I Know You

I love all of Claire McGowan's books - she knows how to expertly weave a terrifying scenario into every day life, filled with compelling characters and excellent twists and turns.

Talk about lousy luck, Rachel has stumbled across a dead body, not once, but twice. The first time she was at the scene when police arrived and ended up being a prime suspect. This time she knows she should run, because the body belongs to the estranged wife of her boyfriend, so she’s already a suspect. Her strategy is to keep her past hidden, because twenty years earlier, she was convicted of murdering the family that she was a nanny for. She went to jail for it, barely escaping the death penalty, and when she was released she changed her identity hoping to finally prove her innocence, but now she’s in trouble again. No one will believe she wasn’t involved this time, so Rachel has to find the real killer herself….and she has a pretty good idea where to look

Thank you Thomas & Mercer, NetGalley and Author for this readers ebook copy in return for an honest review!

I really enjoyed this book, which had me turning the pages from start to finish. Good twists.
this was a gripping read. I enjoyed the characters, thought that it was all just cleverly written.
I couldn't imagine being accused of something you didn't do.... Especially murder!.
I like to think that it would make someone seriously lose their damn mind! I know it would me! Sheesh!.
So I feel for the main character because I couldn't fathom what she is dealing with or feeling!
Providing so many angles and different ideas thoroughly added to my enjoyment of this narrative.
So compulsively readable and intriguing, I could not put this one down until I knew how it ended. Oh the twists and the turns and the theories that I had, that were all wrong by the way! 

Thanks again NetGalley, Publisher and Author for the chance to read and review this amazing book!
I'll post to my Social media platforms closer to pub date!

Thank you Thomas & Mercer,and NetGalley for allowing me to read an arc of this book. This book felt really long. Both POVs were in the first person and there was so much description. The story would have been much tighter if some of it had been edited. But,the story was good, if sometimes a bit muddled. and Casey was a great character. Rachel was ok but annoying. The ending took me by surprise - I had a different idea in mind!

A cleverly designed and well executed thriller, I Know You will keep you on the edge of your seat until the truth is finally revealed. Claire McGowan delivers a strong and intriguing novel that makes you feel the pain and desperation of being accused of crimes you didn’t commit.

Rachel Caldwell is walking her dog when she stumbles across a dead body in the woods near her home in the British Lake District. While most people would call the police, Rachel’s first instinct is to run away as fast as she can. You see, last time she was found at the scene with dead bodies she was accused and convicted of murdering 3 members of the Safran family for whom she nannied, incarcerated on death row for several years before being exonerated and released. And once the victim is identified, Anna, the estranged wife of her current boyfriend, realizes her instinct was correct since she’s now the prime suspect. Trying to keep her past from coming to light, thinking it’ll make her look even guiltier than the police already believe given the mounting evidence pointing at her, Rachel must figure out on her own what happened to keep herself out of prison once again.

There are two aspects to I Know You that work really well. First, it’s how the story goes back and forth between current day and flashbacks. This approach allows for a slow drip of clarity, doling out puzzle pieces one at a time to build suspense while you build your own hypotheses. Which leads to the second great aspect of keeping you guessing all the way until the end. Even when you think you’ve figured it out, the book offers new information that seeds doubt in your mind, leading you to flip flop on your opinion multiple times for who killed Ana and what happened in the Safran home 20 years ago. So even if you actually do figure it out early on in the book, you won’t be sure until the end. It plays games with your mind and makes you question what’s right in front of you. A great trait of a solid murder mystery.

I KNOW YOU follows an interesting pattern of the main character's life. In her early years, she was known by her legal name Casey Adams; after turmoil which landed her in an American prison on death row, she got back to England and began using her middle name Rachel and married surname Caldwell (haven't we all? :wink:) Since Rachel is her present time period name, I'll use that.

I felt for Rachel like I did with our real world's Amanda Knox. I cannot imagine how terrifying it would be to end up in prison in a foreign country and on death row no less. Even with a common language, British English and American English differences were enough to cause yet more grief and add to the perceived guilt of poor Rachel.

McGowan did a perfect job of bouncing through time from the Casey years to the Rachel years. Casey's nineteen-year-old naïve period as an au pair for a pretentious, high-maintenance Los Angeles couple with two children are chapters of pure muscle-tightening tension. Expect to grind your teeth when reading about Casey trying to deal with a spoiled and abused little girl, Madison, and her anorexic, angry mother Abigail. David, the husband/father, seems like Casey only ally and she dreams of being cast in one of his films. David's drinking and mercurial moods give Casey mixed signals. For such a young woman who was still trying to hold onto her dreams, the family drives her to the brink of collapse.

The entire Safran family except for baby Carson is composed of manipulative, self-serving people. When everyone except the baby is murdered, the nanny -- who dared to have social media images of her partying back in England -- was quickly arrested and convicted. The Innocence Project handles her appeal in what the media dubbed The Mary Poppins Murders.

The present/later years when going by Rachel, readers are lulled into a false sense of security, but never truly lets her guard down. She is protective of anyone offering her food or drinks. She changes her hair and dresses frumpy to be sure she's never called promiscuous again. Rachel volunteers at a dog shelter where she is truly happy though never relaxed. She falls in love with the wrong man, Alex, and her life falls apart in the worst ways. What are the odds of Rachel stumbling upon yet another dead body? This time, at least she's in her home country but in a quiet, small town. Of course you know she'll be the prime suspect again.

What McGowan does that keeps the suspense going is methodically dropping in new potential suspects in the murder of Anna Devine. Where does Jeremy, Rachel's ex-husband and only champion, fit into the equation? Did someone follow Rachel from the US to the UK specifically to frame her again for murder?

The ending, not necessarily the reveal of Anna Devine's killer, but the events that unfold are quite surprising. Rachel isn't the only one with a secret identity (to be honest, I figured out this other person easily), but she has to make another decision about whether someone is friend or foe. Then she has to weigh her past, her previous behavior, her experience with the judicial systems (and the public and media) -- and decide what course of action is best. Does Rachel rise to the occasion and face another battle or does she flee? I won't dare spoil that.

Rachel represents the average heterosexual woman who makes terrible mistakes in judgment as most of us do at one time or another, especially when only nineteen. She has one friend and yet she doesn't feel connected to him at all. Even Jeremy wanted something from her -- love. No one ever gives Rachel a helping hand simply to be nice. She is weathered and traumatized. As a grown woman, Rachel's dog is honestly the only unconditional love she has and even that gets taken away from her for a while.

While I Know You may get on lists for "women's fiction" or "women's reading" or "women in crime" -- Rachel is the type of protagonist that men should read to see this side of what some women want. She can be shallow (a defense mechanism). She can be passionate. Ultimately, it's Rachel's street smarts that keep her alive. Male readers are perhaps used to the "unkillable male hero" like John McClane or Harry Bosch. This portrayal of intimate partner/domestic violence shows all the flaws of the female hero that is often lacking in male counterparts.

I was tempted to mark this down a notch (but only to 4.5) because it took me a few chapters to get into it but decided to ignore that because once I was in there, I enjoyed it very much.
There are two stories, Casey's and Rachel's. They are the same person, the former being a younger version of a woman who has a nasty habit of getting accused of murders she didn't commit. I found Casey's story the most compelling of the two but that's not to say that I didn't enjoy what Rachel had to say too. I will look out fro more by this author if this is the standard that I can expect.
Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Clearly the author is a master of prose and storytelling! Quite an interesting plot and twists. I can appreciate the discussions demonstrating the differences between the UK and the US throughout.

It seems every book or almost every book I read lately has then and now time periods…I prefer remaining in the present time with a general omniscient narrator or told in the first person…the chapters of each person’s viewpoint and the chapters going into the past do not permit a novel to flow…Entertaining…so to speak…this book was sent to me electronically by Netgalley for review…. There is murder and mayhem…intrigue…some romance albeit it not healthy relationships…child abuse…dysfunctional family dynamics…the story is a quick read and guessing early on the murderer is evident…The author is good at her craft when weaving a story together with a plausible ending…

This was a pretty entertaining read! I liked the back and forth between past and present, it gave the storyline some dynamic and kept the reader guessing, although I did figure out the twists and the ending anyway, but I didn't mind that much. Casey was a really fun character and I grew quite attached to her, whereas Rachel was a bit boring. I did like how the storylines came together in the end, I would've liked a bit more from the ending though, just something more shocking and twisted. The plot and pacing itself were good though, although I felt the book was quite long and therefore I sometimes grew a bit bored.

I liked the writing style, especially in Casey's POV chapters, it was really dynamic and easy to read and probably the reason I finished this in one sitting. I might look at other books of this author, I really liked how the story was delivered.

Good book!! Wow I felt so bad for the main character! Although she wasn't as innocent as I thought lol thus book had suspense, intrigue, and a great who done it! So many twists and turns! I'm usually really good at guessing the bad guy but this book took me a while to figure everything out! I definitely recommend reading this one! Its well worth reading! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

(Thank you Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for my review.)

i say this all the time: i’m not a fan of flashbacks but i really enjoyed them in this one. i think i preferred reading casey’s POV more than rachel, but i was equally interested in both mysteries.

the story was suspenseful enough, though i managed to correctly the guess the killer of both crimes early on, which i think was quite obvious/easy once you’re deep into both narratives, and have picked up on enough hints. i didn’t expect the ending, but kinda knew it was somewhat headed there, so there’s that.

i really liked the writing style and i’m sure i’ll be picking up more of this author. all in all, decent mystery and interesting story! i can’t say it was anything mind blowing, but it was definitely good!

While this was a mystery I read quickly, actually skimmed quickly, I have conflicting thoughts about it. A little too much of the slash genre for me. Perhaps not so much blood and better development of the story line would have helped.

Another great read by Claire McGowan!! This was an intense, terrifying thriller that had me biting my nails!

Meet Rachel Caldwell. While walking her dog one morning, alone in the woods, she stumbles upon a dead body. So, what does she do? Well folks, she runs for her life! Because this isn't her first rodeo. This has happened to her before. And to make matters worse, she soon discovers that the dead body is her boyfriend's soon to be "ex" wife, making Rachel the prime suspect.

Twenty years ago, Casey Adams flies to LA to become a nanny and home helper to the well renowned Safran family: David, Abby and their two children, Madison (5) and Carson (6mos.). Worst mistake of her life! One morning, when Casey returns back to the Safran house after taking Carson for a stroll, she finds herself in the middle of a crime scene. David, Abby and Madison are all dead. Murdered. She calls 911 and hides with the baby in a closet. When the police arrive, Casey is immediately placed under arrest for the murders. She is convicted at trial and sentenced to death row. After spending 4 years in prison, with the help of a friend and volunteers of the Innocence Project, Casey is exonerated at her appeal for lack of sufficient evidence and set free. If only the rest of the world were that forgiving. They all still see her as a murderer. So, to save face and with the hope of becoming invisible, Casey moves back to her homeland in the UK and changes her name to Rachel Caldwell.

Bouncing back and forth between past and present, the reader has two mysteries that need to be solved. Who killed Anna? And what really happened at the Safran home twenty years ago?

While I enjoyed this story a lot, I felt that I had it all figured out too soon. I was hoping for just a little more. With that being said, I definitely recommend this book to others. It is a very well worth the read!

Thank you to Amazon Publishing UK / Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for allowing me advanced access to this digital copy!

Rachel finds a body in the woods while walking her dog. She runs away and doesn't call the police. The victim is found to be her boyfriend Alex's estranged wife, Anna. She is now the prime suspect. Twenty years earlier Rachel had a different life, she was named Casey and working as a nanny for a family in Los Angeles. The entire family was murdered except for the young son Carson. All the evidence was against her and she went to prison. She was able to get out on an appeal but now it seems her past is back to haunt her. After changing her identity someone knows who she is. Are they framing her for the murder of Alex's wife or did she really commit both of these crimes?

This was my favorite novel from Claire McGowan to date. I loved the alternating time lines and characters. The story about Casey being a nanny for a wealthy family in L.A. was very intriguing. I thought I had all of the answers figured out in this mystery but I was clearly wrong. I highly recommend this fantastic novel!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be posted to my Instagram Blog (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the near future.

This thriller let me spellbound. It’s an intricately weaved story full of twists and turns. I didn’t see the ending coming but I loved it. I highly recommend this for all thriller lovers.

This was a sold 4.5 for me, it it told by two different perspectives, two different timeline, what happens when you find a body. what happens if it isn't the first body you have found? This was an enjoyable quick read, i guessed a lot of the twists but that didn't take away from reading it. There are also some side issues discussed, who is innocent, who gets saved, who is considered important and how that plays into the criminal justice system

For me,there were few surprises in this book,other than how much Casey whinged about ONLY being 19 and having to do SO much.
The story went pretty much where I expected it to.
However,it was an enjoyable read,with a good dual narrative,and just the right amount of information at the right time.
I curled up with it one afternoon and raced through it.

You get two engaging and thoroughly entertaining mysteries in one with this thriller by Claire McGowan! I was immediately interested in the story and characters, and the ending wrapped everything up nicely; I was able to guess one of the big plot twists, but several other twists were fun and surprising; a little slow at the mid-point. I recommend this book, as well as, MGowan’s What You Did. I look forward to more books by this author!

