Thanks to Netgalley, Quercus Books and Catherine Steadman for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

WOW! Look in the Mirror was fantastic!
I absolutely LOVED it. I was hooked from the first chapter, I just couldn't put it down. It's definitely one of my favourites so far this year.

The storyline was intriguing, tense, twisted, and unique. The main characters, Nina and Maria, were strong, determined and interesting.

This is the third book I've read from Catherine, and I've loved all three of them. The Family Game and The Disappearing Act were both 5⭐️ reads too.
Her writing is superb. Her plots are genius, and her twists are amazing. I never see them coming.

I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

I VERY highly recommend.

5 stars from me. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Discovering that her father has left her a Caribbean villa in his will Nina Hepworth is intrigued as she knew nothing about it. Hoping to uncover why her father kept the property a secret from her, Nina travels to the villa, the start of a nightmare journey.

Catherine Steadman has created a psychological thriller in Look In The Mirror that will make you think twice about holiday accommodation. The author has tapped into that part of the human psyche that is obstinate enough to do something despite being told not to.

Nina Hepworth is a thirty-four-year-old academic, living in London. She's always had a close bond with her father who raised her alone after her mother died when she was a baby. Nina's father was a polymath, an acknowledged genius in mathematics, physics and civil engineering. With her father being her only close relative, Nina has struggled to come to terms with his death. Having such a close bond, it is therefore a huge surprise to discover her father had a Caribbean villa she knew nothing about. Perplexed, Nina decides to visit the villa in the hopes that she'll find some clues there about the secret her father has kept from her.

It is easy to put yourself in Nina's position, particularly if you have a close relationship with a relative. The raft of emotions she must be feeling are understandable; the feeling of betrayal, confusion and intrigue. It is also easy to understand her trepidation, is she likely to uncover a dark secret about the father she's always placed on a pedestal? Nina is aware that the only way she will get the answers she needs is to visit the villa.

Interwoven with Nina's story is that of Maria, a nanny, hired by wealthy families on short-term contracts. Arriving at their luxury villa before the rest of the family, Maria is told to relax, and make herself at home, but stay out of the basement. Her curiosity is piqued and eventually, she does the thing she's been expressly told not to, she enters the basement and a nightmare begins.

Over time it becomes obvious to the reader that the same villa features in both Nina and Maria's stories but the timings of when things are happening add confusion. This confusion is compounded when we are introduced to a few more characters who feature in both storylines. As the stories of the two main characters converge the timings begin to make sense and we discover how wealth and unchecked power can lead to horrific circumstances. However, we also witness the power of human endurance and the will to survive.

This one is a real page turner but a bit unexpected in the road it eventually travels - riveting though and full of action.

Nina inherits a house she had no knowledge of from her puzzle loving Dad but this is no ordinary house and things are about to get, well, puzzling.

The story rocks along and mixes a strong psychological thriller vibe with a touch of horror, there are plenty of twists and turns along the way and lands its ending well.

Overall a terrific read.

Nina inherits a gleaming dream vacation home in a balmy tropical paradise when her father dies. She had no idea that it existed. It is state-of-the-art, all glass and marble. Completely at odds with the father she knew. She turns up at the island for a visit.

Maria is a nanny for the super-rich. She arrives for a job but the children don't arrive. Her one instruction is not to enter the basement.
What happens if she does?
These two women have difficulties ahead they never even dreamt of.

I absolutely love Catherine Steadman. Every book is different except one thing: they are all brilliant. I like double story telling but what she does best of all is characters. I was totally enthralled from the first chapter. This one is going to be hard to beat. Book of the year so far!

I think the blurb for this book needs to be a lot clearer on what kind of book this is - it isn't the author's usual genre, it's more of a horror thriller, which really isn't my sort of thing so I would not have requested it had I been aware of this. Mismarketing the book is only going to do it a disservice.

For what it was, the book was well-written with some interesting characters and nicely described locations. I enjoyed the more character-driven parts such as Nina's exploration of her relationship with her father.

The ending felt a bit rushed with some loose ends - whose number did John give Lucinda to call to rescue them for instance?

Overall I would rate the book 3 stars as the writing style was nice but I am not really the target audience for this one.

This was interesting. But I'm left unsure how I really feel. The plot was very intriguing. I wanted to know the truth behind the house. But how it was written didn't fully work for me. I had figured out the timelines easily enough. But still something kept taking me out of the story. Sometimes things felt rushed. By the end I felt underwhelmed with the reveal. There was so much potential here.

I really love the direction this authors books are going in, absolutely loved the family game and really enjoyed this one too. It’s difficult to talk about without any spoilers but really quick chapters, a few different POVs and a lot of twists and turns. My only reason for knocking a star off is I felt the ending was a bit abrupt and a couple of loose ends.

Thank you to netgalley for providing an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I LOVED this book. Immediately gripping and suspenseful. Fantastic character development and the plot had me guessing.

When Nina’s father dies, she is left something in his will: a gleaming dream vacation home in a balmy tropical paradise. Still grieving her father's death, Nina learns she has inherited property in the British Virgin Islands—a vacation home she had no idea existed, until now. The house is extraordinary: state-of-the-art, all glass and marble. How did her sensible father come into enough money for this? Why did he keep it from her? And what else was he hiding?

