Joanne has just moved back to the town where she grew up with her 6year old son Alfie, who is struggling to fit in at school. In an effort to befriend some of the other mums, Joanne repeats a rumour she has heard, not imagining the consequences this piece of gossip will have.

This was a very impressive debut looking at the impact gossip can have. It uses a very emotional charged premise (what would you do if you found out a child killer was living in your town under a new identity?) and explores the reactions to these. Lesley Kara continues to add twists and red herrings throughout the book to keep you guessing.

I'm looking forward to seeing what she comes up with next.

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for an ARC

Joanna has moved herself and her son close to her mother for a new start. Desperate to make friends she mentions a rumour she has heard and it soon spreads. A child killer is living in their town. Joanna is now caught up in the rumour but just what is the truth of it all?

This was so good. It really does keep you guessing right to the very end. The twist is amazing and really caught me out. The plot is clever and constantly moving. It keeps you gripped and desperate for know more. As for the ending wow especially the very last scene, what a clever climax. This is a brilliant thriller and well worth the read. The varying emotions through the book are well thought out and executed.

Joanna is someone most can relate to at the start of the book but as the story takes off you really feel for her. The other characters compliment her well and were written so you were never sure just who they were until the end.

Excellent book! Loved the characters and it was a great storyline. I would highly recommend this book.

Joanna has moved back to her childhood home town with her young son, Alfie. They are both having trouble fitting in, and in a bid to become accepted Joanna repeats a rumour she had heard about a murderer being relocated to the town under witness protection (or the UK equivalent). Joanna is about to find that rumours are easy to start and not so easy to end.

This was an intriguing premise for me as I remember local gossip about the relocation of Maxine Carr (the Soham murders in the UK). The book was definitely a page turner with lots of twists and turns, with the author liberally throwing in red herrings. I kept changing my mind over who the guilty party was, but when the penny drops it's a fantastic twist.

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers, Random House UK / Transworld Publishers, for the opportunity to review an ARC.

What. A. Book. The Rumour is one of those reads that hooks you instantly and keeps you locked in until the very last word.
I didn’t find out that it was a debut until I’d finished reading and I never would’ve guessed! It really is outstanding.
Kara is a master at predicting what you’ll be thinking and keeping you right where she wants you. I suspected everyone - and I mean everyone - coming up with elaborate theories about how it might all fit together, but I wouldn’t have guessed the ending in a million years! Kara was one step ahead the whole time and had me in the palm of her hand.
I loved the writing style and the vividly written scenes added to the atmosphere as the sense of foreboding grew.
At times it was so tense that I held my breath and towards the end the tension only grew. I don’t think I’ve ever used so many exclamation marks in my notes as when I was writing about how tense this book was!!
My heart flipped at one of the final twists and I don’t think I can put it better than what I wrote in my notes at the time: WHAT. A. KILLER. TWIST. SO CLEVERLY WRITTEN. TRULY CHILLING
The ending is phenomenal, so tense and emotionally charged. Just when you think it’s all over, yet another chilling detail sends you spinning once again.
I absolutely loved this book. I could go on and on, but I’d rather you read the book and see for yourself, you won’t regret it.
Overall I’m giving The Rumour 5 out of 5 and adding it to my five-star favourites shelf. It’s chilling, addictive and a really phenomenal read. This is the epitome of a five star read for me, I couldn’t fault it.

This is a fabulous debut novel about a child killer who, rumour has it, may be living in a seaside town, many years after serving her sentence for the murder of a little boy.
The author does a great job at building the suspense and describing the after effects of gossip and the issues it can cause. Also, the ending is brilliant.

It's well constructed and a real page turner and I'll definitely be looking out for future work from this talented author.

Thanks to netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview.

A disturbing backstory and the controversial topic of convicted child killers living a normal life set the scene for this chilling psychological thriller. Who are these people, hiding behind new identities? They walk amongst us at the shops, frequent the same restaurants or even babysit our children. Is there any thought more frightening than that?

Rumour has it convicted child killer Sally McGowan has been living in the small town of Flinstead-on-Sea. Sally was just ten years old when she stabbed a little boy to death. That was almost fifty years ago and there have been no sightings of her. Nobody knows what Sally looks like as an adult. Could she really be living in this quiet area? Just a little gossip at the school gates quickly takes a rather more sinister turn when Joanna passes the rumour on at her book club.

And just like that, I found myself in the middle of a tangled web that messed with my head like crazy. It felt like getting lost in a maze and needing bread crumbs to find my way back out again. The list of suspects I put together was almost as long as my arm and I couldn’t figure out at all who to trust. If anyone. It seemed like just about everyone had something to hide and poor Joanna soon wishes she had just kept her mouth shut.

The “this kept me guessing until the end” is sometimes rather overused and I’m guilty of that myself but with this novel, it’s incredibly apt. It’s incredibly refreshing not to see things coming a mile away. Lesley Kara managed to outwit me at every turn, making me suspect everyone and The Rumour left me almost breathless as the pace and tension built up.

Full of intriguing and complex characters, brilliantly written and intensely gripping, The Rumour is one of those books that is just perfect for one glorious reading session. A highly addictive page-turner with an impending sense of doom that ultimately leads to an incredibly chilling conclusion.