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for the advanced reader’s copy of this book.

Outstanding Suspense…
Outstanding suspense from a talented author which starts with a hook and doesn’t let the grip go until the very last page. Characters are entirely credible and well defined and the plot is brilliantly conceived, becoming tense and almost claustrophobic very quickly as the reader is drawn into the protagonists’ emotional state and predicaments. An edge of seat read.

#IKnowYou #NetGalley
A good novel.
Rachel stumbles upon a body in the woods, she knows what she has to do: run. Get away. Do not be found at the scene. Last time, she didn’t know, and she ended up accused of murder. But when this victim is identified as her boyfriend’s estranged wife, Rachel realises she’s already the prime suspect.
With mounting evidence against her, Rachel’s only hope is to keep the truth about herself well hidden. Because twenty years ago she was someone else—Casey, a young nanny trying to make it as an actress in Los Angeles. When the family she worked for were brutally murdered, all the evidence pointed to her and she went to prison. Back then, she narrowly escaped the death penalty and managed to free herself on appeal. Now she’s fighting to save the life she’s spent years piecing back together. But with her behaviour raising suspicion and the police closing in, Rachel can’t help wondering: Was her discovery in the woods really just an awful coincidence, or is someone framing her for murder?
Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for giving me an advance copy.

What happens if you find a body? If you are a reader of thrillers, you probably have already imagined how you would act, what you would do. Now, what would you do if this wasn't the first body you had ever found?
Rachel lives a quiet lonely life in a small town. She stumbles upon a body in the woods and makes a decision that changes her life - what would you do?

I enjoyed this novel - very twisty, very interesting and fast moving. I liked the point of view of Casey much more than that of Rachel. I didn't guess the ending and it was very satisfying. If you like murder and mayhem and twisty domestic thrillers, than this is a book for you! #NetGalley #IKnowYou

3.5⭐️
This is my first book by this popular author. A psychological standalone thriller.
The main character has led a tumultuous life.
In her earlier years she was Casey a young nanny working in LA when her employers are murdered she is found guilty of the crime and sent to prison. She was released on appeal.
Now 20 years later with a new identity as Rachel she finds a body in the woods, this time her instinct is to run.
The book is told between the 2 time frames using the main characters 2 identities.
Rachel / Casey doesn’t come over as a likeable character but when we see what she’s been through it did make me feel sorry for the her, there are some emotional scenes, which are well written.
My favourite character is the doggedly determined Jeremy, although he was somewhat obsessive.

I found the pace slow, it felt like it dragged for much of the book.
There’s a fair bit of repetition. The basic premise of the plot is good.
I felt that the final section of the book is much stronger and more engaging with a good infusion of tension.
I think you would enjoy this book if you are happy with a slow burn concentrating on the characterisation.

✨BOOK REVIEW

Thank you to @netgalley and @amazonpubliahingg for my ARC of I Know You by Claire McGowen.

SYNOPSIS; When Rachel stumbles upon a dead body on her daily morning walk with her dog, she does not alert the police like a normal person. No, she runs home, goes about her morning as she normally would and pretends she never saw it. That is what you do when the last time you discovered a dead body you ended up wrongly convicted of murder. When the police come knocking on her door a few hours later, she learns that the body belongs to the wife - soon to be ex- of her lover, Alex. Before she knows it, evidence is piling up against her and she begins to search for the victims killer, realizing she is only person who is going to get her out of this mess…

- [ ] This novel follows two mysteries, the brutal murders of the family that Casey / Rachel nannied for twenty years ago in America, and the present day murder of Anna, Casey / Rachel’s lover’s wife.
- [ ] The dual timeline POV was interesting and suspenseful, keeping my engaged throughout. As a true crime fan, I particularly enjoyed the past storyline and the homage to the Casey Anthony case.
- [ ] While I really enjoyed reading this novel and found the story fresh, I did feel as though the ending was a bit predictable; I successfully guessed how the past murder went down, and saw as one of the major “twists” coming from very early on. Still, I enjoyed this story and appreciated how it high lighted how screwed up the American justice system can be and the repercussions being falsely convicted can have on someone’s life.

I Know You is a gripping read that ends up being less about the mystery and more about the strong female lead. McGowan manages to make her main gal endearing to the reader, even though we aren’t completely certain if she is the protagonist she claims to be (who doesn’t love a slightly unreliable narrator?)

While the mystery aspect wasn’t all that mysterious for me, I still found myself drawn in and unable to put this book down. I read it in less than 24 hours.

At the start of the novel we are introduced Rachel, a quiet middle-aged woman who has just started to find happiness with her new love interest, Alex. One morning, while walking her dog, Rachel comes across a dead body and everything changes. Being tangled up in a homicide investigation means some very dark secrets from Rachel’s past have come back to haunt her and the small town she now calls home. McGowan masterfully bounce back and forth between the present day murder and a mystery that has been unsolved for over 20 years and manages to keep the reader rooting for the most obvious suspect to be deemed innocent.

As I said before, the outcome of both conflicts in the story do not provide any jaw-dropping twists, but McGowan builds up a solid story with proper foreshadowing and the right amount of suspense to keep a reader enthralled.

I’m looking forward to reading another of her books!

Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the free digital copy in exchange for an honest & fair review.

Thank you Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for the eARC.
Wow, what a terrific psychological thriller this is, I couldn't wait to get back to it, to the point of ignoring most of my chores.
Rachel is walking her dog in the early morning as usual, when she finds a body in the woods. At least she thinks it is, wasn't there a hand sticking out? As fast as she can, she runs away, back to her house, terrified. Unfortunately, the victim is her boyfriend's soon to be ex-wife and she becomes the main suspect.
A nightmare come true, because 20 years ago she was a nanny in LA, a 19-year old innocent trying to cope with a dysfunctional family in a strange country and an unfriendly city. The family was killed, except for the baby who was with her hiding in a closet and Casey, as Rachel was then, ended up in jail for the murders. When released she went back to the UK, changed her name and location and started a new life, all the while terrified she would be discovered. That's why she ran ... a big mistake.
I really loved the book, loved Rachel and was fascinated by the descriptions of LA and death row prison life (horrifying!). A must-read, highly entertaining and recommended!

While I liked the dual timeline story, I still felt this was so implausible. I knew who the killers where early on so the rest of the story just seemed like fluff to me, I feel there could have been more suspense in the story to keep you guessing longer.

This was such a great read. I read it one session it was so addictive as I wanted to know how it ended - even though I had guessed the ending, there was enough doubt to make it interesting.

I had one unresolved issue though - how she was funding her lifestyle. I must have missed this explanation.

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

This is another great thriller by Claire McGowan. I was super excited to read this new book and wasn’t disappointed.
There were plenty of twists and turns throughout that kept the intrigue level high.
It’s 4 stars overall for me as I felt the pace slowed midway through.
However, overall it’s a great book and one that I’d recommend.

While walking her dog, in the woods behind her house, Rachel stumbles across a body. Most people would call the police but Rachel knows what she has to do...run. The body is identified as the estranged wife of the man she has been seeing and once again Rachel finds herself as the prime suspect in a murder investigation. Twenty years prior, Rachel went by the name of Casey, a young nanny from the UK hoping to make it as an actress in LA. When the family she was working for is brutally murdered, Casey is accused of the crime narrowly escaping the death sentence with an appeal. Someone knows who Rachel really is, mounting evidence points to her, and she is running out of time to find the real killer.

I Know You is a new crime thriller/mystery in which a woman's suspicious behavior at a murder scene suggest she is the killer. The story follows Rachel (present day) and Casey (Rachel 20 years prior) as she navigates through two murder investigations in which she is the prime suspect. This novel was what I consider to be a perfect weekend read. It wasn't too complex but offered just enough mystery and intrigue to not want to put it down. This was a quick read in which the main character makes poor choices and ends up in wrong place at the wrong time…coincidence or part of a killer’s devious plan.

I had to stay up to finish this one. A quick read and mystery within a mystery which is not always something I love. This was done well. Free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, book publishes 10/19/21

Rachel is shocked to stumble upon a body in the woods, but instead of calling the police she runs... because she has been through this before and ended up being put on death row. As she finds out she knows the victim, it seems she is again the prime suspect of a murder... Determined not to be wrongly convicted again, she must find out who the killer is and why they are setting her up for the murder...

A thrilling and tense story that keeps you turning the pages until the shocking ending. Full of twists and turns, this book really does keep you guessing. Recommended!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of the book in return for my honest feedback.

This was the first book by this author that I have read and it was a fun read. It hooked me right from the beginning, and even though it was kind of obvious what was going on I still enjoyed it.

Rachel used to be Casey aka the Mary Poppins killer. She was nannying in LA when the family was murdered and she was charged with their deaths and put on death row. Only she was released on appeal and now is trying to live a quiet life back home in the UK. She doesn't want anyone to know who she really is, she has a boyfriend and a volunteer position at an animal shelter and things are good. Until she comes across another dead body and runs. The police track her down and it looks like someone is trying to set her up but who? And why?

Now our main character was a bit...at one point she says you should use Occam's razor to figure this all out...only she definitely doesn't. She jumps to some odd conclusions at times, especially after finding out certain things. Even though I thought it was obvious, Rachel couldn't put 2 and 2 together...but I still enjoyed it. Normally I might find that annoying, but the way she was written and the writing in general I didn't mind. It all comes out in the end. I enjoyed that she had previously been incarcerated for murder and so she has that driving some of her actions. She reacts a bit differently at times than someone who doesn't know how the system can wrong you. That doesn't have that first-hand experience. This was a fun read and I would definitely read more from the author.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

This is the third novel I've read by Claire McGowan and I was drawn to it by the synopsis. This is a dual timeline novel which starts in the present day with Rachel discovering a dead body in the woods in Cumbria. We discover that this is not the first time this has happened to Rachel. Twenty years earlier she was Casey and while nannying for a family in LA discovered the bodies of 3 of the family members. I love a dual timeline novel and this did not disappoint. I preferred the earlier time line and found I could really empathise with nineteen year old Casey and the situation she found herself in while in LA. Overall, a gripping plot and a novel I'd recommend.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

Read through netgalley
This is the story about 19 year old Casey, who while working as a nanny becomes embroiled in murder and is sent to deathrow - then later (after her release and change of name) she finds the body of her boyfriends wife dead. Instead of being sensible, she pegs it and there starts the dramas. It’s a little obvious at the end but I still enjoyed this and the book is full of little twists to keep it interesting. I liked the characters and the story did make me want to find out what happened so would recommend.
4 stars because only my absolute favours books get 5 but it was still a great thriller.

Claire McGowan, I Know You, Thomas & Mercer, Seattle, 2021

Thank you, NetGalley for this uncorrected advance proof for review.

I Know you has a large amount of wonderfully poignant material, a little bit of dross, some good plotting, characterisation and social commentary, and a story line that works reasonably well. I found I Know You a good read, although I have some reservations.

First to those reservations, which centre mainly around the main character. I found the almost constant reiteration of Casey’s plea that she was young, naïve, small, unable to cope somewhat tedious, even while I sympathised with her situation. Rachel’s misunderstanding the reason for Anna’s stress and demands was also difficult to believe and did not sit well with the way in which her character had been developed in the earlier part of her life.

Those concerns aside, I Know You is extremely good social commentary on women’s roles, the way in which mothers can influence for good or bad, the impact of men on those mothers and the questions raised about guilt and punishment. Casey is encouraged by her mother to seek a future in Hollywood, building upon her own past very minor success. Another failed actress mother, English but now in Hollywood, does the same to her five-year-old daughter, imposing unreasonable and life-threatening demands upon her. In the background is a stepfather and biological father, each of whom has his negative impact on the women and children in their lives. A professional woman, on death row for murdering her children, completes the mother motif. Would it have been any different for these women if post-natal depression, fear of failure and need for an understudy to compete for fame, or just human kindness been an influence in their lives?

Portrayal of the American legal and prison system is perhaps harsh – but where the death penalty remains, and is enacted, it is certainly arguable that this is deserved. Prison cells, prison, interaction with police officers in America and the UK, and contact with prisoners on death row is strongly realised – and in turn, frustrating, frightening, and horrific. Casey and Rachel excite sympathy. What might initially appear to be irrational behaviour is challenged by explanations that ring true.

The novel moves between Casey and Rachel’s stories, one set in LA, the other in the quiet pleasant environment of England’s Lake District. One features the distraught and imposed upon nanny from England; the other, the carefully confected character who volunteers at a dog care facility. When the two characters collide after a murder, and Rachel can no longer hide her past, the pursuit for the person or people who committed the murder, publicised Rachel’s past and jeopardises her future draws the story back into the legal system, apprehension, and private investigation.

Ends are tied up, perhaps not as happily as some readers might like, reasonably but realistically. Together with the other positive features of the novel, this makes for a satisfying read. Although not as clever as The Fall, the first of Claire McGowan’s work I read, shall be happy to read more.

Not a huge stand out, but really on the top side of not bad. The main character had a couple of weird blind spots, but watching her unravel this thing on her own was worth sitting through her occasional short sightedness.

Rachel has finally hit her stride in life- she has a nice boyfriend, a job which makes her happy, and she is free. Twenty years ago, Rachel was Casey, a nanny for a family who ended up murdered, with Casey as the prime suspect.

