The author did a great job of making each of the characters unique, while still allowing the parallels to Jane Austen’s characters. If you’ve read Pride and Prejudice, you’ll understand this.
But even if you haven’t, it is a thoroughly enjoyable rom com in its own right.
Honestly, there is not a lot to delve into. It was just charming and fun to read. The tension is good, the characters are well-enough developed that they feel real, but without having to go too deep into psyches or anything heavy.
It’s just nice and light.
Sometimes that is absolutely enough.
I didn’t read Sarah Ready’s debut novel, but I certainly will now.
You can’t get a much better beach read than Once Upon an Island.
Hoo boy, is there a lot to unpack in The Daughters, a chilling psych thriller from Julia Crouch.
I’m not even sure where to start.
I guess I should have had an inkling about the mental states of both Sara and Lucy from the very first chapter. But the author does a great job of not giving away too much. Just enough to make the reader question backstory.
And there is a lot of backstory.
As always, you can get the gist of it from the blurb but suffice to say that Sara and Lucy’s mom allegedly committed suicide years prior. And that is questionable for more than a few reasons.
Actually, as I am writing this, I realize that none of the characters are particularly trustworthy in their perspectives. Sara is bitter. Lucy is a broken toy. And Carys is too good to be true.
In fact, Carys got on my nerves from the beginning. I’m not sure if that is the author’s intent, but she truly was too much of a do-gooder to believe that she didn’t have ulterior motives about…well, anything.
I’m not telling you if my instinct was right, but let’s just say that it is a good psych thriller partially because of how her true character is revealed.
Additionally, however, she was difficult to root for because it just felt like she was more caricature than character. Like she was too good for anything. Again, I think that is by design. But I was totally with Sara not liking her.
I really felt for Sara and Lucy, especially the latter. She is obviously so damaged for some reason (that is revealed in the book) that it is easy to see how past traumas can affect present mental health. So, there is another “psych” angle to the psych thriller.
Given recent events in the real world, this is something that truly struck home with me.
But this isn’t about that.
I liked how the author made me question pretty much everyone’s perspectives and I liked being off-balance as to who was trustworthy. The reveals come about at just the right time in the book. The plot progresses at a good pace.
I actually stayed up late reading this one. And that rarely happens.
I enjoyed The New Mother by Julia Crouch, and The Daughters is another good psych thriller that should go on your list.
Julia started off as a theatre director and playwright. While her children were growing up, she swerved into graphic design. After writing and illustrating two children’s books for an MA, she discovered that her great love was writing prose. The picture books were deemed too dark for publication, so, to save the children, she turned instead to writing for adults. Her first book, Cuckoo, was published in 2011, and she has been writing what she calls her Domestic Noir novels ever since. She also writes for TV and teaches on the Crime Writing MA at the University of East Anglia. She has three grown up children and lives in Brighton with her husband and two cats, Keith and Sandra.
The Wrong Girl by Robert W. Kirby is an ambitious psych thriller that takes concentration to really understand.
Simply put, there is a LOT going on in this book.
The blurb gives a succinct background: Alex has nightmares and calls out Sheryl’s name. But his wife’s name is Natalie. So, who is Sheryl, and why does she haunt Alex?
It’s a good premise and the author does an admirable job fully building the story by telling it from multiple points of view. The reader gets a holistic look at the events.
However, that also is part of my issue with the book, because there are SO many points of view to understand and (unless I missed it) no real delineation to let the reader know where the info is coming from.
There were times that I was halfway through a chapter before I realized that it was someone different from the previous chapter.
The amount of flashback used to flesh out Alex’s past didn’t bother me. I like when an author lets the reader see things actively, instead of just having characters talk about past events passively.
It is also good that the reader gets to see Alex’s group of friends both as they were and in their current lives. Another way the author rounds out the story with good detail.
Buy Links Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wrong-Girl-gripping-psychological-thriller-ebook/dp/B09ZVNGC2K Amazon US – https://www.amazon.com/Wrong-Girl-gripping-psychological-thriller-ebook/dp/B09ZVNGC2K
I’m sure there are some readers who may take issue with the “laddish fun” and group-speak the old friends use to communicate. In the U.S., we would call it a “good ol’ boy” vibe. They didn’t bother me either, but I could see where it could be a bit much.
