Thank you NetGalley and the Publisher for the audiobook of The Perfect Date by Julia Crouch in exchange of an honest review.
"Prepare for a rollercoaster ride of tantalizing suspense in 'The Perfect Date' by Julia Crouch. This gripping thriller follows Caz, who finds herself entangled in a web of mystery and danger after two of her dates end up dead. As she returns to her hometown seeking solace, she is faced with the harrowing possibility of being stalked or framed. Crouch expertly weaves a tale of past and present, keeping readers on the edge of their seats with nail-biting suspense and mind-bending twists. With a hauntingly perfect ending that will leave you shocked, 'The Perfect Date' is a must-read for fans of gripping psychological thrillers."

I was really struggling with what to rate this book. Finally settling for a 3, but 3.5 would be my true rating. The beginning was a struggle. I had a hard time staying engaged. 50% in the story picked up and the last 25-30% was truely thrilling. I did guess the villian pretty early. I am glad i stuck it out and finished the book. The title is a little misleading. The date/dating is a minor part honestly.

Caroline is a dog walker who just moved back in with mom. A year ago Carolineś 'boyfriend was found dead. Now, while she is walking a clientś dog, she finds a dead body. It turns out to be a man she was supposed to go out on a date with that evening. Is it just a coincidence? When one of her clients goes missing, Caroline realizes this all cannot be just a coincidence and she is terrified. Will there be anymore deaths? Is someone out to get Caroline?

This was a quick read and I enjoyed it, giving it a strong 5 stars.

Thank you #Netgalley and #Bookoture for the copy of this book!

This was a great thriller! I was constantly trying to guess what was going to happen and was wrong every time. LOL

I would like to thank the author, Bookouture and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the audiobook. I think there were some great things about this book and loved the twists and turns along the way. I did have some trouble connecting with the main character and I think part of that was due to the narrator. I don’t think the narration was bad by any means, it just wasn’t my favorite. I’ve had some really amazing narrations recently and this one fell a little flat for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this audiobook. I will be sharing my honest opinion without any other’s influence.

I love thrillers and read them quite often. This wasn’t it for me. I want my thrillers to be thrilling. This just lagged for me. There wasn’t enough tension to keep me going. I fell asleep listening to this more times than I should admit to.

The funny part is that the date didn’t really come until close to halfway in, and nothing really happened there. Caroline/Caz/Caza (the MC) finds the dead body of a man she had met on a dating app. From there, it’s a total comedy of errors that includes working for her former best friend as a dog walker/house sitter, her gay best friend telling her not to date her old boyfriend, and her severely disfigured pothead mother keeping secrets from her until we find out who the killer is. The killer is very obvious from almost the moment they met. There was never a question of who it was for me.

This is the first title I’ve read by Julia Crouch. I will for sure try some other titles that she’s written. I just hope the others have the tension that makes thrillers what they are.

Dogs really are man’s best friend and in The Perfect Date, Joe, an unlikely name for a dog, saves the day! This psychological thriller kept me on my toes and guessing all of the wrong suspects until there was only one option left; I enjoyed each chapter being left on a cliffhanger and the audio narration was well done!

BLOG TOUR REVIEW

Review for 'The Perfect Date' by Julia Crouch.

Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Julia Crouch, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous

Publication date 6th October 2023.


This is the third book I have read by this author. I have also read 'The New Mother' and 'The Daughters' which I would also highly recommend!


This novel consists of 42 chapters. The chapters are short to medium in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!


What an absolutely fantastically written book with vivid descriptions that make your heart raise and keeps you on the edge of your seat!!! The cover, synopsis and title suit the book perfectly!!