So when Rachel finds a body in the woods near her home, she doesn’t report it, and she goes directly home. Except she will end up as the prime suspect in this case as well.

Is Rachel/Casey a murderer? Or is she being framed?

I loved I Know You and couldn’t put it down. Rachel’s character was well written and the plot moved quickly and was well-developed. It’s a unique story. I can’t wait to read more from Ms. McGowan.

If you have been wrongly convicted of murder, you react very different to seeing a dead body than most people would! Rachel finds herself in this predicament and once again is involved in a murder investigation. This was a good story and keeps you guessing!

A contender for my book of the year! I Know You is a brilliant duel timeline psychological thriller that reminded me of the Louise Woodward murder case from a few years ago. Casey, a teenager from the UK goes to LA to become a nanny for an all American family but it isn’t the perfect Hollywood lifestyle she is expecting….
I absolutely loved the twists and turns thrown up by the past when in the present day a murder takes place and a very obvious suspect is the one to find the body. This book is so perfectly crafted to keep the reader engaged in each of the timelines, desperately seeking answers to two murder cases set years apart but knowing there must be a connection…but what or who is it?
A brilliant pageturner from start to finish and one of the best books I’ve read in 2021.

Rachel finds a body in the woods and runs. Last time she was found guilty of murder! But then acquitted. The problem is the body is her boyfriends estranged wife, and all the evidence seems to be pointing to her. The more digging Rachel seems to do, the more the police see it as evidence that she did it, after all shes,done it before. Loved this novel did keep you guessing as to who was trying to frame Rachel!

This is the first novel i have read from Claire McGowan but will definitely be looking for more in the future.Many thanks to Net galley for giving me the pleasure of reading this novel.

I Know You - Claire McGowan

My first time reading this author.

Told with a past and present narrative, twenty years ago naive English 19 year Casey is working as a Nanny for a California, present day and Rachel is living a quiet life in the Lake District, until she stumbles across a murdered body and runs from the scene.

I thought there was a strong story, good character development, some twists and nothing jarred. There are some good original elements throughout.

It ends strongly but overall I found it quite a slow read and perhaps a little long.

I honestly think if it were cut down a little I would have enjoyed it much more.

A real 3.5 stars for me, 3 would be a bit mean and I wouldn’t want to discourage others who might love it.

Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer.

This is a very addictive and fast-paced thriller. How many murder victims can one person find? Rachel apparently just stumbled into her second, but she can’t call the police because, when this happened to her in the past, she was convicted of the murders. The novel tells both stories, the original crime in 2000, when Rachel, then Casey was a teenage nanny, and the new case, when the victim is the estranged wife of her boyfriend. If she went to death row in California last time, she doesn’t want to go back to prison back home in England. Rachel is such a likable character that I could not help but rooting for her. She volunteers in an animal shelter and loves all critters so, even when she was acting stupid, I wanted her to do well. The story set in the present was a little predictable. I saw the twists coming and knew whodunit almost from the beginning. I still wanted her to figure it out, so I kept reading. The murders in the past, however, kept me in the dark. I thought I knew what had happened but was totally off base. The reader knows that she obviously was somehow released from death row and made it back to England, but it’s not clear who the murderer was. I liked the ending of both stories. One small detail is that, as an American, it bothered me a little how she compared both Justice systems and declared the US to be corrupt and the lawyers too expensive. This is not the place for a political discussion and I’m not saying that in some cases it may be so, but I doubt if the UK’s system is perfect and I assume Prince Andrew’s lawyers don’t come cheap. That said, I enjoyed this novel.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Amazon Publishing UK,# Thomas & Mercer!

An excellent novel that is full of intrigue with plenty of twists and turns that keep you glued to the pages. The story opened up and developed in a very clever way with the past/present in individual chapters on Casey and Rachel. A wonderful twisty, thought provoking conclusion that wrapped up a brilliantly written novel. Well done Claire McGowan on this highly recommended book which deserves a solid five stars.

This book was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!! This is my first by Claire McGowan but definitely not my last. I was on the edge of my seat biting my nails with every page. I highly recommend this book

I really enjoyed this domestic thriller! Amazing characters that I really connected with. A well woven tale delivered with expertise. Nice POVs of past and present as the story unfolded.
Highly recommend
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book

Thank you to Net Galley for the opportunity to read this!

I really do look forward to reading to all of Claire McGowan's new books!

This one was no exception.

Casey has two identities; one that was guilty of murder and then found to be innocent later on. Her new identity is also now accused of murder. How on earth does the same woman come across multiple murders, and be arrested for being the murderer in each case?

I love the flashbacks between the two timelines and Casey/Rachel. Poor girl has been stuck with a lot of bad luck being in the wrong place at the wrong time. However; do we really know if she has bad luck or is she the cause of the murders? I'm looking forward to another book Claire!

What a DELIGHT!! Absolutely thrilling non stop page turning addictive read!!! So refreshing to have a nice paced suspense story hold my attention from the very start to the very end!

Casey, a 19 year old girl from the UK who heads over to the states to be a nanny for a washed up actress named Anna, a producer husband named David, their starlet glamour daughter who is 5 named Madison and a happy little 6 month old baby boy named Carson. She thinks this will be her pass to make it to Hollywood but disaster happens. She comes home one day and finds the family murdered and all signs point to her. She spends 5 years in jail and finds freedom and fast forward to 15 years after that and she has reinvented herself as Rachel back in the UK. All is well until one morning she’s out on her usual walk with her pup and comes across a dead body. All her instincts tell her to run, so she does, but was that a mistake towards the uphill battle of once again finding herself looking guilty.

Oh the fun this book was! It was paced beautifully and presented back and forth between Rachel and her present nightmare and when she was Casey and the lead up to the day she found the family murdered. I was completely caught up with the characters and the words made you feel the frustrations the anxiousness the GAHH of it all!! Absolute captivating read and one I recommend!

Thank you to Amazon Publishing UK and netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Rachel's boyfriend's wife is found murdered. Rachel is the first to find the body but she doesn't call the police right away. Rachel has secrets that the author reveals by seamlessly jumping back in time to when Rachel was a 19 year old nanny in America.
This was an amazing book.! Just the right amount of characters, a well developed plot that kept me guessing and I loved the two settings of America and England.

I loved this book, I read it quickly in one sitting as I needed to know what happened. It was tense, twisty and dark and had me hooked right from the first page up until the last. A really enjoyable read and a great author

As Rachel is walking her dog in the English woodlands, she comes across a body but runs away, failing to report it to police or even check for life signs. So begins I Know You by Claire McGowan becoming immediately more complicated, given the victim is her boyfriend’s ex-wife. Another story told in a flashback to America in the year 2000 is that of Casey, an English nanny working in a struggling family. As both stories unfold, complications occur, revealing the darker side of human nature. An enjoyable domestic noir with interesting characters and inevitable twists – an above average three-and-a half-star rating.

This fast-paced mystery features dual timelines and a protagonist at the heart of two separate murder investigations, 20 years apart.

The twisty storyline will keep you reading, although the writing often feels disjointed. The plot was engaging, and I didn't see the ending coming.

I definitely recommend this book for fans of thrillers!

A thank you to Netgalley for sharing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Once again, hmm...comes to mind. I have to admit that I'm perplexed about the number of rave reviews. Not terrible, but serviceable. My main complaint is that the alternating timelines (which I enjoy when done right) is that each back and forth seemed to be stuck on repeat like an old-school CD player. She just kept saying the same thing over & over and I I think "I didn't do it" was stated at least twice on every page. The conclusion did come as a bit of a surprise, so that was welcome.

I enjoyed this book - it really pulled me into the story & kept me wanting to know what was happening. I loved the dual timeline and seeing what had happened in Rachel's past, when she was Casey & convicted of the murder of all but one member of the family she nannies for. There's lots of twists and tension, and it ends in a way that I didn't see coming.

Wow! What in the twists and turns! Enjoyable, quick and highly recommended!