A reader could try to read The Wrong Girl while distracted, but they may struggle. As I mentioned at the beginning of the review, concentration is needed to really understand everything. That is largely due to the multiple points of view and the complexity of the friend group.
After a slow start (push through that as well) the author does pick up the pace. Oddly, the complexity of the backstory gets easier to follow. I don’t mean to repeat myself, but you really do need to focus on this one.
If you do, you should find it to be quite a satisfying psych thriller.
Author Bio Robert was born in 1979 and lives in Kent with his wife, children, and bonkers dalmatian, Dexter. He ran a private investigation agency for over fifteen years, dealing in cases that involved breach of contract claims, commercial debt recovery, and process serving. Robert’s agency also specialised in people tracing; so much of his work revolved around tracking down debtors, dealing in adoption matters, and locating missing persons. At times, he worked on some pretty bizarre cases and dealt with plenty of interesting and sometimes colourful individuals.
Since 2014, Robert has worked self-employed in the pet care industry, and is a keen trail runner, mountain biker and kayaker. Robert has a huge passion for screenwriting for many years and started writing novels during the first lockdown.
The Wrong Girl is his first psychological thriller with Inkubator Books.
The Second Wife by Miranda Rijks is a psych thriller that most delivers on an engaging plot.
That being said, the title does not really make sense in the greater scheme of the story. But I’ll get to that in a minute.
Mia is easy to like and root for. She appears to be honest and hardworking, and kind of ends up with a bad rap.
And that is all before the real twists start.
And then there is Brooke, who I found to be shallow, dishonest, vapid, and pretty unlikeable.
So, yeah, sides are easily drawn.
However, when the big turning point occurs, Brooke becomes a little more understandable and even a bit sympathetic. But I think this was also in comparison to the other Featherstones who showed up.
Talk about characters with no redeeming qualities whatsoever.
Anyway, the action pretty much is in three acts: the build-up, the action, and the aftermath. There is a contained cast of characters, so there are no sneaky connections or “where did that person come from” moments, which I appreciate.
As events get spooky and even dangerous, the action takes on a little bit of an Agatha Christie feel. I think that is mostly because things get a bit complicated, and the twists start to appear more quickly.
There are some definite psych thriller head games. However, there are some moments that verge on melodrama and seem almost too over the top.
But the author still has a few good secrets that she holds onto until the very end, so it makes the entire story worthwhile.
Now, about the title though. I don’t feel like it did the story justice. Once you meet “the second wife” you expect the rest of the story to be about here, but that is not the case. She plays a big part in it, but she isn’t the focus.
It’s an odd choice.
Regardless, it’s a good read. I recommend this latest psych thriller from Miranda Rijks. You can also check out The New Neighbour. The review contains links to more of her books.
Miranda Rijks is a writer of psychological thrillers and suspense novels. She has an eclectic background ranging from law to running a garden centre. She’s been writing all of her life and has a Masters in writing. A couple of years ago she decided to ditch the business plans and press releases and now she’s living the dream, writing suspense novels full time. She lives in Sussex, England with her Dutch husband, musician daughter and black Labrador.
Miranda is the author of psychological thrillers. This will be her fourteenth novel published with Inkubator Books.
If there is one lesson to learn from The Bridesmaids (a new psych thriller by Victoria Jenkins), it’s that women do not need men to screw up their lives. They are quite capable of being vicious to each other and causing all kinds of devastation.
That may sound a bit dramatic, but then again, so are the plot threads in this book.
What is supposed to be a fun hen weekend away for Holly and her bridesmaids, most of them lifelong friends, turns dark in many ways.
It is apparent almost immediately that everyone at this party has something to hide. Some secrets are ancient history, and some are more recent. But they all affect each of the other women in some way.
I imagine these connections were not easy to establish and keep straight, because it does become quite a web of lies and deceit. But the success of it is also what makes it a psych thriller. So, kudos to the author on that.
