Oh my gosh. Seriously, I didn't see that coming. I thought I knew the whole time who it was, but it turns out I was entirely wrong. I can not believe how it turned. Love how they flip between mother and daughter to explain the story. Honestly, it's a great thriller and mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the advance copy of this audiobook for review.
The Suspect is an interesting and twisty read of the mystery surrounding the murder of Jess’ mom when she was a baby spending a day with her in the park. The alleged killer has made contact with her and insists that he is innocent. The book jumps back and forth between past and present as the story line comes together and answers are revealed. It was an edge of your seat read with excellent narration and I would definitely recommend it to other readers.

This thriller follows Jess as she takes a closer look at her mother's murder after being approached by her alleged killer, who swears he is innocent. Before Jess can get any more answers, he is found dead. After starting her own investigation, she uncovers a few lies her family has been telling her.
We get the perspective of Jess in the present day and her mother two decades ago.
I listened to this book on audio and I really enjoyed it. All in all, this was a solid 4-star read and I look forward to reading more books by this author. 😊

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio!

I want to thank NetGalley for a free listening copy.
Unfortunately, I viscerally disliked this book. While it was competently written (a bit overwritten for my taste, but a style I believe most people would enjoy), the story was very bad. The plot is only possible because the characters act extremely, extremely, extremely dumb. They don't go to the police for the stupidest reasons. They try to warn a character they're in danger but wait! they received a phone call from a neighbor so they must conveniently pause and leave and then of course they never get to warn the main character so that we can get the remaining 200 pages of the story. Every. Single. Family. Member. Was. Despicable! Telenovela level of mean and contrived. Every man was an absolute disgusting creature. The plot twist was fairly predictable, and while I considered multiple options, the actual resolution became one of the few options at about the halfway point. And minor gripe: what was up with all that coffee drinking? It was a crutch throughout a very bland, flat story. And another minor gripe compared to the rest: the main character will tell you multiple multiple multiple times that she is very aware of her surroundings, yet she gets constantly surprised by things. We're constantly told that she is just distracted, but honestly, that just doesn't work and it's never once shown.
I'm sorry, but there are much smarter thrillers out there. Much better plotted, with much more believable characters. I would skip this one.

When Jessica was a baby she was there when her mother was murdered in the park. She has just turned 30 in the man accused of a murder approaches her while she’s out. His name is Nathaniel French and he was quite adamant he didn’t hurt her mother and despite her believing her mother never met him before her murder he showed her a picture of them looking quite cozy and happy together. She immediately goes to her dad Danny’s house to tell him what happened and see if he wants to go to the police with her. When he is insistent that not only does he not want to go with her he doesn’t want her to go either. She is confused but agrees. Still feeling at loosens she calls her stepmother Caroline she has always been close to Caroline end her baby sister Zara but when Caroline tells her to steer clear of Nathaniel French into leave it alone she wants to but just can’t settle it in her own mind so she starts investigating it herself. Once Jessica starts her investigation strange things start happening she thinks someone was in her home, she almost got ran off the road but it’s not enough to stop her investigation at the same time we follow Jessica‘s investigation of her mother‘s murder we get it from the point of view of the mother and then boat stories tensions built in the same people thread in and out of both girls lives but who is the murderer? This book was really good and although I thought I knew who the murderer was you know you’re not getting out of it with out a twist or two. that is definitely what Kathryn Croft the liberals. I found the story flowed nicely and with exception of a couple of few eye rolling moments I thoroughly enjoyed the story. I did find just it to be very contradictory as a person and got angry at one person for lying to her and it was right after she took his car and talk to his home but overall this is so worth reading a solid four-star read. Not to mention the great narrator who I four did a great job. I received this book from NetGalley I am the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

A whodunit mystery that keeps you on your toes shifting blame from character to character as stories from the past are told. I'll admit I listen to my audiobooks at 2.5x+ speed, which can make me miss details on occasion. Sometimes the back and forth between past and present storylines can be confusing, but there was clear separation and little confusion for me with this book. The jumping storyline built tension and always left me wanting to know what would happen next in each timeline. Great audio recording and definitely going on my would recommend list.

Alternating past and present chapters keep the reader knowing what has happened in Jessica's past (her mother's murder) and the life Jessica is living trying to find out who killed her mother.

I love psychological thrillers and THE SUSPECT is a great example of this kind of edge-of-your-seat book.

The narrator of THE SUSPECT kept confusion minimal when moving from chapter to chapter allowing the reader to know for certain if the voice is Jessica's or her mother's. In the printed version, this could be the way the chapters are named, but I was listening to the audiobook.