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

I Know You by Claire McGowan
~~~~~ out 19th October 2021
An incredible psychological thriller. A total roller coster. Someone knows all about Rachel's past and they're making themselves known. In creepy ways 😕brilliant. A perfect Halloween story.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks @netgalley @

This is my fourth book by Claire McGowan and I have loved every one of them, but this one bummed me out. This is the story of Casey/Rachel. Casey was accused of murdering the family she nannies for, was convicted and spent years in jail until she won an appeal. Rachel as she goes by now is accused of murdering her boyfriend's soon to be ex-wife.

The writing itself was really suspenseful and I loved the two timelines with bits of podcasts, newspaper articles and web forums added to the mix. What I didn't like was figuring out who the killer was in both murders and the big reveal I had guessed by page thirty. Maybe I read too many thrillers?

Rating: 4.0/5

When Rachel comes across a dead body in the woods she decides not to report it, but to run. Why? Because twenty years earlier she also came across a murder scene and reported it - but that resulted in her being accused and convicted of the crime. However, it isn't long before the police discover that she ran from the scene and the finger of suspicion starts to point in Rachel's direction once again. Was it pure chance that Rachel happened across this body in the woods, or is someone trying to frame her? Or perhaps it is Rachel, herself, who is being less than honest and who has something to hide.

Prospective readers could be forgiven for thinking that the premise for this story is a little far-fetched and that it stretches credulity somewhat to think that one person could find herself in the same dramatic predicament on two separate occasions. Yet Claire McGowan manages to construct the scenario in such a way that this seemingly implausible set of circumstances becomes something that the reader is not only prepared to accept, but view as (almost) entirely credible.

The storyline takes place across two time frames: the present day in Cumbria and approximately twenty years earlier in California. The novel is narrated throughout in the first person by Rachel, though in the earlier sections in California she is known as Casey. The choice of the first person narrative is very effective for this type of novel. The reader is regularly required to question how much they can rely on this person's version of events. Rachel's account is occasionally interspersed with newspaper reports and excerpts from online forums, which provide alternative perspectives and give the reader further food for thought - but are these accounts any more or less reliable than Rachel's?

If you are the kind of person who likes their mystery thrillers to move along at a rip-roaring pace from the outset, then this is probably not the book for you. It certainly has its moments of suspense, tension and excitement, but it is constructed in a manner that builds towards its climax, with relevant background information being gradually drip-fed into the proceedings. Although there were occasions when the pace seemed a little becalmed for longer than I would have liked, on the whole this approach was clever, effective and well-handled.

Overall, Claire McGowan has produced a captivating thriller that draws the reader in and delivers the kind of read that most avid readers of the genre should enjoy.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying an ARC in return for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. The plot was very well thought out and covered some really interesting themes. I loved the two separate timelines and was equally interested in discovering who was behind each of the murders. The side characters were very vividly written and I could definitely picture them.

The only thing I didn't like, and the thing that is preventing this book from being a firm favourite is that I didn't like the main character Rachel. I get that she had been through a lot and had her walls up, but she came across as a bit of a non-person with no discernible personality. She was a bit better when she was Casey but even then her main personality traits seemed to be being nineteen, British and small.

Overall I really enjoyed reading this and would recommend it, I just wish that I'd cared a bit more for the main character.

A fast paced and twisty crime thriller. Fantastic for anyone who likes a who dun it. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an open and honest review.

When Rachel finds a body in the woods she is terrified history is about to repeat itself and that she may again be framed for a crime she didn’t commit. Having been let down by the system before; scared and alone Rachel turns and runs back home leaving the dead body lying on the floor pretending to know nothing about it.

Later it turns out the body is Anna’s who’s husband Alex Rachel happens to be having an affair with. Although the evidence is mounting up against Rachel she knows she is innocent, determined to prove she is not guilty of murder Rachel is convinced she is being framed and sets out to discover who it is that is framing her. One thing is for sure Rachel cannot go back inside.

Of course once the police and of course the press discover that Rachel isn’t actually Rachel and is in fact Casey who at the age of 19 was sentenced to life in prison and is set to receive the death penalty for murdering the family she was working for, the mother Abby who was Stabbed to death, the father David who was shot and the 5 year old Madison who was smothered to death.

With the circumstances of Anna and Abbys death having so many similarities the police are convinced that Rachel is their woman and will do what they can to prove her guilty but Rachel on the other hand is determined to prove her innocent. Is Rachel really unlucky to have found herself in this unfortunate situation or is there more to Rachel’s story than meets the eye.

This book is told from Rachel’s point of view in the current day and from Casey’s 20 years ago. One of the things I really loved about this book is that the author didn’t over complicate things the plot was easy to follow but at the same time there was plenty to hold the reader interest to keep them wanting to come back for more.

Fantastic edge of your seat mystery. Casey is a young woman from the Uk who takes a job in Los Angeles as a nanny to two young children from a horribly dysfunctional family. When tragedy strikes the family Casey’s life is changed forever. As Casey tries to start over and get her life back she finds her past catching up with her as she finds a body in the woods one morning while walking her dog. Well written excellent mystery that will keep you guessing. Highly recommend.

I have loved all of Claire McGowan’s previous books and this one did not disappoint! I found it incredibly hard to put down and I was kept guessing who the killer was right until the very end - with my guess changing approximately 5 times!

I found #IKnowYou to be fast-paced and engaging, and the characters were really interesting. I loved the depth that was put into the character(s) of Rachel & Casey. I haven’t read a plot quite like this before and I was captivated!

Such a good book! When Rachel finds her current flings wife dead on her morning walk, she fleas. Come to find out, Rachel is actually Casey and has been charged with murder before. Did she do it or is someone framing her? The book is suspenseful and told from Rachel and Casey’s point of view.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle by Amazon Publishing UK and #NetGalley for my honest opinion.

I couldn’t put this thriller down. It kept me on the end of my seat and up all night reading.

I know You (Claire McGowan) started a little slow for me, but that changed in a hurry! Chapters go back and forth between Rachel (now) and Casey (then). McGowan does an excellent job of keeping the reader guessing what happened now, and previously. I want to thank Amazon UK and Thomas & Mercer for an early copy to review.

I Know You which is Claire McGowan’s latest book kept me up late into the night reading. When Casey was 19 yo, she was a nanny for a family and was charged with murdering 3 of the 4 family members. She went to jail for 5 years then it was overturned. Fast forward 20 years, she moves away, changes her name and she’s out jogging in a park and comes across a dead body in the woods. What? Again? How can this be? This kept me guessing till the end and I really enjoyed the story. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley, Amazon Publishing and Thomas & Mercer for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for honest feedback.

What can I say? I loved it. I read it within 24 hours. The book kept me engaged all the way through. Just when I thought I had worked it out, I realised I was wrong. I felt my pulse increase many times as I was truly engrossed in the plot. A definite recommend.

The story is told by the main character under two different names over two timespans and two countries, the UK as Rachel today and in the US as Casey when she was young.

A horrific ordeal faced as a nanny in the US when she was young still impacts on her life today, will there ever be an escape from her previous life.

What can I say Claire McGowan has done it again - another great book from her.
Thank you to the author, Amazon Publishing UK, Thomas & Mercer and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in return for an honest review.

What are the odds you’ll come across a murder scene twice in your lifetime? And worse yet – be the prime suspect both times?! When Rachel stumbles across the body of her lover’s estranged wife in the woods behind her house, she knows instantly she’s going to have a problem. Because Rachel hasn’t always been Rachel… twenty years ago, she was “Racy Casey” Adams, a young nanny convicted of murdering the Hollywood family she worked for.

Naturally, the police zero in on Rachel and don’t seem to be considering any other suspects, so it’s up to Rachel to find a way to prove her innocence. The stakes are high and as the evidence against her mounts, it becomes clear that someone out there knows about the past she’s tried so hard to hide.

The dual timeline alternates between Rachel and Casey and gives the reader not one, but two mysteries to puzzle out. Just when you think you have it figured out, there’s another twist to make you second-guess yourself. You won’t want to put this one down until you reach the end!

What really got me into this story is the opening of the book: Our main charakter Rachel finds a dead body while she is walking her dog. Since I'm out with my dog all of the time I immediately could connect with her and that's what keeps me reading on and on and on.
Anyway. Rachel doesn't call the police but gets away from the scene as fast as she can.
Anna, who also happens to be Alex' ex-wife finds the dead body next. Alex is Rachel's current boyfriend. So plenty of connections going on here! And what's more she now becomes the prime suspect. What a plot Claire McGowan sets up here!
Rachel was not always the Rachel from nowadays. That's the main reason she didn't report the crime. But I don't want to give away too much on this.
However I really enjoyed the two time lines that lead up to a perfect ending I would not have guessed!

Thanks #NetGalley #Thomas and Mercer for my ARC of this thrilling story

This is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time! It alternates between the present where Rachel is being accused of a murder she didn’t commit and the past where Teen nanny Casey is accused of murder and sentenced to death row. It revealed a little bit at a time, kept me guessing, and definitely kept me hook from start to finish. I’m officially a Claire McGowan fan!!!

I know you is one of those books you can't put down cause you need to know what happens. Flashing between Casey and Rachel along with past and present. Casey is a 19 year old British nanny who is convicted of murder. While Rachel lives in Coldwater and works for happy paws dog shelter. When past and present collide anything can happen.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this digital arc. All opinions are my own.

An enjoyable mystery involving two murders in different time frames. It was a quick read and I guessed both murderers before they were revealed but the characters were engaging and I enjoyed the book. Recommended.

Claire McGowan, turned into an auto-buy author for me after I read The Other Wife and What You Did, both of which were 5 star reads. Claire McGowan, is a natural storyteller. She knows how to conduct an audience and really get you invested in the story.

Talk about a nail biter. I Know You, took me on a wild ride of twists and turns. I had anxiety with every flip of the page. I easily finished this in one sitting and left with that "wow, what the heck did I just read" feeling.

Rachel finds a dead body. Rachel runs, she knows she cant be associated with the dead body she was once accused of murder before and this is the last thing she needs to be involved in. Rachel can not make the same mistake twice.

But, the victim ends up being the estranged wife of Rachel's boyfriend.

Rachel knows everyone is looking at her and the evidence just keeps stacking up against her.

Rachel cant let her past come back to haunt her. Years ago Rachel was Casey, a nanny. The family Rachel (or Casey) worked for was brutally murdered. Rachel/Casey ended up spending years in prison and only became free after she won the appeal.

Rachel has fought for her life, she cant go through this again.

This cant be a coincidence, is someone from Rachel's past coming back to get her?

You are going to have to pre-order your copy of I Know You, to find out! This incredible, 5 star novel, is due to release on October 19, 2021. I promise you, you do not want to miss this!

Rachel finds a body while taking her dog for a morning walk she doesn't report it she turns round and goes home.She has a history of finding dead bodies and can't go through it all again.
The story is told in flashback from America 2000 to present day.As both stories are told we find out what happened to Rachel,why she had to start a new life and why she's told no one,Has the past come back to haunt her now.
A really good read well written highly recommended.
Thanks to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for the ARC

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of I Know You.

When Rachel was 19 years ago, she was accused of a brutal crime she did not commit.

After five years in prison, she was exonerated and 20 years later, is living under a new name with a new life in a small town in the UK.

But, when the wife of her lover is murdered and her belongings are found near the crime scene, Rachel realizes she is being framed. With no one to turn to and the police set on pinning her as the perp, she undertakes an investigation of her own and discovers that life has a bad way of repeating itself.

The narrative is told through Rachel's current perspective, and her past, when she was a naive 19 year old nanny struggling to adapt to the US and her new job in a wealthy home.

Rachel is a typical heroine in these types of books; she's annoying, frustrating, and whines often. She's not likable, not when she was 19 and not 20 years later.

She ignores obvious tells and clues; when she unearths clues that jeopardizes her lover's alibi, she dismisses them and blames the errors on the witness. She trusts a man she barely knows because...why, he's her lover?

The narrative drags on far too long and most of it read as filler and was repetitive. There was a lack of urgency and tension through the story. Not once did I worry or fear for Rachel.

Rachel spends most of her time wondering why her lover hasn't called; playing Miss Marple, talking about how annoying Jeremy is and the reasons she left him.

As a 19 year old, she spends it whining about how naive she is at 19, how she's a foreigner in a new country, how she fantasies about the kids she's nannying being her own children, and how she and the husband have a connection.

There is a hard to belief twist (IMO), like how Rachel's lover was also accused of a heinous crime. What are the odds the both of them would be accused of such heinous crimes and exonerated/not guilty?

Also, how come in these books the main character also relocates to a small town? If you have a sordid past, isn't the first place you go to a big city so everyone doesn't know your name and business?

I guessed whodunit early on, and what really happened 19 years ago.

I did like how Carson makes a reappearance and now he and Rachel have a secret of their own.

This wasn't a bad read, but I was looking for something more suspenseful.

Rachel finds a dead body in the woods near her home so she does the only thing she knows she has to do: run away. Because last time she found a dead body, she ended up on death row. Now she learns the body is her boyfriend's estranged wife and she's the prime suspect. But it's been 20 years since the last time, and Rachel is wiser now. She knows she has to solve this murder before she is wrongfully convicted once again.

This story goes from present day UK to 20 years prior in California. Watching both stories unfold was interesting, because we were essentially solving both murders. I especially liked Rachel's character - she was very believable as both a young, 19-year-old nanny and later as an adult trying to rebuild her life.

This was my first read from Claire McGowan and I'll definitely be checking out her other books.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Available October 19, 2021.

This novel begins with two stories, the first involves Rachel who finds a dead body while walking her dog in the English woods. The other is a flashback to America some twenty years earlier about an English nanny named Casey, working for a Hollywood producer and his family. I was intrigued by this method and wanted to know the connection and as the stories unfold and become involved, we find out. I enjoyed the writing and the characters were interesting, but I kind of figured some of the twists, but not the ending. Overall, it was enjoyable, but no wow moment.

Really good story, sometimes it is difficult to read across different time lines, but this one worked.
Rachel h has good reason not to tell anyone she has found a body. She was on death row row murder before being exonerated years ago. So she knows what not to do, right? But why does it seem someone is setting her up. Who would know her former identity, and want her to go to jail again?

I Know You by Claire McGowan

