This book is a fine way to while away some hours trying to work out the answer to who did it and why. As the Police investigation moves forward the characters come to life with all of their loves and flaws. Plenty of suspects are laid in your path; I managed to work out some but not all of the secrets the author had twined together by the satisfying end of the book. Thank you to Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

This really was one hell of a book, that took my breath away from the start, I was desperate to know the truth. I don't think there is a single character I ever completely trusted, it felt like they all had a motive to hide. The narrative of this novel is complex and twisted, but will pull you in till the very last page.
I never saw that ending coming and I DON'T THINK I WILL FORGET THIS BOOK IN A HURRY IT WAS A CRAZY ROLLERCOASTER

I absolutely love Liz Lawler's previous novels so when this came up on Netgalley I jumped at the chance and was lucky enough to be accepted.

This audiobook really did not disappoint and I was gripped from the first chapter.

The blurb reads

""Loving wife. Caring nurse. Liar.
You trust her with your life… She has a deadly secret.
In hospital, lives begin and end every day.
The doctors and nurses work round the clock to keep their patients breathing, yet death is part of their routine.
When the police arrive in the brightly lit corridors, asking for pretty, young, Nurse Shaw, staff and patients start talking.
The say Sarah Shaw’s husband has been murdered. They’d only been married for a few short months.
The police want to know where Sarah was that night. And why the medicine went missing from the hospital a few days before.
As William Shaw’s complicated past unravels it’s clear that Sarah has secrets of her own. But as she delivers pills in paper cups with a stiff smile and shaking hands, her patients want to know, is she a killer, or is her life in danger too?"

The novel starts from the get-go and we meet Sarah Shaw, newly married to William and she is working at the hospital worried about her husband as he has recently been receiving anonymous letters and calls and is in quite a distressed state. Sarah is trying to contact him and he has not picked up, the police soon arrive and she is told that her husband has been found dead in their home.

Sarah is swept to Kathleen's house, her work colleague who presumes that they are friends but Sarah is not convinced.

The plot is twisty and gripping and I read this novel within a few days. Another winner from Liz Lawler. Thanks to Netgalley, Liz Lawler and the publishers for allowing me a copy of this audio book in exchange for my honest review.

Unfortunately this title would not download for me so I am unable to access it. I can not review what I have not read/listened to.

I really enjoyed this psychological thriller, which is fast paced and exciting.

Sarah is a nurse and her husband has recently been murdered. Nick is a police detective who used to go out with Sarah, and he is now looking into Sarah's husband's murder. Nick has a police partner called Charlie, who he is close to. All three of them are the main characters in the story, and I thought they were all interesting characters, who I liked. At Sarah's work, she has a friend called Kathleen, who tries to help her after the murder. But is Kathleen all she seems? Who has murdered Sarah's husband? Could Sarah have done it?

I really liked all the medical and police aspects of the story, and it reminded me a bit of the books by Angela Marsons, which I love. The story kept me engrossed, and eager to read on to find out who the murderer was. At the end, I was quite shocked by the big reveal, and I found it thrilling and exciting.

The audiobook narrator was fantastic.

I look forward to reading more books by this author. Highly recommended!

Many thanks to the author, narrator, publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

This cover and title got me intrigued… and I loved this!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read and listen this book in exchange for my review.

I absolutely loved this story! This is the second Liz Lawler book I have read and this was so much better than the last. From the word go, I was hooked. The twists and turns in this kept me guessing until the very end.

The narrator was however very disappointing. I had to speed her up to 1.75 - her slow pace and monotone voice did not do this justice at all. At some points she sounded disinterested with the story and lacked any kind of passion. If I hadn't been able to speed her up, I think I would have had to give up listening and get the kindle version instead.

The story I give 4 stars but the narration is 1 star.

The Nurse's Secret by Liz Lawler.

Thank you to Netgalley, Bookouture Audio and Liz Lawler for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Nurse Sarah is working her shift in the hospital when she receives the news that no wife ever wants to hear. Her husband has been found dead, in suspicious circumstances.

This is a dark, psychological thriller which has you gripped from the first chapter. This is perfect for fans of Clare Mackintosh and Shari Lapena. It is filled with twists and turns which keeps you guessing throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed and anticipate this being an extremely popular book.

This one was painfully slow with unlikable characters and I ended up not finishing it after 33%. I listened to the audiobook but didn’t like the narrator, I’m used to narrators doing different voices for characters and this was all monotonous. This would not be a book I would recommend as it wasn’t for me but I’m sure others will enjoy it.

A slow burn mystery with characters that are hard to like, but a few deaths I needed to know who the killer was.  I know in most thrillers, the characters are harboring secrets, but wow, the characters in this one definitely had more than their share of them.

This one will definitely keep you guessing.  I got a little bogged down in the story when it wasn’t focused on the police, but really enjoyed both Nick and Charlie’s investigation styles.

I flipped back and forth between the book and audiobook and thought Sarah Durham was engaging as the narrator.

If you love slow burn murder mysteries, then you should pick this one up.

From just the summary of The Nurse’s Secret I was excited to start this mystery. Sarah is a nurse and while she is at work she finds out her husband has been found dead. Was it murder? Suicide? I was ready to start the investigation.

Unfortunately, we were able to infer that Sarah would not be totally innocent just based on the summary and the taglines for the book. They tell you she is a liar and has a secret. I was always questioning Sarah for this reason.

By the halfway mark of this book, I was starting to get bored. The investigation was not all that interesting and the same goes for the characters. I did not like any of the characters or relate to any of them, making the story feel even blander.

90 percent of the story was set up for a big twist that I personally do not feel the book earned. Twists are great, but you need a story to drive you to that twist and The Nurse’s Secret didn’t do it.