This was another great book by Kathryn Croft.
She created some beautiful strong female characters.
I have to confess, that at the beginning I had some troubles following the two timelines: one in the 1990 with Laurie and the other one in the present tense following Jess. This sometimes happens when starting a new audiobook and not paying that much attention. But I soon got into the story and didn't want to stop listening to this book narrated by Tamsin Kennard.
Engrossing would be the best way for me to describe this plot!

Thanks #NetGalley #Bookouture Audio for an advanced version of this audiobook

Jess's mother was murdered when she was a baby. Twenty years later, a man comes to her and she recognizes him as the killer, but he wants to talk to her, saying he is innocent. But before he can tell her the whole story, he is killed. Her father, sister and boyfriend all tried to dissuade her to talk to him. But who needed to keep him quiet? And why?
This murder mystery is full of family secrets, tension and drama. Told in dual POV/timeline (Lori - Jess's mother in the 90s/Jess today), I listened to the audio book, and the narration was good, but it would've been nice to have a better distinction between Lori and Jess's voices, it was sometimes confusing. It was hard to keep up with everyone at times. The plot was interesting, but it was a very slow burn, and the character's motivations are a bit far-fetched. This one was not bad, but not for me.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Jessica now 25 years later tries to figure out how her mother died when she was a toddler. Raised by her father, she is warned by him to leave the past in the past.
The past comes to meet the future when, the accused killer finds Jessica to proclaim his innocence

The Suspect Audiobook
Written by: Kathryn Croft
Narrated by: Tamsin Kennard
Published by: Bookouture Audio
Publication: February 8, 2023
Mystery and Thriller
General Adult Fiction

The Suspect had my phone on fire! Once this one started playing, there was no stopping. This book is SO good! Kathryn Croft delivers the story in past and present segments. The past is written from Laurie’s perspective in the early 90’s before her murder, and the present is from her Daughter Jess.

“My family said he killed my mother. They lied…

I was just a little girl, fast asleep in my stroller, the day my mother was killed. I don’t remember anything about the sunny day that turned so dark.”

When Jess meets the man accused of killing her mother, she has a nagging feeling that he is innocent, and she can’t let it go. He gives her information that she can’t stop thinking about. When she talks to her family about it, her father and stepmother immediately want her to leave it alone. “Why dig up the past?” Jess had a good support system growing up. She has a sister she adores too, but she always felt that she was missing a sense of calm in her life that she was sure others experience. The deeper Jess digs, the more things prove to be not what they seem.

Laurie is a doting young mother who’s world revolves around her two-year old daughter Jess. Sure, her life wasn’t exactly fitting the idea that her parents had pictured for her, but never-the-less, she is doing well, and her and jess are happy. She has a loving Fiancé, “Danny,” who is Jess’ father, and since they’ve been together for five years, hopefully soon, they will move in together and get married. At the mention of living together, things start to go down hill for Laurie. Her relationship isn’t what it seems, and nothing is turning out to be what it seems. Poor Laurie can’t catch a break, no matter what she does to create a great life for her and Jess.
One persons pushback is too much, and before you know it, the story is taking twists and turns the reader never saw coming. This was an audiobook for me, but had it been paper, the pages would have been turning non-stop! I couldn’t get enough of this story.

Kathryn Croft has us guessing a different suspect with every other chapter.
The narrator, Tamsin Kennard, delivered this with ease and just enough drama. Nothing was exaggerated where it didn’t need to be. The men all sounded somewhat stuffy, but to be expected I think, when you have a female reading the part. I couldn’t have read it better to myself.
There isn’t anything that I didn’t like about “The Suspect.”

This is my second book by Croft (Silent Lies was my first, 4.25-stars). I like that I can turn to this author when I want a page-turning psychological thriller that doesn't have much darkness and gruesome things. I wasn't as 'swept away' with this book as the last, and I did get a little tired of the "carrot and stick" to turn the page that I quickly tired of. Example "she opened the box and couldn't believe what she found..." and "not with what he did!" or "I know who killed your mother but I'm not going to tell you; you need to figure it out... okay I'll tell you meet me..."

This tool was overused here IMHO and I started to lose interest because I wasn't getting any reveals or information. One can only take so many of these vague references and end-of-chapter cliffhangers. I get tired of being in the dark and if you're going to do it for 70-80% of the book the reveal better be magnificent and here it was dull and boring... The jilted infertile woman is offensive and overdone as is the man having a second family.

For a compliment, the author opened can after can after can or worms and it worked. Sometimes I think authors go a little too far or try too hard or create too much "mystery" but here all the tangles and questions, despite there being so many, didn't harm my reading experience or make the story feel too bogged down or confusing. I often quip "take one thing off! this outfit has too many accessories!" in my reviews, but didn't feel that way here.