I liked how the action is told from alternating points of view. The reader gets a holistic sense of the events because each person has a different perspective and very different motivations for their actions.
While you would think that Holly is the main narrator (as it is her weekend) that isn’t necessarily the case. I would say that she isn’t even the one who is most impacted by it all.
I don’t want to give anything away, but let’s just say that nobody gets out of the weekend unscathed.
There are a few unfinished threads. For example, Zoe doesn’t seem to have much to do except be there as a catalyst for the others. It would have been nice to have her be a bit more balanced with the others.
But there is so much else going on, it kind of doesn’t matter. I guess that is a bit nitpicky on my part.
There is a point in the book where the secrets start to come to light and once that begins, the actions of the women and the ensuing event come fast and furious. The author holds nothing back – it is punch after punch of “holy crap, no way!” revelations.
I also think the author is bold in the choice of ending. Many books wrap everything up neatly and characters make amends of some kind. But real life isn’t like that. So, allowing everything to be more natural actually reflects the impact the weekend had on the women.
And even then, the author still has one last revelation in the last pages.
As I said at the beginning of this review, women are quite capable of sabotaging and being horrible to each other. Victoria Jenkins does an excellent job of illustrating this in The Bridesmaids.
Want to read another psych thriller? Check out The New Family, also by Victoria Jenkins (review contains links to others as well!)
Victoria Jenkins lives with her husband and daughters in South Wales, where her bestselling series of crime novels featuring Detectives King and Lane is based. The first in the series, The Girls in the Water is a top 5 US kindle bestseller. She has an MA in Creative and Media Writing from the University of Wales, Swansea.
Never Coming Home by Hannah Mary McKinnon is that delicious type of thriller that has you inexplicably rooting for the villain even as you hope he gets what he deserves.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
First, let me say how much I love this author’s writing style. Her descriptions are so full of detail that I feel like I am watching a movie in my head as I read. In fact, I don’t have to do any real imagining of a place or a scene, because it is all right there on the page to paint the picture.
Because of that, it is much easier to drop right into the action, which makes it a fun and active read. Add to that the depth of character, and you have a winning thriller!
It is not a spoiler to say that Lucas is not what he appears to be – the blurb tells you as much. What I did not expect, however, was for him to be someone I was actually rooting for in light of his serious transgression.
I mean, taking a hit out on your wife is not usually something to cheer about.
But Lucas has an incredible backstory that actually makes the reader feel sorry for him – a little bit. And if not feel sorry, at least understand his motivations. He’s not necessarily evil for the sake of it – he has reasons.
Because of the importance of the backstory, there are times when it seems as if it is actually unnecessary because you WILL want to get back to the plot at hand. But trust me, it is all very relevant. So, don’t skip anything.
Lucas’s personality is wry and matter of fact. Even as his plans seem to go awry, he still thinks that he can figure his way out of it with charm. But can he? (Not going to say). I will say that the thriller aspect truly kicks in rather early, making it very engaging.
Another thing that I give the author kudos for is that there is a definite vibe of feminist girl power that builds throughout the book. However, she never goes preachy or over the top with the commentary. It’s a touchy subject, and I have been known to put down books that are “too much.”
The author’s skill is that she does just enough to get the point across and then moves on. It’s not ALL about that – it’s a vital part that has its time and place. And that’s it. Yay for that!
Anyway, by the time you get to the climax, you may think you have guessed what is going on, but you probably are at least a little bit wrong. Because the author still has a few twists up to the very end.
I am a huge fan of Hannah Mary McKinnon. Check out my reviews of You Will Remember Me and Sister Dear. Her thrillers are dark, witty, and thoroughly entertaining. Never Coming Home is another great addition. I can’t wait for her next one!
Hannah Mary McKinnon was born in the UK, grew up in Switzerland and moved to Canada in 2010. After a successful career in recruitment, she quit the corporate world in favor of writing, and is now the author of The Neighbors, Her Secret Son, Sister Dear and You Will Remember Me. She lives in Oakville, Ontario, with her husband and three sons, and is delighted by her twenty-second commute.