When Rachel stumbles upon a body in the woods, she knows what she has to do: run. Get away. Do not be found at the scene. Last time, she didn’t know, and she ended up accused of murder. But when this victim is identified as her boyfriend’s estranged wife, Rachel realises she’s already the prime suspect.
The author is incapable of writing a bad novel and this one is up there with the best of them.
Full of suspense and twists, and the characters get under your skin.
A great read.

Thank you to #Netgalley for the ARC of “I Know You.” This novel follows suit of a lot of recent psychological thrillers. That being said, I still enjoyed it. I’m a sucker for procedural crime and consistency. The speed of this novel ebbed and flowed. I think I enjoyed the “Casey” sections more than the “Rachel” sections. I found the Rachel storyline to be more predictable. Overall, 3.5 stars.

I totally loved this book!

It was intriguing and gripping, a real page turner, with a lot of twists and turns that keep you guessing right until the end. I found the plot very clever and the double POV narrative (from the same person, but in different times) definitely addictive. The writing style is excellent and I must say the authour is an exceptional storyteller, she had me captivated right from the start.

I'm adding Claire McGowan to my favourite writers, and I'll have a look to her other books.

Highly recommended!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I know you is written from the perspectives of Casey and Rachel and we alternate between their timelines allowing the story to unfold and the links to slowly fit together.

Casey went to America as a nanny hoping to be a film star but ended up on death row! Rachel is trying to lead a quiet life in England, volunteering and starting out on a new relationship when she too finds herself caught up in a murder investigation!

A gripping read that keeps your attention, the build up was quite drawn out and the wrap up felt a little rushed in comparison but overall a good read where I felt invested in the characters.

When teenager Casey Adams leaves for Los Angeles, she hopes that her job as a nanny with a Hollywood film maker will be the first step in a career. Yet, David is hardly at home and his wife Abby is not only frustrated as she does not get any acting offers anymore but also totally unable to cope with her two kids, 5-year-old Madison and baby Carson. All is left to Casey who herself struggles with the tasks being young and unexperienced with kids. Things develop in the worst imaginable way ending in a family drama. Twenty years later in England, Rachel finds herself accused of the murder of her boy-friend’s wife. All evidence is against her, why did she run when she accidentally stumbled over the body in the woods and not call the police? Rachel has a reason to stay away from murder as she knows how death row feels.

Claire McGowan has created another highly suspenseful and complex psychological thriller. Casey's and Rachel's story alternate, it only takes a couple of pages to realise how they are linked and why the two plot lines are connected over such a long time and two quite unalike places. Both murder cases are interesting to follow even though they could hardly be more different and the fact that there is a common ground gives it a little extra of suspense.

It is easy to comprehend Casey's feeling of exhaustion as she is not really prepared for her job as a nanny. Working for a glamorous family sounded great only on paper, reality hits her hard, but she has a good heart and tries to do what is best for the kids. It takes some time for her to understand the underlying mechanics of the family, that David and Abby's relationship is going down the plughole and that all she can do is make sure the kids are all right. Until they aren't anymore. Being accused of multiple murder, nobody wants to believe her, that is the hardest part of the story because you can easily empathise with her despair in telling them about her innocence without being heard. Yet, there are some gaps in her story and the question is looming if she can actually be believed.

Rachel on the other hand, is a lot stronger but nevertheless also a prime suspect whom everybody turns their back to when the police start to question her. She is also alone and tries to prove her innocence. It is obvious that somebody tries to frame her, the big question is just: who would want to do such a thing and why?

A great read that I totally adored. Two wonderful protagonists who are multifaceted in their character traits and a suspenseful plot which brilliantly links the two stories.

‘What would you do if you found a dead body?’

Rachel Caldwell is walking her dog Brandy near her home in the British Lakes District, when she sees a dead body. Her instinct is to run, to get away from the scene, to not be involved. Because last time she saw a dead body, she was accused of murder. The victim is quickly identified as Anna, the estranged wife of Rachel’s boyfriend, Alex... which makes Rachel a suspect. And very quickly, quite a bit of evidence points to Rachel, and the fact that she is reluctant to share information with the police just heightens their suspicions.

Rachel has a secret. Twenty years earlier, as a nineteen-year-old named Casey, she travelled from the UK to Los Angeles to work as a nanny while seeking her big break as an actor. When three members of the Safran family were brutally murdered, Casey was found guilty and sentenced to death. Freed some years later, exonerated on appeal, she returned to the UK, married, and changed her name.

And now, Rachel wants to keep her past secret because who will believe that she didn’t murder Anna? Although Rachel was exonerated, there are plenty of people who still believe that she was guilty of murdering the Safrans.

Rachel does her own investigating, desperate to prove she is innocent. The more she searches, the more she wonders whether she is being set up. But by whom, and why? It becomes clear that someone knows about Rachel’s past.

Slowly small pieces of information are fed into the story, providing the reader with other possibilities to consider. The story shifts between Rachel in the present and Casey in the past: who murdered Anna, and exactly what happened in the Safran home 20 years ago? I figured out parts of the puzzle but couldn’t be completely sure until all was revealed at the end.

An engrossing read.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

This is a solid thriller and has some interesting cultural points that made the whole journey a great read.

I was not completely surprised when everything was revealed but that's not a bad thing; it's more because the author made a good trail for the reader and everything made sense in a way.

The characters were well developed and the pacing is steady, keeping the reader involved and interested.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and the Publisher for providing me with an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

I have read all the authors others works so had really high expectations and this did not disappoint at all! Ok, chances are it's not the more realistic situation but it's still very thoughtfully and realistically written. You do see why the main characters does what she does and we'd probably do the same!! It keeps you hooked and the flashbacks keeps you guessing as it drio feeds you little new tidbits which keep changing the way you see things. I really a lot of thrillers and there's always a degree of predictability but this was really good in keeping you guessing and keeping you changing your opinion every time new bits and pieces come to light. I really enjoyed it and can't wait for the next installment from the author

What a compelling story!. Poor Casey must have had the worst luck in the world to be found guilty of first degree murder three times and find herself on wreath Row. So trying to make a new life for herself in Yorkshire after being exonerated, she finds herself in trouble again.
I found this story easy to get into, and very believable. It flicked between Casey and her dilemma, and Rachel and her dilemma, which I found a little distracting to begin with but soon found this was the order of the story so went with it!. All in all, a great read .
Many thanks to Netgalley for the free ARC book for an honest review.

I love books by this author. This book was hard to put down. Rachel was a compelling character. You felt her anguish in everything she did and said. It took me a bit to get used to the jumping from present to past but ad I read I became used to the pattern. This is definitely a 5 star book!!

Excellent book! I was immediately hooked by the mystery and I loved the alternating viewpoints of what happened in the past as well as what was going on in the present as both got closer to figuring out what truly happened that fateful night. This was a page turner I couldn't put down!

A really good thriller with a double mystery.

There are two storylines connected by the main character, Rachel. The story begins with Rachel finding the body of her boyfriend's ex-wife's murdered in the woods. She instantly becomes the prime suspect. Unfortunately, this is not the first time that Rachel has experienced it. Years ago, when her name was Casey, she moved to Los Angeles as a babysitter for the Safrans. In a tragic turn of events, the entire family except the youngest child was brutally murdered, and Casey was found guilty of the crime. She always claimed to be innocent. So we're trying to find out not only who murdered her boyfriend's ex-wife, but also what happened twenty years ago in Los Angeles and whether Rachel/Casey is truly innocent.

I liked the whole idea and the execution. The author has done a great job of building an atmosphere of danger and confusion in the current part of the plot. You really feel that Rachel is being hounded and that she is alone in this situation. The police suspect her more and more and can arrest her at any time, accusing her of a crime she did not commit. Or did she?

The author also built the portrait of young Casey very well. A bit of a lost young girl who finds herself in a pathological situation from which she cannot escape. I loved how complicated her situation is and that Casey realizes it. I liked that this part of the story is not devoid of some reflection from the perspective of what happened next, and that Rachel herself tries to evaluate her actions and feelings at the time.

We are given a large group of very distinct yet complex characters in this novel. From the members of the Safran family to Rachel's ex-husband to her current lover and even the victim herself. Everyone hides some secrets, which adds to the suspense. And we are following Rachel, who tries to untangle all these threads and not get locked in prison again. A really good story.

This is my first book by this author, but I will definitely try some of her other books.

I was unsure about this book as it is each chapter is alternated between Casey and Rachel and I'm not fond of 2 or more person narrators, but, wow, I found it real page turner. A good story, well written and very human.

Loved it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I read a free advance review copy of the book. This review is voluntary, honest and my own opinion.

I really liked the first book I read by this author. And this is really good too. I read it in two sittings as it’s so compelling. I’d try this and also recommend The Push by her. I’m going to try her other books now.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book.

A great read with hints of real life cases. Loved it and really felt sorry for Rachel.

A true thriller with twists and turns.
Grab a tea and hunker down, what a ride!
I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.

I have been a fan of Claires for a long time and was really looking forward to this book. This book is possibly my favourite of hers so far. It has a great story, a rally likable character in Rachel and tension from the moment you start the first page. Cancel all plans and read this book it is superb!

This book was so good I read it in under 24 hours! Rachel has been unlucky enough to be embroiled in murder not once but twice! Both times as a prime suspect! Exonerated the first time but this time is she being framed? Has someone found out about her past? This is a gritty, fast paced thriller that’s easy to read and unputdownable!

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

This story centres around Rachel. One morning, Rachel stumbles across a dead body whilst walking her dog. But instead of calling the police, she flees the scene. Why? And what secrets is she hiding?

I really enjoyed this book. I’ve read all the books by this author and I’ve never been disappointed by any of them. The characters are always enthralling and likeable, and others suitably unlikable. We read this story across two time lines, which means we get to see why Rachel reacts and behaves the way she does. I loved all the little twists throughout, and the ending was very satisfying. I can’t wait to see what this author comes up with next.

A great dual narrative which made for an entertaining read. The given information is just right – the readers are not overloaded with info, nor does it feel like we are missing anything.
The dual narrative is always risky – for my own part I loved the present time narrative told by Rachel, but Casey’s narrative… not so much. She’s just so whiny and immature, (which, I guess, is the whole point).
But it is an intense and creepy story, and I found myself well entertained.

This novel was just ok. The character Casey just kept repeating the same mantra I didn’t do it over and over again which was overkill.. I guessed the two perpetrators quite early on which was disappointing. A few twists to keep me reading until the end. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for chance to review it.

Finding a dead body of her romantic predecessor is only the beginning of a nightmare for Rachel who is suddenly thrust into a murder investigation as a prime suspect. The problem is, she is not exactly who she says she is, as years previously she was already under suspicion for another murder. A terrific read!

3.5 ⭐️‘s

Twenty years ago at 19, Casey crossed the pond to nanny for a film producer and his wife in California. Soon she is convicted of a horrific crime and sentenced to death. Rachel is living a quiet life in a small village in the UK. When a crime happens in the woods very near her home, she is soon the prime suspect. Told in the two voices, this book was a good read although I found the police procedure to be a bit on the unbelievable side and I do have to say that I cringed every time the baby was left in the car when Casey was having coffee, but overall I still enjoyed the overall book.

A great thriller! You will be swept into a chaotic time and go back to 2000 for an even more hectic situation. I love the dual timelines and Claire meshed these two together perfectly. Thank you NetGalley, Amazon Publishing UK and the author Claire McGowen for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Pub date : October 19 2021.

As always Claire McGowan knows how to entice and entertain her readers. In this crime story featuring nineteen-year-old Casey, working as a nanny in Los Angeles and, decades later, an older, wiser Rachel living in the Lake District, we are bound up in the action from the outset. Rachel finds the body of her boyfriend’s ex-wife whilst out walking. Does she do what most people would and dial 999? No, she does not; she runs home and freaks out! Why?
Over the course of the novel we learn not only why Rachel’s initial reaction is so bizarre but also just how damaged she is because of her upbringing and her history. ‘I Know You’ is not one of McGowan’s best thrillers – she has set a pretty high bar! It’s not so difficult to work out what actually happens in the Los Angeles ‘house of horrors’ and the novel’s conclusion is not as psychologically convincing as I was hoping it would be. Nevertheless, if you enjoy a fast paced, well written read, then this could well be for you!
My thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

I love this authors books! They always keep me on edge and reading while I should be doing other things. Fantastic read!!

This was a fast and thrilling read. I was hooked on the ‘then’ chapters to see if we would get an insight into what actually happened that day.
Rachel is finally happy and settled after her tumultuous past, details of which she wants to leave far behind her. However, one day, everything starts to unravel when she again discovers a body, and she finds herself the lead suspect. She now needs to prove her innocence once again, and it is made more complicated when everyone around her starts to realise who she is.
The book alternates between Casey in the past and Rachel now, both telling completely different stories but leading to the same conclusion. The Casey parts were definitely the most interesting; I felt like my heart was in my mouth reading them, not knowing what Abby and the family that she was caring for was going to do.
Rachel, in the present, made some very questionable decisions, and it was pretty frustrating. It was also like she was choosing to ignore the obvious. When compiling a list of people from her past, she misses one significant person off it and doesn’t even think twice about it. I was like, “duh, they’d be my prime suspect!”
Apart from Rachel’s behaviour, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and couldn’t put it down at times. So a solid four-star read from me.

I really enjoyed this. It kept me guessing and second guessing all the time. A very complex and integrated storyline.
I would happily recommend this book.

I will be reviewing it on my Instagram page CarolineO17, on Goodreads and in a few book related Facebook pages of which I’m a member.

This is the story of Rachel. One day she is out in the woods walking her dog when she discovers the dead body. Rather than immediately ringing the police Rachel runs. Rachel has a really good reason for reacting the way she did

I really enjoyed this book. It has a mystery in the present and a mystery in the past. Each chapter alternates between past and present. I found both timelines equally as interesting as each other. It was a fast paced read. I was satisfied with the ending although I guessed part of it. I would highly recommend this book.

