Even though I attempted the netgalley download twice, i found it very difficult to get into this police murder mystery storyline, and so was forced to abandon the book.
Maybe I will come back to it at a later date.

This was a brilliant read. As soon as I started reading this book I just knew I was going to love it. Highly recommended

This is a thriller set in Cornwall. A woman has been attacked and left for dead. Who is she? What happened here and why? What follows is a rather tricky story that includes a plot about lost children.

Those who enjoy tricky novels that include lost (forever?) memories may want to give this one a look.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for this title. All opinions are my own.

Evie’s body is found beaten up and she is left for dead, after she recovers her consciousness she remembers her name but seems to have forgotten a lot of her past life – now she has to work with the police to piece her memory together while also having to make them believe that her daughter Angel is really missing.
While trying to solve the current mystery the cops also have to figure what happened to the kid Leah who went missing so many years ago – and is the present connected to the past.
Thanks to Netgalley, Debbie Howells & Pan Macmillan for approving the ARC

The death of her by Debbie Howells.
A woman’s body is discovered on a Cornish farm, battered and left for dead in a maize field. Airlifted to hospital, her life hanging in the balance, no one’s sure who she is. Three days later she comes round, but her memory is damaged. She knows her name – Evie – but no more, until she remembers another name. Angel – her three-year-old daughter.
Brilliant read. Great story. 5*.

The Death of Her wasn't the most original thriller I have read by a mile but it was entertaining and kept me guessing until the very end which is what it was intending to do.

I am a fan of this authoress and I consider her novel "The Bones of You" one of the most interesting books I have read in the recent years. Unfortunately this one is more of a miss for me (but I still will read anything she writes).

In my opinion, this novel suffers most from the overcomplicated plot and too many motives. We have here an attacked young woman with amnesia, claiming she has a child - whom no one ever seemed to notice. She is recognized by her former schoolmate as Jen - known as a young babysitter from under whose care a child had gone missing. Charlotte, the schoolmate, was also friends with the older sister of the missing child. Then we have another child attacked. And there are diary-like stories of Casey, the sister of missing girl. There are also ties to possible satanistic rituals.

I am not saying the overall plot is not working. But while the authoress is trying to bind the main motive together, the other motives go unexplained or not believably explained. Less motives could work better as there would be space to work more deeply with them.

This authoress is very good with the psychological motivations and interesting plots, yet I like her more in this "British" detective models more based on intelligence then the often bloody, creepy and nerve-wracking Scandi noir. Yet, I clap her for including the possibility of satanic rituals in this novel as a side motive, as I think we should not take these things lightly.

This is a well done and twisty thriller about a woman who no one trusts and who can't trust herself, really. It's a good read. Love the Cornish setting.

I'm a huge fan of Debbie Howells and have read all her books. The Death of Her definitely didn't disappoint.

When a woman called Evie is found assaulted in a field in Cornwall she's convinced that her child, Angel was with her and has been abducted. Local woman, Charlotte, recognises the woman as Jen, an acquaintance from her school days and remembers that there was scandal around her because a young girl called Leah went missing from her care and was never found.

The police - and Charlotte - even begin to wonder if Evie/Jen even has a child and that Angel isn't just a figment of her imagination, perhaps brought on by guilt after what happened to Leah.

I don't want to say too much without giving it away as there are lots of twists and turns in this book. I was gripped from the very beginning. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough, wanting to know whether Jen/Evie was responsible for Leah's disappearance all those years ago, and whether she really did have a child called Angel. And what does a red-headed teenager found dead in a field have to do with it all? The twists left me breathless and I never expected that ending.

An excellent read.

What an entertaining read! I really could not wait to see who the poor woman really was, and what happened to her child. The child only she knew about!!! Recommended read!

A brutal attack on a woman in the sleepy Cornwall countryside shocks the community. As Evie recovers, she struggles with extensive memory loss, remembering only her name and her three year old daughter, Angel, who has disappeared without a trace. Charlotte recognises her as an old classmate, Jen, who had been babysitting a young child fifteen years ago when she was abducted. Mysteries abound prompting questions of whether her child truly existed in the first place.


The Death of Her is a pacey thriller with memorable characters and an absorbing narrative. Howells employs a variety of different perspectives and timelines to explore the theme of child bereavement, and she is largely successful at this. I must admit I did feel that this slowed the pacing at times and some perspectives felt better done than others. Casey's voice, in particular, was too melodramatic and tropey for my sensibilities. I am not sure whether it was entirely necessary to employ so many different perspectives, as it only seemed to add to the loose ends in the narrative. Nevertheless, Cornwall is the ideal setting for this saga, and certainly added to the atmospheric writing. The dramatic landscape and endless woods lent a unique creepiness to the story-telling, and became a n important character in its own right.