The Woman in My Home by Kerry Fisher is a thriller that takes a few twists and turns before arriving at a fairly satisfying conclusion.
It is also a story that starts off as one thing before morphing and becoming something much more. Ultimately, I think the author wants us to understand that men are awful. And women need to stick together to be able to defeat their machinations.
That probably seems simplistic, but considering the twists that occur, I don’t think it is inaccurate.
Cath is excited to have a new beau. So, she moves him into the house quicker than her son and mother would like. The move is complicated by the son’s family situation as well.
Rebecca is at loose ends due to her husband’s bad business deals. She happens to be around when Cath’s mother needs assistance, which leads to her working for Cath.
I found Cath to be unlikeable, and somewhat of a snob. Like she couldn’t possibly have made a bad decision and everyone else around her just didn’t understand. Honestly, she sometimes came across as a petulant teen.
I think that is why I had a difficult time feeling bad for her when everything started to unravel.
Rebecca was a little bit easier to support because she had her heart in the right place. Plus, it seemed as if she was a little more astute than Cath.
Perhaps the author was also trying to illustrate that money can’t solve all problems and doesn’t necessarily make someone better or smarter?
Anyway, eventually the women do get it together. I don’t want to give away the climax, but I will say that I wished there had been more oomph behind the comeuppance of the character who deserved it.
After everything else, that fell decidedly flat for me. I expected more “thriller” from the ending – like how would the person react?
But it was still a good read, and I liked how Rebecca stayed true to herself, even as she questioned why she was even bothering to try to help.
The Woman in My Home by Kerry Fisher lacks a bit of focus, but it is still a good thriller that illustrates how the heart can overrule common sense.
Kerry Fisher is an internationally bestselling author of women’s contemporary fiction, including The Woman I Was Before, The Silent Wife (USA Today bestseller) and Other People’s Marriages, as well as a non-fiction memoir, Take My Hand. She now lives in Surrey with her husband, with an intermittent empty nest as her two young adult children come and go.
I have read several books by K.L. Slater, and she can usually be depended on to write a good psych thriller. While Missing is decent, it doesn’t quite meet the standards I have come to expect with her books.
Now, let me qualify this review by saying I thoroughly expect other people will enjoy the book more than I did. My reviews are never to put someone off or change their mind about reading something.
They are solely my opinion and my experience. So, take it with a grain of salt.
I realize that might be confusing, so let me just tell you what worked and didn’t work for me in this psych thriller.
The premise was intriguing. Josie suffered a family tragedy when she was younger. As an adult, she is thrust into another perilous situation and is forced to rely on someone who has proven to be untrustworthy in the past.
That’s enough to give anyone pause about trusting someone. But what is Josie to do when her daughter’s safety is at stake?
I thought that Josie was an interesting character, but she didn’t necessarily grab me and want me to root for her in the present. I think maybe she relied too much on being the victim of the previous event?
Can’t quite put my finger on it, but I didn’t connect with her as I have with past heroines in Slater’s books.
The whole resolution was also a bit more gonzo than her books usually are. I don’t know if she was trying a new approach. Frankly, a lot of it worked for me, because it was not a usual ending.
There are connections and relationships that are only hinted at throughout the rest of the book. So, in that regard, she did get a couple of good twists in. I’ve made no secret about my tendency to try to outguess the author. I didn’t succeed this time.
For many years, Kim sent her work out to literary agents but never made it off the slush pile. At the age of 40, she went back to Nottingham Trent University and now has an MA in Creative Writing.
Before graduating, she received five offers of representation from London literary agents which was, as Kim says, ‘a fairytale … at the end of a very long road!’
Kim is a full-time writer and lives in Nottingham with her husband, Mac. Her website is
The Tenant by Angela Lester is a psych thriller that will keep you guessing right up to the very end.
Yeah, I know that is a familiar refrain when it comes to psych thrillers, but in this case, it is actually true.
The author does a great job of building the plot from the ground up, giving the reader just enough information to keep going while also leaving enough doubt about the motives of the characters.
That might sound confusing, but it isn’t in actual practice in the story.