I listened to the audiobook and that is the only reason this book is receiving a good score from me. Sarah Durham put on a stellar performance with her narration. She took a boring and bland story and made something out of it. If it was not for Durham I do not know if I would have made it to the end of the story.

An excellent twisty thriller from Liz Lawler. I love how different all Liz' books are - you never know what you are going to get, only that it will be a rollercoaster of a read! (or in this case, a listen, as I had the pleasure of indulging in the audiobook).

Nurse, Sarah, is working a shift with colleague, Kathleen, expressing concern that husband, William, is not answering his phone, having recently received threatening communications Though Kathleen tries to reassure her, it is not long before the police come knocking with the distressing news that William is dead, presumed murdered. Sarah discovers that recent love interest, Nick, is investigating officer. I won't say more as spoilers will surely not be welcomed, but I will say that this is a very decent novel, and one I wouldn't regret having invested in.

The story is gratifying unpredictably and written very well, the characters are likeable and portrayed in all their raw human complexity. The narrator does a great job of nailing a number of different narratives, avoiding being either confusing or irritating (lets face it, no mean feat!!)

My thanks to NetGalley, Author and Publisher for the opportunity to review this audiobook in exchange for an advance copy

Reading Between the Wines book review #90/135 for 2022:
Rating: 2.5 🍷 🍷
Book 🎧: The Nurse’s Secret
Author: Liz Lawler
Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers
RELEASES on October 31, 2022!!!

Sipping thoughts: I am assuming that having readers utterly confused is a part of Lawler’s writing. It isn’t a confusion where you can’t follow the story but a veil that is slowly pulled from your eyes to reveal clarity in the story. That is what it was like for me reading this book and her last one. The last 15% is always jammed pack with eye-opening plot fillers and twists. This one did not disappoint in that aspect. It was pretty slow for me in the beginning and all the characters seemed to be incredibly flawed and somewhat crazy. After the reveal, I was like OOOHHH now it all makes sense and it almost made it a 3 star for me but not quite.

Cheers and thank you to @NetGalley and @BookoutureAudio for an advanced copy of @TheNursesSecret.

#TheNursesSecret #LizLawler #BookoutureAudio #NetGalley #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers #GeneralFictionAdult

While Sarah is working one night, she gets the call that no one ever wants to get. Her husband has been found dead. One of the detectives that is assigned to the case used to be Sarah’s boyfriend, however, neither Sarah or nick tells anyone this fact. When one of her fellow nurses, Kathleen, learns of what Sarah is going through, she takes her in and tries to protect her and becomes obsessed with her and puts Sarah in an awkward position.
There are several POV’s and police procedures to keep up with and at times it felt a bit like trudging through until you get til about 80-85% and then all the twist and bombshells kept coming. I wish they had been spread out more through the book.
The narration was well done and did keep me interested throughout.
Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for this audiobook arc in exchange for my review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
So this one was weird. I didn’t feel like the title or description really fit the actual book.
It just really wasn’t for me.
The narrator did do a good job though.

My 1st read by the author Liz Lawler and I really enjoyed it!

4 star read.

When newly married nurse Sarah Shaw’s husband is found dead, shot in the mouth all doubts are cast on the bride – but would she really kill him? As the investigation begins the cops learn that deceased William Shaw was earlier married and maybe, “maybe” his 1st wife Mary Shaw died under mysterious circumstances! As everyone is talking about whether the nurse Sarah who is responsible for saving lives might be capable of killing, more and more back story emerges.
The detective running this case himself seems like to be in a lot of trouble because of his past with the nurse Sarah!
This was a good whodunit with many good twists, yes there were a lot of details in the middle of the story but they were all totally worth and well connected. Thanks to Bookouture Audio, Liz Lawler and NEtgalley for approving the audio ARC in exchange for an honest review

2.5 Stars
I was super intrigued by the intro and beginning but unfortunately I wasn't a fan of the pacing.
The pacing is quite slow considering this is a mystery/psychological thriller. Also I wish there was more substance to the storyline and better build up. The real perpetrator is easily predicted early on. I wouldn't mind having a few more secrets and twists revealed along the way instead of waiting until the end for everything.

2.5⭐ rounded up.

Featuring ~ multiple 3rd person POV, murder, police procedural, secrets, slow moving

Sarah's husband is found dead in their home. Charlie and Nick are the detectives on the case. Sarah and Nick used to be in a relationship.

Meh, didn't love it. Maybe because there were 3 narrators and 2 of them were both detectives on the case 🤷‍♀️. I wasn't invested in much of the story or characters really. Kathleen gives off creepster vibes. Yeah there were some secrets, but nothing impressive. I did like the why of why something was done though. I bet that doesn't make too much sense unless you read it.

I was fortunate enough to receive a kindle copy and the audiobook to review. I started out reading it, then switched to audio, which is how I tackled most of it.

Narrated by Sarah Durham for 11 hours and 7 minutes, easy to follow at 2x. She didn't even try to do male voices, and I suppose that's okay since it's told in 3rd person. Luckily the chapters were labeled with names, so we knew who was talking.

This was an enjoyable listen. The narration really worked but I found it quite slow to start and difficult to understand the plot devices used. However the last quarter was amazing and made up fot it.

I was given an advance copy by netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely my own

The Nurse's Secret by Liz Lawler was intriguing to me because of the different relationships and their dynamics. I also liked that, at least for a time, readers didn't know who to trust. However, I was certain of who was guilty pretty early on, which made parts of the book drag on. The other thing was the inconsistency of the characters' names. Sometimes they'd be called by their first name, other times by their last name, but rarely ever both at one time, so it was occasionally confusing who was being discussed.

Sarah Durham was a good narrator for the story.

Overall, I give The Nurse's Secret 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

Thank you to Bookouture for providing me with an ALC.