Pearce.

This one kept me on my toes and though I did guess the ending pretty early on, I was impressed with the way the author made me question what I thought I knew. I would definitely recommend this to thriller lovers.

I’m a sucker for thrillers and this one exceeded my expectations 110%. What a suspenseful ride this took me on. Absolutely loved it

My first read from Byrony and it was a good read. 3 mothers with stories and secrets that lead to child coming up missing. Reading through each characters perspective and all the twists made for a good read!

Thank you Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC copy in exchange for my honest review.

I'm normally not a big British crime fan but really enjoyed this one! Great character development. Unique storyline. Pays appropriate respect to mental illness. Didn't see the ending coming.

Little Rumours by Bryony Pearce 🎈

Thank you @netgalley & @harpercollins360 for the eARC! Little Rumours releases June 21!

In a small town, three mothers drop off their kids at school. Naomi has lived there her whole life. Aleema has lived there for 3 years, but is still struggling to fit in. And Kelly is an outsider who is new to the town. By the end of the day, one of their kids will be missing. Rumors, secrets, and lies come to light as they search for the missing child.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ; this book was so twisty and an amazing page turner! I was engaged from the first chapter and it left me guessing all the way until the end! I couldn’t read this book fast enough! I definitely recommend for anyone who enjoyed big little lies! ⭐️ and can’t wait to read more by this author!