I especially loved following Evie's psychological turmoil as she grapples with reality and her memories. Howell is skilled at creating realistic red herrings and keeping an air of mystery, whilst still giving enough breadcrumbs to keep you absorbed in the narrative. I was gripped throughout by the mystery surrounding Angel's disappearance, and I am pleased to report that I predicted some (though definitely not all) of the twists and turns.

Unfortunately, other characters failed to land so soundly with me; for example, many of the police officers fell flat and seemed rather two-dimensional. Charlotte, on the other hand, was an absorbing character from the beginning. A deeply unhappy woman in a less-than-ideal relationship with a Cornish surfer, she is drawn into the investigation when she recognises Evie's picture in the media coverage surrounding her attack. As the only familiar face in Evie's life, they bond quick and fast, as she helps Evie start to piece back the memories of her past. I was sad to see her narrative voice drop off in the second half of the novel, as her chapters were my favourites to read. I am interested to read more of Howell's work as I greatly admired her handling of multi-faceted and not-always likeable female characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for the copy in exchange for a review.

I found this book uninteresting and boring. It sounded so good and had so much promise, but I found myself being forced to read it.

I love books set in Cornwall and I really tried to like this one but there were far too many distractions and dead ends for me. And I was a little confused by the false personas and different viewpoints.
Maybe for me starting off the book from Charlotte's POV didn't work because I was on her side and then to discover she was someone else completely was a little off-putting.
I had no feeling for Jen/Evie who I think I was meant to because I was already invested in Charlotte - who then turned into Casey who I did feel for but by then was too confused to really care for anyone! But of course this could just have been me not understanding.
I think if the story had started off with Jen and Angel I'd have been more interested in their outcome.
So sorry this one not for me but will certainly look out for more by the author in the future.

This book was gripping but at the same time not 100% enjoyable - it took quite a while to get to grips with all the characters and how they featured in the story. There were also large chunks which were downright confusing and I felt these served no purpose.

Charlotte’s on-off boyfriend tells her about a woman who was attacked and left for dead. Later she sees a picture of the woman, Evie and recognises her from her past. The Police ask her to be a friend to Evie as she tries to come to terms with her situation but things are not always as they seem.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance read copy.

Another great book from a very talented writer.
Really good read until the end book that keeps you engaged the entire way through :-)
Cant wait for the next book form Debbie Howells

The Death of Her is a tense, twisty novel which kept me intrigued throughout. The characters are really interesting and I enjoyed seeing the story from different perspectives, some of which were a surprise and some which gave an insight into the police investigation. I don't want to give too much away but there's definitely a sense of bewilderment at times whilst reading this - Debbie Howells effectively keeps you guessing and unsure of what exactly is going on sometimes, which I really liked.

I enjoyed reading about Cornwall and the investigation, though at times the police seemed a bit slow sometimes! However there's plenty of twists and surprises - the mix of Evie's daughter Angel being missing, but there being doubts as to whether she event existed, combined with other possible crimes and unrealiable characters, left me wanting to read on! I guessed a few smaller parts but the end left me feeling surprised and satisfied; I really enjoyed this novel from start to finish!

Sorry i didnt get a chance to read this title before it was archived

This book really did not do it for me it's so unbelievable from the start. For one thing Jan/Evie is found in a field and the story revolves around her. I did not finish the book because it was truly unbelieveable. No one has come forward to report Jane/Evie missing and she has this so called daughter that no one has reported missing. What annoyed me was a old friend Catherine from school has not seen Jane/Evie for years but the police just keep asking her questions it's just so unrealistic sorry.

I haven’t read any of Debbie Howell’s books previously but she has been on my author radar for a while and this book totally lived up to expectations.

Evie is found battered and near death in a maize field on ‘Lower Farm’ and one week later the body of a young teenager is found on land also belonging to ‘Lower Farm’. Are they connected?
Evie regains consciousness after a few days but her memory has been affected. She claims she has a three year old daughter called ‘Angel’ but it seems that Evie was previously known as ‘Jen Russell’, as she is recognised by Charlotte, an old school acquaintance and the police can’t find any trace that her daughter actually existed.

Are both Charlotte and Evie unreliable narrators/characters, Charlotte with her alcohol issues and Evie with mental health issues? The chapters are mainly told from the perspective of Charlotte and then later DCI Jack Bentley, who becomes involved in the case in a later stage. There are also some chapters narrated by Casey, who is the elder sister of a young three year old girl who went missing when Jen was babysitting her, fifteen years previously.
While this story was very easy to read, it had me continually second guessing myself and many times I’d stop and madly write my questions down. It also makes me look at Halloween in another light.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the author’s previous works.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for a copy to read and review.

I enjoyed Howells's debut novel, The Bones of You, so I was very excited to read this. The Death of Her follows a woman, who has been beaten up and is discovered in a field. She's hospitalised, and doesn't remember who she is except for Angel, her 3-three old daughter. But Charlotte (the narrator) recognises the woman, and the police search her house they find no evidence of Angel. Although couple of years another child went missing. Are these cases connected?
This was an easy and grippping read. I devoured this in a few sittings.