This book was not what I thought it would be and to be honest I would not have requested it if I had known the path it would go down, it started off well and I was getting into it but once Nina had arrived at the British Virgin Islands, the whole storyline changed and this is just not my kind of book as it became like a locked room story which to me is now so overdone. Ok it was different as it was based on Nina’s father love of puzzles and games, but I feel the blurb was very misleading and the reason I do not want to say too much is that I do not want to spoil the plot for others. To be fair to the author I will give it 3 stars, but it is nothing like any other book I have read of hers nor what I expected from her.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for a copy of the book. All opinions expressed are my own.

When Nina's father dies, she inherits his estate, with a sizable estate in England. But then she receives a letter, advising her of a separate estate in the British Virgin Islands. A home awaits her there. Intrigued, having never known her father to even travel there, she takes a trip to explore the home.

In a separate narrative, we meet Maria, tasked to visit a home, working for the rich as a nanny. Except when she arrives, the family she will care for is not there. She stays, waiting, but odd things begin to occur.
We do see both of the narratives intertwine in a shocking twist that I definitely did not expect. This one was darker than I anticipated and absolutely wild. Another fabulous novel by the author.

Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books for this gifted review copy.

Read on a sunbed in Cyprus and really enjoyed it. The premise was inviting and like all of Catherine’s books she really pulls it out of the bag with the mysterious factor. Will be a summer blockbuster for sure.

I gave this book a try because I randomly found The family game and loved it but this one was truly dreadful.

It literally reads like a mood board.
An author had a million different unfinished ideas that were completely unrelated to each other and just said fuck it, I’ll make them stick by filling the gaps full of daddy issues, thoughts and descriptions.

There are too many unnecessary characters, A TON of descriptions and thoughts or feelings and random memories. Like girl, you’re probably dying in an extreme makeover escape room why the fuck do I have to read about your childhood memories from a trip to a beach that for some reason just now resurfaced?
Why do I need to know the full layout of a freaking island?

Then the actual revelation of the "mystery" is not very revealing like we literally don’t get to know pretty much anything.
We just skipped 2 years ahead with no idea how anyone got there, none of the people behind any of this or how they did all of that, not even the level of the involvement of daddy dearest in all of this.

I could not find a single redeeming thing in this, even if you throw all logic out the window it makes zero sense.

Thank you NetGalley and Quercus Books for the digital ARC!

What a deliciously unique book! I loved the craziness of the storyline. It was an adrenaline filled ride. So exciting!

Squid games + Escape room = Look in the mirror.

The premise and story line of the book is great and definitely a page turner. Overall a fun read and one I would pass around to friends and family.

I found a couple of things just pulled me out of the story and made the pace feel a little all over the place. Maria's storyline meant I kind of knew what was coming to Nina. I also found some descriptions repetitive (running at full- tilt) early on in the book.

Thank you to netGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this eARC and review.

Look in the Mirror by Catherine Steadman
●●●●●●●●Out 30th July 2024●●●●●●●●●
I read loads of psychological thrillers, and this book really does stand out from the rest in this genre. It's dark, mysterious, unpredictable, and at times , completely unexpected. That's not what I was expecting. But a brilliant read all the same. I stayed up way too late reading this book. Highly recommended and not entirely what you'll be expecting xx

I’ve read and enjoyed Catherine Steadman’s previous novels so was excited to read Look in the Mirror.

The story, for the most part, follows Nina, a Cambridge academic who discovers her father has left her a mysterious luxury house located in the British Virgin Islands. However, when she arrives there all is not as it seems….

From the beginning, I found this to be a gripping yet unsettling read! It is the kind of book that will keep you up at night as you want to read one more chapter! I really enjoyed the split narrative and different points of view. Maria’s chapters were when the tension ramps up and as a reader you are left with a lot of moments wondering what on earth is actually going on in this house! A thrilling read.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Netgalley.

When Nina's father dies, she inherits a gleaming dream vacation home in a balmy tropical paradise - one she had no idea existed. The house is extraordinary: state-of-the-art, all glass and marble. How did her sensible father ever have enough money for this? And why not tell her about it? Desperate to uncover why he hid such a big secret, she decides to visit.

The above description had me intrigued. What I read, I was not expecting, I don't want to give anything away. I found the book easy to read, a page turner, but I felt there were missing bits towards the end to answer some questions and I didn't feel like I had closure.

This was a heck of a read! Catherine Steadman's books are always good, but I'm not sure I've read one quite as tense and scary as this. The initial setup with the locked, and then unlocked, room was genuinely terrifying.

Nina, a thirty-four year old academic, mourning the death of her beloved father, the distinguished John Stanley Hepworth, is - to put it mildly - surprised to learn that he's apparently left her a previously unsuspected house in the British Virgin Islands. Naturally, she has to go out there to see it, and also to figure out why on earth her father owned a house in a place which to the best of her knowledge he'd never been to.

Alongside Nina's first person narrative (it changes to third person halfway through, for some reason), we follow another young woman, Maria, hired as a temporary nanny to a super rich family. It's not clear for a good while whether Maria's story is happening concurrently, before, or after Nina's, and the timeline of events does - intentionally - warrant a bit of head-scratching.

As things get weirder (a lot weirder) for both women, questions become ever more compelling about who can be trusted and - for Nina especially - whether everything she's ever believed in can really be so horribly wrong.

It's best not to say too much, but this was an absolutely gripping and frightening read. Yes, you have to suspend disbelief a bit (thankfully) but so what?

Having read a previous book by Catherine Steadman and found th read to be just ok I was a bit unsure how I would find this book. It was ok nothing super exciting but good enough to whome away a couple of hours