Kate is an interesting character. Her backstory is just questionable enough that when odd things start to occur, she appears to be an unreliable narrator.
Amy is…well, she’s Amy. I can’t say too much about her without giving major points of the story away. But again, here is where the author excels, because in spite of my initial feelings about her, I found myself questioning whether or not she might be the victim.
And you won’t find that answer here.
Buy Links Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tenant-gripping-psychological-thriller-ending-ebook/dp/B09Z6W745R Amazon US – https://www.amazon.com/Tenant-gripping-psychological-thriller-ending-ebook/dp/B09Z6W745R
There are also some good red herrings along the way, which lend additional doubt to both Amy and Kate’s motivations.
There were a few times that I felt the story disconnected. Like a good plot point that makes sense but then kind of goes nowhere.
For example, without giving anything away, there were times that I wasn’t sure about Clara and Philip’s roles in the entire situation. I suppose that was by design as well. Because at one point, I wondered if they had something to do with everything that was going on.
Another example was when Kate was working in the library and saw a man sitting in a place where Philip sat. Then, a while later in the book, Clara is describing Philip at a point in his life. The description was very similar to the person Kate saw in the library.
Again, not sure if it was by design, but it would have been nice for that to have been explored more. Maybe calling Kate’s sanity into question?
But I suppose that was done enough. I did guess early about parts of the plot, and I kept hoping that the author would have a twist proving me wrong. She did, but not in the way I expected, so that was good.
All in all, I would say that The Tenant by Angela Lester was a definite solid psych thriller and it should go on your TBR list. I look forward to reading more from her.
Author Bio
Angela Lester loves writing psychological suspense that explores the dark side of human nature.
A philosophy graduate, she came over from Germany in 1991 and has lived in Cardiff ever since. She plays the piano, sings in a choir, and loves walking in the great Welsh countryside. Her real passion is writing. She has written short stories and novels in German and English. The Tenant is her first published thriller.
Make Me Disappear by Jessica Payne is a psych thriller that you think will be about one thing but actually goes in a completely different direction.
In other words, it lives up to the promise of the “twist you won’t see coming.” Sometimes those promises are not fulfilled, but in the case of this psych thriller, it meets the standard.
Noelle is in a bad relationship. We know that right from the prologue. Just how bad, however, unfolds over several chapters. It takes a while to realize just how awful the situation is. The author does a great job of keeping the tension building.
Instead of being a damsel in distress, however, Noelle is a thinker, and she makes a plan to escape.
And that’s where everything really lets loose, and the action gets more interesting.
There are revelations that have bearing on the events (or do they) and you think you know who is controlling the entire thing (you won’t).
I thought the entire plot was well-done as it kept me guessing and second-guessing all the way through to the very end.
I especially liked the author’s writing style. The story is largely Noelle’s and chapters alternate between the present and the year or so leading up to the events that make up the main plot of the book. The “past” chapters are clearly marked with timeframes, so pay attention to those.
Every so often, there is a chapter from Daniel’s point of view. Those are deliciously creepy and enforce why Noelle feels the need to escape.
But, if you’re paying attention, you’ll realize there is actually more to Daniel than meets the eye. He’s…complex. That’s all I’m saying on that.
Once Noelle goes on the offensive, there are a few events that push the limit of belief, but I didn’t mind ignoring what would happen in reality. By that point, I was so invested that they could have turned it into a totally different novel, and I would still have finished it.
In other words, I definitely wanted to see the end result no matter what else happened in between.
Make Me Disappear is a debut novel from Jessica Payne. If it is any indication of future stories, I look forward to reading them!
Jessica Payne is the author of MAKE ME DISAPPEAR. She grew up in Kansas City, later moving to the Pacific Northwest where the mountains and Puget Sound became home. Beyond writing, she loves to run, rock climb, and explore the great outdoors with her daughter and husband. She is an RN and recently finished her degree as a nurse practitioner. When holding still, which isn’t often, you’ll find a book in her hand and a cat or dog (or both!) in her lap. Jessica writes suspense and thriller and is the host of #MomsWritersClub on Twitter and YouTube. You can find out more about her at her website, jessicapayne.net