Lastly, there was a "confessional" at the end but it was pretty light and somewhat natural, so it didn't irk me as much as usual plus the author did do a good job of "showing" rather than telling throughout. I still really loathe confessionals and would rather the leading character discover something or figure it out in their head or let me put it together in mine.

I especially loved the little zinger in the epilogue.

The suspect
3.5 ⭐️

My family said he killed my mother… They lied

I listened to the audiobook thanks to NetGalley & Bookouture.
It was a nice entertaining read suspenseful maybe because I had it at 1.75x speed but it was perfect especially with the narrators accent.

By listening it was hard to follow all the different friends and families from current times and pasts maybe reading it in paperback or kindle it’ll be easier.

Story was not easy to follow but after 40% it had me hooked and I just wanted to know who killed her mother. Was it predictable yes but more of a good anticipated ending.

Twists, twists, and more twists... and the tension just kept building... it was incredible! I highly recommend this audiobook, but do make sure you have some free time, because once you start, you'll have to finish it. You were warned!
Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to listen to this advanced copy.

Domestic psychological thriller isnt my favorite, but this one grabbed my attention since the first sentences. I am lucky enough capable to enjoyed the story from both formats and that's truly help me to dive deeper into the story. The narrator doing very good job to make distinction difference between voices. I can recognize easily which one Jess and which one her mom Lara. The plot is slow burn deliciously when open all layers secrets I devoured at one sitting.

The Suspect is following a young photographer name Jess who for decades trying to continue life normally after her mother being killed at park when she was still toddler. The suspect never brought to justice until he come to approaches her on the street. This effort make her digging back the mysteries surround her mother death include open all family secrets.

Well.... This is my first read from the author and I love her storytelling style. It is give me hint melancholy at Lara POV and strong vibes at Jess part. It is rare skill from author to make distinction difference voice between characters. Some characters actions kinda odd and some filler found at plots part. But overall the story is solid, engaging and I enjoyed until last page.

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture Audio for provided my copy. I enjoyed my reading time and my thoughts are my own.

I liked it, but I don't think it's going to stick around in my mind for a long time.

I loved the dual timelines, seeing Laurie in the 1990s and Jess in the modern day trying to work out what happened to Laurie.

It was great to see Jess so supported by friends and family members throughout a time of emotional upheaval in her life, though the betrayal of one of them really didn't hit very hard because it was spoiled by the synopsis that I read before starting it. So, the entire book, I was distrusting (a certain character) until it was revealed that they weren't trustworthy in one of the FINAL REVEALS. I wish I could go back and start the book without knowing anything about it, but sadly, I can't, and The Suspect is relegated to a 3 star because I never got the desired reading experience from it.

I enjoyed the audiobook narrator, though I would have liked a little more voice differentiation between Laurie and Jess, as sometimes it was easy to get confused about what perspective it was in.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advance audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I listened to this audiobook in a single evening and genuinely couldn’t stop until I knew what had happened 😬
Loved the narrators voice and the story itself was completely immersive and captivating. It’s been awhile since a story has sucked me in so completely and I honestly enjoyed every second.

Jess’s mother was murdered when she was a baby. The story follows her mother before the murder and grown up Jess in the present day as she tries to find out what happened. We follow along to find out who the killer is and I did not guess that ending…😳
5⭐️

Jess is rattled when the man she believes killed her mother approaches her one day insisting he is innocent. Is he crazy? Does he have an ulterior motive? Is he just looking to frighten her....or is he telling the truth? Something about Nathaniel rings true, so Jess starts to investigate her mother's case on her own. Unfortunately, the more she tries to prove Nathaniel must be guilty.... the more convinced she becomes that someone else is responsible for her mother's death.

At first I found this one a little tough to get into for some reason, but it picked up quickly and once it did I couldn't put it down. The last 3/4 of the book got a little crazy burning through so many suspects so fast, but the end was surprising and overall I really enjoyed it.

Loved the suspense in this book and the character development from all perspectives and time frames! The conclusion came together really well and I did not expect it

The Stranger kept me guessing and had me hooked from the start and I finished it quickly.  I thought I knew who the guilty person was, but I was wrong.  Such a great, suspenseful story that I listened to on audio thanks to Netgalley. 
Jessica was sleeping in a childś buggy when her mother was murdered. She does not remember anything.  After twenty years a man she recognized from a news article approached her.  He is the man that is suspected of the murder and he tries to convince Jessica of his innocence.  He is found murdered and Jessica finds that everything is not as it seems and her family has not been completely honest with her. She is determined to find out the truth and why things have been kept hidden from her. 

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the audio book!