This book has a very realistic storyline and one which I was completely invested in. Once I picked it up I could not put it down so if you are about to read this then make sure you clear your schedules. If your not going to read it then a) why the heck not?!?! And b) definitely your loss!!! . It is absolutely filled with family, drama, crime, deception, love, tension, lies, suspense and a few shocks and twists thrown in!!! It was a complete minefield of twists and turns and I just had no idea who to believe. I was definitely not expecting the twists or the ending so a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Julia. I have read thousands of thrillers so it is getting harder and harder to shock me but you managed to completely blow my mind! The fact that Julia has done her research shines through. There is not much worse than a book filled with errors that have could easily have been avoided through research. I loved the addition of Caz's dog Joe who had a personality of his own. I'm a massive animal lover and even run my own cat rescue (Golden Oldies Cat Rescue And Hospice) so any storylines with animals playing large parts are always a huge bonus for me and Joe was definitely a big part in this fab read! I absolutely loved the mind-blowing twist at the end which I would have never seen coming!!! As always Julia's fantastic evocative writing skills had me completely invested and absorbed from the very first to the very last word!!

This is one of the few books that I have listened to 100% on Audiobook. If I listen to a book on audiobook I usually also read the physical book between but this time I listened to the whole book and I was impressed! I must say a HUGE congratulations to the narrator Sarah Durham who did an amazing job bringing this story and the characters to life with both male and female characters. I have previously listened to Liz Lawler's 'The Nurse's Secret', 'The Doctors Wife', 'The Doctors Widow's and 'The Family On Smith Street' that were all also narrated by Sarah Durham and I would highly recommend listening to or reading them all as they are other fantastic page turners from other great authors!! I would listen to it in the car and while walking at any opportunity. I'm not only looking forward to reading more books by Julia but also to listening to more books narrated by Sarah!

I was completely invested in the characters, especially the gorgeous Joe!!! My heart went out to Caz who had been betrayed by her childhood friend, her mum had been left disabled and now her dates keep turning up dead!!! What I love about her is that she still stays strong when everything around her is tumbling and is determined to find out what is going on. I adored her relationship with her mum Ruth and both had me smiling and laughing on several occasions which helped to lift the dark and twisty atmosphere. I won't say anything else as this is the type of book that leaves you questioning many of the characters and I don't want to risk giving anything away. Regardless of how you feel about any of them though they each played their part is this gripping storyline perfectly!! Julia's evocative writing skills and Sarah's fantastic narration brings each and every one of them to life!!! Congratulations both!!


Congratulations Julia on one heck of a page turning psychological read!!! I absolutely loved reading this book and have already added all your previous books to my wish list. I look forward to reading more of your previous and future books. I would absolutely LOVE to see this turned into a movie which I can guarantee will be a sell out!! This is why you are in my favourite authour club!!! Here's to your next success 🥂

Make sure you read to the very end of the book to read the first chapter of Julia's 'The Daughters' which is actually one I have already read and if you enjoyed this book then I can guarantee you will love that one too. I would highly recommend reading it!!!

Overall an absolutely page turning, intense, heart racing psychological thriller that will get you addicted!!!


332 pages/ 9 hours 24 minutes


This book is just 99p to purchase, free with kindle unlimited, £8.99 on paperback and £16 for the audiobook via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!


Rated 5 /5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.

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This audiobook really gripped me, I was always wondering where the story was going to go next and was always surprised. It's about a dog walker called Caz and she ends up unfortunately encountering a body and not for the first time either. I'd definitely listen to this again, thanks netgalley for giving me a copy of this.

I am scratching my head as to why this is titled The Perfect Date. This is a mystery story revolving around a dog walker who has had some dastardly coincidences happen to her. I felt it started out strong but got slow in the middle.

What an absolutely astounding piece! I haven't read a thriller in quite a while and Julia Crouch had me firmly in her clutches the entire time. It was so compelling I read half the book in one day!

Caz and co. really go through the wringer in this book. It's bad enough two men she's dated end up dead and that she and her trusty dog Joe are the ones to find their bodies. But when things start going out of control and get creepier and creepier, everyone in her circle is at risk.

I will absolutely read more Julia Crouch books, especially if they are anywhere as gripping and rife with twists and turns like The Perfect Date.

Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for this advance copy in exchange for my review.