I really enjoyed this book. I’m not always a fan of books with flashbacks, if they’re not done well they can seriously interrupt the flow of the story, for me this book is an example of how they should be done. I was drawn into each persons world straight away and didn’t feel myself rushing through a chapter to get back to the other story because they were both equally absorbing. It was good to have two mysteries to work out through the book as well, seeing how Casey’s world affected Rachel’s. Some of the twists were slightly predictable but the story itself and the characters were so good that it didn’t even matter.

Thank you Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for my review.

I found this very gripping. The story is told from two different times, one by Casey and another by Rachael. Casey is a young adult (starting at around 19) and Rachael is more mature. Casey is young and youthful, whereas Rachael is haunted by her past, especially when she stumbles upon a dead body.

As each story progresses, you begin to question who can and can't be trusted, and even if Casey and Rachael themselves are being truthful.

This is a story that will keep you guessing. This is a definite must read.

The alternating narrative of two timelines has worked well here, especially the one of Casey whose character is natural and practical. After getting an exhausting amount of information the suspense becomes predictable. Some sort of cliffhanger effect would have made it more interesting to read.

Claire McGowan refuses to let us down. This book sucked me in immediately and after reading The Other Wife, I didn't know if there could be a way to top it...but she has done it. Wonderfully done.

Thank you, NetGalley, Amazon Publishing UK, and Claire McGowan for allowing me to read an advanced reader's copy of this book.

Rachel has awful luck. The kind of awful luck that gets you in the middle of two crime scenes: one she was exonerated from (after being convicted and sentenced to the death penalty) and another she may be being framed for. It's safe to say that I don't envy Rachel's life. I Know You is told in dual timelines, alternating between the first incident, when Rachel (originally named Casey) was nannying for a family in LA, and the current, in which Rachel (who has since tried to move on from her past) is found as the chief suspect of another murder. Has someone found out about her past and used it to cover up their own murder? Has someone from the past decided Rachel needs to pay for her crimes, even though found innocent? Is she actually innocent?

I enjoyed reading this book but was mostly invested in the "Casey" timeline or the "Mary Poppin's Murders" as they're later known. I loved the tension between all of the family members and Casey's struggle to acclimate to a new culture/setting. McGowan shaped LA- with its bright sun and swaying palm trees- to an isolating, claustrophobic setting, which I thought was really well done. Unfortunately, I was not as interested in the current timeline. Who Casey became near the end and who Rachel was shown to be felt incongruent.

This book also touches on the corrupt criminal justice system in the US a lot. And don't get me wrong, it is. It really, really, really is. And I was excited it was going to be showcased here. Yet, in the end, McGowan's depiction of the US felt like a caricature. The number of times Casey mentioned she couldn't have done it because she was a "naive British girl" or simply stating how corrupt the US system is vs. the UK didn't really sell the point.

So, in the end, while I liked Casey's story, Rachel's was a bit of a drag, making this a 3.5 for me.

P.S. did anyone else consistently think of an actual vest whenever "vest top" was mentioned?! I think this is just British slang for tank top?

I really enjoyed this one although I already thought I knew who it was before the book was ver. So the ending just confirmed it. An interesting twist was presented with Casey though. I enjoyed the back and forth and usually I don’t like those kinds of books. I liked the Rachel character and a few other characters but you didn’t get to know the others very well.
The suspense was building through the whole story and you will find yourself guessing.
Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy of this book. I will be reading more from this author and recommending to readers!

This is the first book I read by Claire McGowan but it will not be the last.
I Know You is a very good mystery/ thriller with an intriguing story and interesting characters. The plot was very good but I think that the pacing needed some work! Also, the editing at some points could be better!

All in all it was a very good book and I will definitely read more of her books!

There are thrillers and there are thrillers that make your heart pound. A book is good if I carry it around and every spare moment I’m in it and also annoying my family by reading at the dinner table. This book was that good.

Talk about some bad luck! This novel is told by Rachel in two timelines - her present and her past. It was a very effective tool for showing how Rachel’s old life was affecting her present. I thought Rachel made some questionable choices but as the story unfolds you begin to see why. I kept saying “oooh no, girl” to during Rachel’s nannying - McGowen did a wonderful job illustrating the naivety of a 19-year-old alone in a new country. Overall, this was a well written and gripping thriller.

Whilst walking her dog in the park Rachel finds a woman's body. The woman turns out to be her boyfriend's ex wife. Twenty years earlier under the name of Casey, she had been working in Los Angeles as a nanny where 3 members of the family were murdered leaving just the young son alive. Rachel was found guilty of the murder only spending 5 years in prison having successfully appealed the sentence.

Now she is the prime suspect in this new murder. Does somebody know her history and are they framing her for this murder or is she guilty of both murders. This book made me swing backwards and forwards between innocent and guilty and even though I thought I had worked it out I had not. I loved the way the story switches between Casey's and Rachel's story as I like dual storylines?
I have read other books by this author and enjoyed them all and this is no exception I recommend this book and other books by this author.

Thanks to Netgalley UK, The author and the publishers Thomas & Mercer for an advanced Arc copy of the book in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

This is definitely a page turner, but very far fetched. I appreciate that it’s fiction, but I personally like to believe in the story. I didn’t understand many of the character’s motivations, which also distracted me somewhat. Compulsive, but be prepared to suspend belief.

That was actually really, really good. The book grabs you right from the start and doesn’t let you go until the very end. Poor Casey never had a chance with her useless mother, Jenna, filling her head with rubbish. It’s 2000 as she heads off to LA at the tender age of 19 to be a nanny to a ‘Hollywood couple’ with the hope of breaking into the industry at some point. So she ended up, little more than a child herself, looking after 5 year old Madison and 6 month old Carson.

The story is told on two timelines - 2000 and beyond and then the present day. As Casey starts her nanny job she soon realises this is a family on the brink…. The mother, Abby, is a washed up actress obsessed with getting back into the biz so she was starving herself and ignoring her children. Basically living in la la land. The father, David, is a producer who, despite the stories he peddled to the media and to Casey, was slowly going bankrupt. Casey enters this madhouse and does her best to look after the children until the fateful day where it all turned toxic and she is charged with murdering the family, apart from baby Carson. Casey is found guilty and sentenced the death. Yikes!

Lucky for her, high school crush (him, not her) Jeremy fights tooth and nail to have the conviction overturned and have Casey exonerated. He brings her back to the UK. In the present day Rachel is living a quiet and unassuming existence. She works for no pay at an animal shelter and tries to fly under the radar. She has a passionate relationship with Alex, separated from his wife Anna. When Rachel finds Anna’s body one morning while walking her dog Brandy she panics and runs, scared that the past is coming back to haunt her.

I’ve read a couple of books by this author but this is by far the best. Casey/Rachel comes across as a very real and sympathetic character. Everybody else is shrouded with suspicion. Is someone trying to punish her for what she apparently ‘got away with’ nearly 20 years ago? Or is the link with the past more a convenient excuse? Your thoughts will vacillate from one option to the other as the author dangles suspects in front of you and then throws in a red herring or two. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the much appreciated arc which I reviewed voluntarily and honestly.

The story takes place in two alternating timelines. The plot is intriguing and the characters interesting although the pace is a bit slow for my taste. Still, a perfect weekend read.

While out walking her dog one morning, Rachel finds a dead body but instead of doing the responsible thing and reporting it she runs away. Big mistake. She is soon under suspicion as her scarf is found at the scene and worst of all the body is that of her lover's estranged wife. It couldn't get any worse could it? You'd think. But the police soon discover she is someone (Casey) who was once on death row in the USA, sent there for killing a couple and their daughter. She's been exonerated but hey, mud sticks...

Told over two time frames, the present and twenty years ago we are with Rachel/Casey as she tries to clear her name both times. The scenes in the states are horrifying. Their. justice system does all it can to find her guilty and you really feel for the nineteen year old Casey, tried and convicted in a foreign country.

I raced through this book. It's skilfully written with plenty of twists to keep you guessing. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

An interesting plot that had lots of surprises! What are the odds of finding a dead body twice in a lifetime? The story unfolded at a good pace. There were a few times it felt redundant, but overall it moved along well. Rachel was believable even when the events in her life were unbelievable. I liked the different times told alternately like they were. They both reached the peak at the same time and it built the suspense in the conclusion of the book. I received an advance copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

What would you do if lightning struck twice? Rachel has once again found herself suspected of murder. How does she get herself out of this pickle? Told in alternating chapters between the present in the midst of the murder investigation of her boyfriend’s wife and a narration of the past leading up to the murder of the family she was nanny to.

As we progress with the story, we are left to determine if Rachel is a reliable narrator or if she is indeed being set up and by whom. I was left guessing right up until the end. This book is ambitious as there is a mystery in the past and a mystery in the present unraveling at the same time and while I suspected many different scenarios and culprits, I was not right on any count.

I like that the two timelines had different tones to reflect the different ages of Casey/Rachel. There was always a little foreshadowing at the end of a chapter and then you had to wait while you read from the other timeline. I would have thought I would be annoyed with that, but instead it kept me very interested.

While I read a lot of thrillers, this one really kept my attention and wanting to know what happened. I’d recommend it to any thriller lover.

Review of eBook
When Rachel Caldwell takes her dog, Brandy, for her usual morning walk in her favorite part of the woods, she comes upon a body lying in the leaves.

Stunned, she runs.

Rachel chooses to do nothing at all . . . no call to the police, no returning to make certain the person in the clearing is dead. Nothing.

She knows what happens when you find a dead body. And she desperately doesn’t want to be that person again.

Things become more complicated when it turns out that she’d had a run-in with the dead woman . . . Alex’s estranged wife. Alex, the first man she’d allowed herself to have feelings for, the first relationship she’d seriously considered in some twenty years. The first time since she’d found the bodies . . . .

She was sixteen; off to America for a position as a nanny for a Hollywood producer and his actress wife. Their daughter, Madison, was five; the baby, Carson, just six months old. She was Casey, then. Casey Adams. A girl with stars in her eyes and a dream of an acting career.

But the evidence in the brutal murders of the Safran family pointed to Casey as the culprit and she landed in prison. Five years later, an appeal ended her imprisonment and she returned to England.

Now Casey goes by her middle name, Rachel, and the surname of her ex-husband, Caldwell. She doesn't want any connection with the past, with the catastrophe that fell upon Casey Adams. But as the detectives investigate Anna’s death, all the evidence points to Rachel as the murderer. All her secrets . . . her lies . . . make her look guilty. But, could it be that someone is framing her for Anna’s murder?

Is Rachel guilty? And what happened in the Safran home twenty years ago?



Well-defined, believable characters populate this tale of family and secrets, of deception and danger. Two murder stories evolve alternately, one in the present, one twenty years in the past. Complex, compelling, and dark, things move quickly in this story that’s sprinkled with newspaper clippings and podcast conversations.

With the suspense constantly building, readers will find themselves guessing while some surprising twists in the plot ramp up the tension and keep the pages turning as the intriguing mysteries unfold. Pulled into the telling of the tale from the outset, readers will find it difficult to set this one aside before turning the final page.

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Thomas and Mercer and NetGalley
#IKnowYou #NetGalley

I Know You is the story of Casey and Rachel, who are in fact the same person.
Many years ago Casey was the nanny for a family who was murdered. Casey became the suspect and went to trial.
Now, Rachel takes her dog for a walk and once again finds a dead body. Rachel runs away, learning that long ago day not to trust the police. Because she ran, Rachel is now again the prime suspect.
Alternating between Casey (then) and Rachel (now) the story of both murders unfolds.
I liked how the author told the differences in the laws and procedures in both the UK and the US.
A really nice mystery/thriller. This is not my first book by Claire McGowan and surely won't be my last!

Many thanks to netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for the advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

One of the hottest new book plots seems to be the false imprisonment of innocent defendants. This book is an interesting take on this subject. There is ample food for thought when the detectives do their best with the evidence available and the legal system gets it wrong.
Chapters alternate between two women on different continents. Casey Adams is a nineteen year old English nanny working for the Safran family in LA. Rachel Caldwell is fortyish in the small lakes area town of Coldwater, Cumbria. She volunteers at the local dog shelter.
The first several chapters were confusing and difficult for me to follow with the alternating characters and timelines, but it did become clearer and tie together as I got further into the story.
Talk about being cursed and the ultimate bad luck, that's Rachel! She's already survived the despair of years on death row in a CA desert, for murders she maintains she did not commit. The enormity of being incarcerated and the conditions are detailed so realistically that I could barely breath.
She had been briefly married to Jeremy. He had been the only one there for her and found the Innocence Project. She's tried to rebuild her life. She's finally let herself trust again and have a relationship with Alex. Bad choice, he's still married to Anna. Déjà vu - guess whose throat gets slashed and who stumbles onto the body.
The Safran family is complicated and full of secrets. David is a struggling movie producer who is married to Abby, an actress near her expiration date. Casey is to care for the children, Madison who's five, and Carson, just a baby. Abby is obsessed with being thin and child star, Madison, is already into blue eyeshadow and costumes. It's the definition of a dysfunctional family. The only likable character was the baby.
The plot is intricate and kept me guessing as to who the killer(s) might be. The story should give pause to all of us, how would you rebuild your life and reputation. There were unpredictable twists and secrets in the conclusion. This is a book I would positively recommend for crime solving mystery lovers.
While I haven't read this author previously, I was familiar with her reputation. I would definitely read her works in the future. As a member of Netgalley I received an advance digital copy of "I Know You". Thanks to Claire McGowan and Thomas & Mercer. These thoughts and opinions are mine given voluntarily.

3.5/5 This is a fun flashforward/flashback kind of thriller that switches between two crime scenes. My only complaint is that it seemed too straightforward with little question about who committed the crimes.

Intriguing take on two murder mysteries all wrapped into one story. Fast paced and a definite page turner!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this ARC!

This was my first Claire McGowan novel and I was very pleasantly surprised. I Know You was a fast paced crime thriller, which kept me guessing throughout the journey. The twists and turns were relentless and I enjoyed the alternating POV which made for quite the page turner.
I really enjoy the challenge of a good Who Dun It and this one ticked all the boxes. Definitely one to watch out for.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an open and honest review.

This is a perfect, thrilling story to keep you guessing.

I love the premise, connected well with the characters and felt that the story was appropriately paced.

I enjoyed hopping from Rachel to Casey and found it gave it authenticity.

I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who loves following a thrilling story whilst trying to guess what’s going to come up next.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for gifting me this arc in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Interesting story, good writing, but overall just too long and wordy.  Needs a serious editing cut.  The Push by this author was hella hard to read, and this novel veers down the same road.