I thought this was a really good concept and I enjoyed it. It was exactly what you want from a whodunnit style thriller.
The chapters were short and engaging, and the cast of characters were all questionable. (Including Caz and her bad luck. Or is it bad luck....)

A good who done/is doing it with plenty of twists and turns along the way. A lot of characters to provide lots of "could it be" moments but also a few "I saw that coming" moments. All in all, an enjoyable listen!

3.75ish stars

The protagonist of this story really has the worst luck, to put it mildly. There was a lot going on in the book, and the ending was implausible at best; it wasn’t unenjoyable, though, and I was hooked at a few different points. I’m glad I was able to explore this story.

I know dating can be rough, but wow what poor Caz goes through in this one. She finds a guy dead that she met and dated from a dating app. If that isn’t traumatizing enough, she’s housesitting for a while as a break from life and that owner/friend appears to be missing. Eek! I’m glad I am not friends with her. Due to a mysterious event in her past, she is not wanting to contact the police with all the weirdness in her life. And there are either really weird things happening or many coincidences.

Because of the tone of the writing, I wasn’t feeling very sympathetic for Caz, but I was terribly interested in finding out if my guess of what was happening was correct. I jumped right onto something that felt off for me and while I had the correct suspect, I was so far off in my reason why. But isn’t that what makes a good thriller?

At times I was reading and other times I was listening to this one and really liked Sarah Durham’s narration of the story. She kept me engaged and still focused on the story.

It’s a little bit of a cat and mouse game as the villain sends her notes and has her surveilled. There are multiple men in her life that are advising her and I couldn’t decide who was helping her and who was in it for themselves. It really was a enjoyable read to see if Caz would find the man of her dreams or maybe end up six feet under.

I really enjoyed this Audio book and took t0 Kaz the main character straight away
Is it a coincidence when 2 guys she has dated turn up dead ? Lots of twists and turns that keep you guessing right up to the end my ideal book I had listen to it in a couple of days

On a positive side, the chapters were fast paced, the cover is very eye-catching and the colour palette was very well used. Cover definitely served its purpose, as well as the title.

The beginning was fine for testing the waters, but shortly after the first quarter of the book the story stalled and it didn't pick up till the literal end. I didn't really care for the "reveal" by the time I started skimming through, a lot of parts could be skipped and I feel like the end had the same impact as if I hadn't.

The premise was good but the story didn't deliver at all, the characters weren't boring but they weren't enough to salvage the dullness of the story.

Interesting concept. I was on the edge of my seat trying to figure out who was behind all the disappearing. I do think the audiobook narrator wasn't for me, but I did enjoy it and recommend to mystery/thriller fans.


Thank you NetGalley for the audio-arc version of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book is the perfect 'whodunnit' murder mystery if you love that kind of book, because there's not one but two murders and multiple characters that are questionable at best! The author has written this book in a way that you actually suspect multiple different characters at various points throughout the story, and for me, this kept me listening and wanting to know more.

It is fast-paced, with short chapters and lots of twists & turns along the way. It kept me guessing for just over half the book and then I figured out who was behind the killings and the other things happening - in a way I think this let the book down a little bit for me but perhaps that's just because I really love being kept guessing and in suspense right until the very end.

I've given it four stars due to me guessing early on, and finding some of the other twists quite predictable but honestly if you're into thrillers and whodunnits' then I'd 100% recommend you pick up this book. It's gripping and suspenseful and it's full of dogs - what's not to love!?

Thank you to Netgally & Bookouture Audio for my free pre-publication copy in exchange for my honest review.

Well this one had some fun twists in it. I couldn’t stop listening to this one. I needed to know who the killer was. And once I had it figured out I had to know who else was going to die and how things were going to wrap up. I liked Julia’s writing style. It was easy to connect with Caroline and Ruth. I understood Caroline’s distrust in the police and so many of the men she came in contact with. Sarah Durham did a great job with the narration. I loved her accent.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for my ALC of this book.