Thank you to NetGalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very disturbing but good read.

Thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish and could not get enough of.

This is a must read for anyone who enjoys a good thriller!!
Absolutely loved the characters, the plot, the tension -  impossible to put it down.
Certainly recommended!

This is my first book by Claire McGowan but it won't be my last. The description grabbed me straight away and I could not put the book down once I was into the story. There were plenty of twists and turns and I did not see the ending coming at all!

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for my ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley , the publisher and Claire McGowan for an advanced copy.

This was a great thriller I couldn’t put down.

When Rachel finds a body in the woods, she panics & flees the scene not even pausing to call the police. This looks even worse when the victim is identified as the estranged wife of Rachel's new boyfriend, the woman who threatened Rachel in public a few weeks before. You see, this isn't the first time Rachel has found a body, & last time she ended up accused of their murders. When she was nineteen, Rachel - then Casey - was working as a nanny in California, when the parents & five-year-old daughter were found dead, & Casey & the young baby were found in a closet hiding. Casey was found guilty of their murders & went to prison before being exonerated & released five years into her sentence. Is history repeating itself or is someone setting Rachel up?

This is a cleverly plotted & well-written book, but I really didn't like the main character as either Rachel or Casey. It's dual timeline with the fallout from the present-day murder alternating with the events of the murders a couple of decades ago. Both sections keep the reader fully engaged with the story, & although I did guess what had happened, it didn't detract from the reading experience.

Thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Amazon Publishing UK/Thomas & Mercer, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

This is something different. Its very interesting and absorbing. There are two murder mysteries going on at once, told from the viewpoints of Rachel and Casey. Its intriguing who exactly are these two murder suspects?
One amazing story. Well worth the read.

I've read every book by Claire McGowan and I was strongly anticipating "I know you" and I wasn't disappointed. It was well worth the wait.

The protagonist is 19 year old Casey, who went from the UK to Hollywood to make a name for herself but mainly for her mother. Unfortunately she lands a job as a nanny in a utterly dysfunctional family that ends up being killed and Casey lands on death row because of it. 4 years later she is acquitted and she travels back to the UK where she changes her name and tries to live a unremarkable life.
20 years later, Rachel finds the body of her boyfriends' ex wife and instead of calling it in, she goes home and puts the kettle on. It won't take long before she is in the middle of a media storm once more.

This isn't your usual mystery read, as you will know quiet early on who did what, but it is all about characters and their motives. It is a sharp observation of the dangers of social media and true crime sleuths and the deceit of trial by media in general. It is also a harsh condemnation of the horrendous death sentences and the hypocrisy driving it.

A sincere thanks to Goodreads, the publisher Thomas & Mercer and the author for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed my first read of a Claire McGowan novel and look forward to reading more from this author.
Rachel discovers a dead body in the woods and immediately panics and runs from the scene. This is not the first time she has found a dead body and last time didn't work out well with her being accused of murder. This time the victim is her boyfriends estranged wife and Rachel knows she will be the prime suspect.

Rachel used to be known as Casey but was forced to change her name in order to try and start a new life without distractions. If her old identity is discovered there will be plenty of people to point the finger at her again. Twenty years ago when she was a young nanny trying to make it as an actress in Los Angeles a tragedy occurred that resulted with her being convicted of murder. The family she worked for were brutally murdered and all the evidence pointed to her and she went to prison. Back then, she narrowly escaped the death penalty and managed to free herself on appeal. Now she’s fighting to save the life she’s spent years piecing back together.

Now twenty years later her innocence is again questioned and with growing evidence the police are starting to circle. Could this be a dreadful coincidence or is someone trying to ruin her life.

This is a real page turner and had me guessing to the end. Interesting, addictive plot, good characters and well written make this an exciting read.

I would like to thank both Netgalley and Amazon Publishing for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Trigger warning: murder, abuse

This book had me from the first sentence! It’s a woman who finds the dead body of her lover’s wife near her house but doesn’t report it. She is under a new identity and served some time for 3 other murder in the US. But, the lover has secrets of his own. Told from two perspectives of the main character’s two identities. And the twist at the end. OMG! I was literally in my feels when the past became the present. Kudos to the author! I am adding you to list of favorite authors!

Thankyou Netgalley for the advanced copy of I Know You by Claire McGowan. I’ve only read one other book by this author, but I loved it and was excited to be approved for this book as well. I just love the way that the author writes and creates her characters.

A great read.
It effortessley switches between a past and present day story.
Full of twists and turns.,secrets are gradually revealed.
How far would you go to protect your identity,who is also prorecting their identity and for what purpose?
Loved it!

I Know You by Claire McGowan follows the story of Rachel and Casey. Rachel stumbles across a body in the woods on her morning walk with her dog. She doesn’t call it in but walks fast back to her home and tries to forget what she saw until the police arrive on her doorstep a few hours later. What happens next is mind-blowing. This is not the first time Rachel has come across dead bodies. We get two storylines Rachel in the present and Casey in the past. Casey went to America to be a nanny for a rich family but something unthinkable happens and she goes to prison for the murders of three of the family members. We also find out that both Rachael and Casey are the same person.

I absolutely loved this book it was gripping right from the very first chapter. This is another one of those books that I did not want to put down. Can't wait to purchase a copy for my bookshelf.

Thank you Amazon Publishing UK, Thomas & Mercer and Netgalley for a copy of this book for my honest review.

After managing to get off death row and be free again Casey finds herself being framed for another murder! What a story! I genuinely really enjoyed this book, I couldn’t stop reading as I needed to know what would happen! I loved the then and now timelines between the 2 cases.

A very well written thriller with a double mystery

Having enjoyed Claire McGowan's previous book, I knew this was a must read for me and I am once again very pleased.

Highly recommend!

Wow what an ending this book had. This was my first Claire McGowan book and it didn't disappoint me one bit. 🙂

Told in the perspective of Rachel and her former life as Casey, we learn that Rachel doesn't want to be discovered by the new people in her life, as an ex exonerated triple homicide murderer. However, when her new boyfriend not yet ex-wife has been found murder not that far from Rachel's house all eyes are on her. But when Rachel's previous life as Casey has become known to the police and everyone around her, her life gets turned upside down in more ways than one.

I really enjoyed the story of both timelines, but I was so immersed in Casey's life, I really wanted to spend more time in her life with the Safran Family. Even though I knew it was going to talk about the deaths of the family members, it really impacted me and it made me tear up. I didn't want to say goodbye to them just yet.

But within saying that, I also enjoyed Rachel's newer life too. It had the thriller aspect to it and it made my heart race with thoughts and ideas on what was going to happen next. I highly recommend this book.

Book is out now.

Thank you to Netgalley, Amazon Publishing UK and Thomas & Mercer for allowing me to to read and review I Know You.

I was lucky to receive an advance copy of this book form NetGalley in exchange for my honest review and opinion. Let me tell you this book will not disappoint! It grabbed me from the first page and kept me engrossed all the way to the last words. I've read other books by Claire McGowan and she is amazing! I'm already counting the days until her next release!

Happy publishing day!! Thank you to @netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for a copy of this to read in exchange for an honest review! Pick up your own copy now.
Rachel has found a dead body before and has learned her lesson, run don’t wait for anyone to show up. Last time she stayed and was accused of murder. 20 years ago she was Casey a young nanny when the family she worked for was brutally murdered. All the evidence pointed to her and she enter up in prison for 5 years until her appeals case was won. Now with the current dead body, the victim is identified as her boyfriends estranged wife. Rachel realizes that she is a prime suspect again in a murder she had nothing to do with!
This book kept me on my toes! I couldn’t wait to see how everything would tie together at the end. I have been wanting to read a book by Claire McGowan because I have heard great things. I thought she did a great job of telling both stories, Casey and Rachel, at the same time. It helped to add to the suspense. She also added foreshadowing thoughts as the character told the story that provided some perspective on what was to come and what the character would have changed. I feel like that also added depth! Overall ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

How to survive two convictions of murder?

Casey was a nany in Hollywood area. She traveled all across the Atlantic to become someone. But all went wrong. She found her self in jail.

Rachel walked a dog and bumped in a body.. and run away couse she is scared to death of the past event. It turns out the body was the estranged wife of her lover. She becomes a suspect.

What the hell. Not possible. Read and discover the secrets.

Thanks to netgalley.com and Amazon Pubilishing for this great opportunity.

What would you do if you found a dead body? You'd phone the police! Of course you would - unless you have reason not to, and Rachel has a very good one.

This novel started out really well, grabbing my attention and drawing me immediately into the storyline. Well written with interesting characters this novel has a dual timeline, moving back and forth between present time and the events of twenty years previous.

The pace was good, it had enough twists to keep me on my toes and it kept my attention all the way to the gripping ending. Definitely recommended.

While walking her dog, Rachel comes across a dead body in the woods, and flees without reporting it. The last time she did, she would be accused of murder, and she wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. That’s the opening page of I Know You, and if that first chapter doesn’t grab you, nothing will. Simply told in alternating then/now format, the author expertly weaves the two timelines into a suspenseful and twisty thriller that will firmly hold your interest. The book can get a little repetitive at times in the “then” chapters which slows things down a little, but overall it’s definitely worth a read. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What did I just read? Oh mayn, this book is ridiculous. What a mystery !

A huge thanks fo Amazon Publishing UK for my e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. The book has two timelines and I am utterly shocked that it gripped me so.

The book follows Rachel who one day stumbles on the dead body of her boyfriend's ex wife who has been murdered *gasp* and some people's karma is finding a dead boy twice . Rachel twenty years ago was Casey -an ambitious nanny trying to make it as an actress .

Twenty years ago the entire family she took care of was murdered *gasp*.
we follow her story as we try to piece together who committed both murders and why she is in the centre of it.

I loved the mystery,the plot ,the character development and the title. Highly recommend!

Rachel is accused of a murder she didn’t commit, but does it really matter if the police are convinced she did it anyway? It turns out that Rachel (who once went by the name of Casey) was already charged, found guilty, and five years later released for murdering a family of three and now someone seems to be framing her for the murder of her boyfriend’s (soon-to-be ex) wife. Unfortunately, I kind of guessed what was going on fairly early in the book. Although I tried to give it a fair shot, it only got worse as I finished it. Not one of my favorites.

Special Note: Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you’re looking for a fairly quick read and are happy to guess the murderer without too much trouble then this is for you. there’s a lot of unnecessary descriptive passages in which the word “ cinnamon” seems to feature more often than you would expect ( I’m probably the only person this was a problem to it just riled me a bit).
Good use of the two timelines and easy to follow.

This was fantastic! I was gripped from the start and couldn’t put it down! A few twists and turns and an ending I didn’t expect! I’d definitely recommend

Rachel finds a body in the woods. She doesn't report it to the police as last time she did that she ended up on death row for it.
This book follows Rachel's here and then stories and how she is treated. I really enjoyed this book and will read more by this author.

A gripping, twisty thriller. Rachel has a lovely new life after going through hell for a wrong conviction in the US. All is great until she stumbles across a body and runs away. She is now suspect number one. A really good backstory of how she got here and a great conclusion to todays events.

This is the first book I’ve read by Claire McGowan and WOW! I Know You is one tense, suspenseful psychological thriller. Rachel aka Casey has found dead bodies twice in her life. This complicated story pulled me in and didn’t let me go! I really enjoyed how the author switched POVs from Rachel (present) and Casey (past). There were some crazy twists and I couldn’t wait to find out who the real killer was in the end! Highly recommend this one for crime thriller fans!
Thank you NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for this e-ARC.
I will post my review on @thrillersandcoffee on Instagram.

*Thank you to NetGalley, Claire McGowan, and Amazon Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Previously published at https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/i-know-you/

I Know You follows Casey Adams (now Rachel Caldwell), a girl who has been in the wrong place at the wrong time with dead bodies, accused of murder twice. In her teens, as an au pair in California, she was known by her legal name, Casey Adams; She is now living in England under her married name, Rachel Caldwell.

Rachel is 19 when she takes a job in Los Angeles, California, as a nanny for the Safran family, but she soon finds out all is not what it seems with the picture-perfect Safrans. She is quite naïve and not prepared to take care of two children, five and 6 months old, plus an entire house. Abby, the mother, has significant emotional issues and abuses the 5-year-old Madison, who is demanding and wetting the bed every night. Rachel finds an ally in dad David, who occasionally helps her and seems like the most normal one. Though he drinks a lot and is very mercurial. McGowan bounces back effortlessly from Casey as an Au Pair to Rachel, as a 38-year-old woman hiding in a small town in England. The entire Safran family, except for baby Carson, is composed of very flawed people. When they are murdered, except for the baby, Rachel’s life is put on display; drinking, boyfriends, low cut tops. All things a normal teenager would do. She is arrested and put on trial for the murders, and convicted quickly. The Innocence Project handles her appeal in what the media dubbed The Mary Poppins Murders.

What are the chances that one person could stumble across two instances of dead bodies in their lifetime? As Rachel is walking her dog, Brandy, one morning in the woods behind her house, she sees a dead body buried in the leaves. Her first instinct is to run, having been through this before. Unfortunately, her nosy neighbor sees her running out of the forest, and when the body is found in the woods, she becomes the first suspect. Rachel soon finds out that the dead body is the wife of the man she has been having an affair with.

Claire McGowan is an expert at making everyone a suspect. Is it Rachel’s ex-husband who has been lying to her about his whereabouts? Or Alex, her lover, whose ex-wife is the murder victim? Or is it the boy whose life she saved so many years ago, now a young adult? The last chapter of this book surprised me very much. Not the ultimate reveal of who is the murderer of Anna Devine but by Rachel’s recollections of that fateful night in Los Angeles so many years ago. She has to make some decisions that could affect her future. And where does she go from there? I Know You is a fantastic mystery that keeps the reader on their toes from the first chapter, and leaves you guessing until the very last line.

I have read this Authors previous books and enjoyed them but this book is my favourite so far .It is a very well written clever thriller telling a very unusual story .Fancy being accused of murder not once but twice in 20 years !!! What an enjoyable story ,fast paced ,gripping clever and so very different .The story goes backwards and forwards from America 2000 to the present day UK .This is a book that kept me guessing all the way to the ending .A captivating story .Many thanks to the Publisher ,the Author and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review .

At the age of nineteen Rachel faced death row for a crime she says she didn’t commit. Years later after she’s been exonerated and living a new life she’s faced with another murder investigation where she’s the lead suspect again.

This is a page turning murder mystery novel that will keep Chou guessing until the very end. The whole time I couldn’t figure out if Rachel was telling the truth or not for both murders she had been suspected of. I loved how this book pulled me in from the very first line which doesn’t happen a lot for me!

This book is out now so get your hands on it and enjoy a great book!

Thank you to netgally for the copy of this bookmin return for an honest review. I was really gripped by this book and read it very quickly. It follows the story of Rachel who stumble a cross a dead body, however it turns out this is not the first time it's happened to her. The book switches between The present and the past and we see if history will repeat itself. Although far fetched jn places it was an excellent read that had me hooked from.start to finish.

Wow. Rachel has had the worst luck and now she's trying to find the true murderous villain. She's a great character, the mystery has some surprises, and well, no spoilers from me. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Good storytelling and a propulsive plot make this a page turner!

This is a thoroughly enjoyable thriller by Claire McGowan. The intricate plot unfolds through two timelines and describes the horrifying ordeal experienced by Casey aka Rachel who is found guilty of murder and is imprisoned on death row in California. The writer cleverly details Casey’s successful appeal and release only to be investigated and accused of another murder years later when she has changed her name and is living in England.

Now called Rachel, she then goes on to investigate this new murder while living with the suspicion of all who know her. The characters are numerous and each could be responsible. There are many twists and turns, all of which took me by surprise.

An accomplished mystery thriller. My thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

What can I say about this book - it gripped me from the minute I read the blurb and held me captive for the next few days. I literally loved everything about this book. If I could ask for a book that has everything that I need in a good read then this has captured it to a tee.

We meet Rachel - also known as Casey from her past life, she goes for a dog walk and stumbles upon a body in the wood, instead of doing "the right thing" she makes a run for it home. You see Rachel isn't just a run off the mill woman, she is an ex-death row inmate. When she was 19 she went to be a sort of au pair to a family in LA, unfortunately for Casey she went for a walk and came back to the house she was nannying for and found 3 out of the 4 family members murdered, she was convicted and then her conviction was over turned and she returned to the UK and changed her name.

I loved the alternating chapters of Casey when she was a nanny and then Rachel now as she once again is accused of murder. She is framed for the murder of Anna, the ex partner of Rachel's new boyfriend and the past comes to haunt her again.

I really enjoyed reading about 19 year old Casey, and how she became on death row. The characters are well build and you do feel awful for the situation that Rachel is in. The only thing that was a slight negative for me was that I did guess who the person was behind the murder of Anna, but it is such a small thing that it would not put me off reading more of Claire McGowan's novels.

Thanks to Claire McGowan, NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Great read that gets you interested from page one, and the twists and turns throughout keep you entertained and wondering what's next. I really enjoyed this book. Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A complex, entertaining, twisty story that keeps you hooked one that pace picks up. 3.5 for this one.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to #NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Switching between the present and the past, we firstly learn about Rachel discovering and ignoring a body while walking her dog in the woods. As a scarf of Rachel’s is found at the scene, she quickly is questioned by police becoming the prime suspect when the body is found to belong to the estranged wife of Rachel’s boyfriend.

Rachel is not a stranger to murder investigations having been a British nanny by the name of Casey and found guilty of murdering her American employers and their 5 year old daughter.

The book switches between Rachel’s POV in the current time and her time as Casey in the past. I worked out what had happened quite early on in the story. I did not feel a connection to Rachel or to Casey or any of the characters in the story. I thought Rachel might have had a bit more maturity and common sense when facing this situation a second time around but she makes lots of silly decisions time and again.

The plot line was interesting but it wasn’t as gripping as I thought it could have been. It was still an enjoyable read.

#IKnowYou
Publish date 19 October 2021

A woman becomes a key suspect in a murder case based on her connection to another murder years earlier. While she knows she’s innocent in both situations, she also keeps secrets from those closest to her. Claire McGowan features fairly likeable characters in a plot that crawls until the somewhat predictable ending in her latest book I Know You.

Rachel Caldwell loves her home in the Lake district in a small town where neighbors know one another and leave their doors unlocked during the day. It’s a quiet place and far away from the big cities where people might recognize her from before her life as Rachel. She’s worked hard for nearly 20 years to remake herself, and she wants nothing more than to take care of the animals in her volunteer job at the shelter and to enjoy her new relationship with Alex.

Then one morning, as she’s walking her dog, Rachel stumbles across a body in the woods behind her house. On instinct, she runs. This isn’t the first time she’s encountered a dead body, and Rachel wants nothing to do with the person who died. Soon enough, however, the police come knocking on her door. The dead person turns out to be Anna Devine, Alex’s estranged wife, and now the police are looking at Rachel sideways.

She does everything she can to convince them she had nothing to do with Anna’s death, but then someone leaks the truth about her past. Rachel is actually Casey Adams who, at the age 19, went to work as a nanny for the Safran family in Los Angeles. While she’s there, three of the Safrans were killed and Rachel was convicted of the murders and sent to death row where she spent almost five years.

David Safran was a Hollywood producer who Rachel wanted to impress to launch her acting career. His wife, Abigail, was moody at best, impossible to please. Five-year-old Madison, a pageant queen, confused Rachel more than anything else. Baby Carson was the only bright spot in Rachel’s days, but taking care of a baby was exhausting. None of her frustrations, though, compared to the reality of living in prison.

With the help of an old friend, she managed to get the conviction overturned on appeal. Since that time, Casey became Rachel and she’s wanted nothing to do with law enforcement. Now, though, the cops are practically living on her doorstep and accusing her of murder. She even gets arrested, although the police have to let her go for lack of evidence. At 19 Rachel felt helpless and lost, but she’s not helpless anymore. Prison taught her to look out for herself, and she’s determined to find out the truth about this latest murder no matter what it takes.

Author Claire McGowan sets up an interesting premise in a young British girl coming to the States to work for an American family. She draws clear lines between American and British cultures, showing how the norms in one country can create misperceptions in the other. The development of Rachel as a character is sharp and nuanced.

Where the book falls behind, however, is in its pacing, literally. The story flips between Rachel’s time in LA as a teen nanny and the present after the murder of Anna. Early in the book, the narrative approach heightens the tension. At some point, however, it starts to draw it out to the point of feeling slack. An inordinate amount of time is spent first with Rachel in present-day England and then with her as a young woman, and much of the narrative tends to repeat itself in different words.

Because there are a limited number of characters, readers will find the main story question—Who killed Anna Devine?—easy to answer long before Rachel gets there. At some point, Rachel’s quest to discover the murderer’s identity morphs into a quest to find the truth about what happened when she was in LA. The juxtaposition of the two murder cases works some of the time; at other times, it feels forced.

For those looking for a standard thriller, this might work.

This novel is a gripping thriller, a real page turner.
Rachel is walking her dog in the woods near her house when she stumbles across a body. But instead of contacting the police to report it she runs back home, not wanting to be found at the scene, after all look what happened the last time she discovered a dead body, she spent years on Death Row convicted of 3 murders.
As mounting evidence places her at the scene she realises someone is out to frame her for murder
Alternate chapters Set in 2000 in Los Angeles and present day in the UK, this is a great novel of Rachel trying to prove her innocence for all charges.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review

This one had me hooked from the first page! On one particular morning walk with her pup, Rachel Caldwell, stumbles upon a body instead of calling for help she runs. Rachel has been through this before as Casey Adams, a nanny in America for The Safran Family. She was arrested and served five years for the murder of Abby, David, and their daughter Madison. With the help of The Innocence Project Rachel was exonerated on circumstantial evidence. The body belongs to Anna, wife of her new boyfriend, Alex! Of course she becomes suspect #1 and her past catches up to her. This is a new to me author, excited to read more of her work! I Know You is a suspenseful, page turner! Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for a gifted copy. This is my honest review.

This one had me hooked from the first page! On one particular morning walk with her pup, Rachel Caldwell, stumbles upon a body instead of calling for help she runs. Rachel has been through this before as Casey Adams, a nanny in America for The Safran Family. She was arrested and served five years for the murder of Abby, David, and their daughter Madison. With the help of The Innocence Project Rachel was exonerated on circumstantial evidence. The body belongs to Anna, wife of her new boyfriend, Alex! Of course she becomes suspect #1 and her past catches up to her. This is a new to me author, excited to read more of her work! I Know You is a suspenseful, page turner! Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for a gifted copy. This is my honest review.

Another brilliant page turner by Claire McGowan; I couldn’t put it down. The story captivated me from the first page, and I was raging against the injustice of the system and the harshness of the treatment of women, whether they were guilty or not. The young Casey was abused and taken advantage of and was a clear victim of trial by media. The unfairness of her finding herself in the same position for a second time seemed unbearable. It was clear that she was concealing something, but tragic that her mother’s advice had put her freedom in jeopardy. A gripping story with a satisfying dénouement. Highly recommended.

An interesting story wiht some twists and turns. Can be a bit long winded at times but ends well. Worth a read

Many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer/Amazon Publishing for gifting me a digital copy of the latest psychological thriller by Claire McGowan - 4.5 stars!

In 2000, Casey was 19 when she left London to take a nanny job for a couple in Los Angeles. Her mom encouraged her, hoping that Casey could break into acting and she could then ride her coattails into her own acting career. Casey was instantly responsible for the total care of the two children - Madison, 5, and baby Carson = as well as the cooking and cleaning. When Casey returns from a walk with Carson and finds the entire family murdered, all the evidence points directly to her. In present day, Casey has been exonerated and is living in London as Rachel, trying to keep a low profile. When she finds a dead body in the woods on her morning walk, once again Rachel is under a cloud of suspicion.

The chapters alternate between these two storylines and timelines as you try and piece together the puzzle. I really enjoyed the writing, tension and plot twists - there were lots of suspicious characters in both timelines. I really felt for Casey as she was put in impossible situations at such a young age. It's also a sad tale of one family's troubled household - failed dreams, marriages and abuse.

I have enjoyed other books by this author but I found this one somewhat predictable. I had figured out long before the end who had done it!

many thanks to netgalley and Claire McGowan for the advanced copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

Claire McGowan has produced a detailed thriller that spans both years and oceans.

Twenty years ago a nineteen year old girl sets foot to become a nanny in America, hoping this will be the stepping stone to fame and fortune. Life didn't quite turn out how it was expected to.

In the present day Rachel is walking her dog Brandy when she comes across a dead body, panicking she runs away without reporting it. Why not? Well it turns out that Rachel had a couple of good reasons for pretending she hadn't seen poor Anna's body.

The book is constructed across time periods with both stories being equally absorbing. The plotting is meticulous as is the feeling of authenticity of all the characters.

If you are looking for something a little different, this might just be what you are looking for.

WOW! WOW! WOW! what a cracking, tension filled, suspenseful book. I loved it. I read it in one day because I was dying to find out all the secrets and what really happened to Casey/Rachel. I felt so sorry for her because she got sent to death row for a crime she didn't commit, but that's where the little twist start appearing. It has amazing characters who all have plenty of depth and are really relatable. Some you love such as Casey/Rachel and some you hate such as Abby, who I thought was a wretch and all she cared about was herself. I loved the different timelines because it added extra suspense. Claire knows how to keep her readers enthralled and turning the pages. I loved everything about it. I would like to thank NetGally, Publishers and Claire for the ARC, I really appreciate it.

This murder/mystery book starts with the main character Rachel walking in the local woods in England and stumbling across a female body. For some reason she ignores it and returns home without telling anyone.

Why she did this is explained with another story line set 20 years previously and covered as part of dual time lines. Her involvement then was as Casey, a 19 year old nanny, working for a rich family in LA. She became the chief suspect in a family murder - just saving the baby.

With this in mind, Rachel sets about trying to solve the case without the help of the police as the victim is well known to her. No further spoilers from me!

There is a bit of repetition with the author perhaps worried about what happened in LA?

However, lots of twists with the plot(s) made for an enjoyable read.

Thanks to Net Galley and Thomas & Mercer for the chance to read and review.

Walking her dog in the wooded trails near her home, Rachel stumbles upon a dead body and panics, running home and locking the door, instead of calling the police. That’s because twenty years ago, she did call the police and ended up spending four years wrongfully convicted of murder. The police are convinced once again she is the murderer when the body turns out to be her boyfriend’s estranged wife. Rachel starts her own investigation to prove her innocence, but somebody has decided she needs to pay for her previous crimes.

Told between current day and twenty years prior, I Know You unravels at the perfect, suspenseful pace. Rachel/Casey was a child herself in the earlier years, invoking my sympathy as a mother for her plight. And in the later years, surprised me that she found herself in the same situation, but she as much strong, smarter woman, capable of rescuing herself. The ending was slightly predictable, but was thrilling to read with plenty of action and twists.

This story will grab readers who love thrillers from the beginning. Told in two person dialect, Casey/Rachel's stories unravel at a maddening pace. Readers will sympathize with the characters as the truth prevails. The twist at the conclusion was unexpected. Recommended!

Thank you to #NetGalley and #Thomas & Mercer for an advance copy of #IKnowYou by #ClaireMcGowan
The book starts with Rachel discovering a body, but instead of calling the police or seeing if she can help she runs home and pretends she was never there.
The reason for this becomes obvious as the story swings between Rachel’s story and Caseys of 20 years earlier. Casey was convicted of the murders of 3 people, one a small child in her care, released on appeal and needing to escape all the people who still believed there was no smoke without fire she became Rachel. Has someone has found her wanting to make her pay by setting her up again.
A book that will keep you turning the pages to find who is the killer and what really happened 20 years ago.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This mystery is riveting enough. The plot Carrie’s you quickly along although it’s confusing in parts. The protagonist’s motivations are hard to follow and believe.

This was an interesting story but I didn’t love the way it was told. The story got cloudy for me at times. It was a good binge read but not amazing.

I really enjoyed this book, and found the two stories built quite well, the one from Carey’s teenage years and the current story. I found there was some similarities to a couple of real life crimes that involved young women, but it seemed like there was just an idea that started with them and a different story emerged. A good thriller that I struggled to put down.