Eagle-eyed readers of my blog may have noticed that The Rumour managed to sneak in on my list of favourite books of the year as a last minute addition and this remarkably exciting debut by Lesley Kara has me eagerly awaiting what she comes up with next

Great story, nice twist, but I found it somewhat uninvolving. I suspect this is because it's the author's first book so the characters are mainly one dimensional. I expect that future books will bring more depth to the characters so they really stand out.

I really loved the twists and turns in this, it kept me guessing and the whole thing was well spun.
A definite recommend for anyone that loves an excellent thriller - I can see this hitting the best sellers list. Have already told our buyer that we need plenty.

What an incredible debut novel! I read this in one day and just couldn’t put it down. I was totally spell bound and mesmerised by the story and the characters.

The setting of a small seaside town Flinstead, with a small older population and the psychology of rumours starting and being spread in such an environment was a great starting point for this fast moving story. The characters were real especially Joanna and her son 6 year old Alfie. While Joanna’s mother lives in this town and Joanna grew up there before leaving for London, they are quite new and need to establish themselves. For Joanna this means joining with mother’s group for herself but also for her son’s sake. This wanting to be accepted leads to Joanne getting involved with a ‘rumour’ which gets very tangled and nasty.

There are many surprises - even right to the end!

Highly recommended read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Transworld Publishers for a copy to read and review.

This story shows how a rumour, innocently told between mothers at the playground gates, has devastating consequences. Jo, who happens to be the catalyst of the rumour in this story seems like such a nice woman. She loves her son deeply and innocently passes the rumour on in the hopes that by making friends with some of the other mums that her child will be invited round their children's house for play dates and such. I really liked Jo, she is a very relatable character, just like all mums out there she just wants what’s best for her son.

I personally found the book slightly slow in places around the the middle of the story but my of my did the ending make up for it. There is a pretty clever twist at the end which I didn’t anticipate even though I had pretty much suspected every other character at one point or another. There are quite a few characters in this book and many of the ‘mums’ all seem to blend into each other, but as they don’t play big parts it’s not an aspect that makes the story difficult to follow, on the contrary, I thought this book was well plotted, the characters who matter are the ones I remembered and these were the ones which were well developed throughout the book.

Overall a great book which made me start thinking about a lot of different topics. I would recommend to all psychological thriller fans.

I enjoyed this book, it was a nice easy read with a pace that flowed well. Perfect for relaxing in the evening in front of the fire.
Secrets and lies that can change your life, is there any truth to the rumours you hear, do you really want to know the truth if so?

This is the second book about a child murderer that I've read in the past two weeks, the other being The Flower Girls. Both books seek to shed light on why a child might kill. I am a psychologist and so I am well aware of the problems that abuse and attachment disorder bring. I find it heartbreaking that people judge child killers in the same way they might judge an adult killer. In this book, Joanna, a single mum has moved to her home town, a seaside place, to get her son away from bullies. He's not settling in and when some gossip is thrown her way, Joanna uses it to get in with the clique of mums without thinking through the consequences. The rumour is that a child killer is living in their town. Almost 50 years ago, 10 year old Sally McGowan killed a 6 year old boy. The public bayed for blood at the time and it seems are more than happy to continue to do so. By repeating this gossip, Jpanna sets in motion a train of events which change her life forever.

I enjoyed this book. It's well written and plotted. It's not unputdownable though. Some of the characters merge into each other and I felt could be distinguished more, Other characters appeared and didn't really make an impact on the book so I wondered why they were there. I also guessed which of the many possibilities was Sally McGowan early on.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I absolutely loved this book. Gripped from the beginning and I couldn’t put it down. The story was well written and characters believable.

Joanna inadvertently becomes one of the first of a long domino wall when she repeats a rumour in an attempt to fit in with her peers and neighbours. She has no idea what ramifications her loose mouth will have, especially when it comes to her own safety and that of her child.

In a small village or town everyone knows everyone else’s business and rumours can take on a life of their own. When Joanne overhears someone mentioning the fact that the notorious Sally McGowan, a ten-year-old who killed a child nearly 50 years ago, may be living in their town, she doesn’t think twice about using the juicy gossip to ingratiate herself with her new acquaintances.

Looking at a horrific crime from the outside is easy, especially when it comes to making snap judgements and having an opinion. The media tends to gaslight and sensationalize in an attempt to get more readers. Everyone has an opinion and solution to the problem. A few months ago I moved from the outside looking in to being in the midst of one these situations, and now I see things a lot differently.

One of the points Kara is trying to make is that although in a small minority of cases a child who kills is also a psychopath, sociopath or too damaged by abuse or trauma to be helped, the majority can be rehabilitated.

What happens when the killers try to live a normal life after being released, when they are hunted by the media and overzealous vigilantes? Don’t they have the right to try and live their lives after fulfilling their debt to society via the prison system? Does it depend on the crime, the intent during the crime or the age of the victim?

The other side of the coin is the way the victim’s family feels about the crime. It isn’t unusual to want revenge and be filled with a longing for vengeance. The fact that their child can never grow up, have children or build a life is seen in direct comparison to the perpetrator who will one day walk the streets again, and able to do all the aforementioned. Even a life sentence doesn’t mean life. When a child kills they are kept in secure environments for under-aged criminals, and then usually released at the age of 21. A lot of families find it hard to accept that they are allowed to live and enjoy their lives, whilst their child is a memory.

I really enjoyed this book, perhaps more so because it shines a light on so many underlying issues surrounding children who kill, the way the media influences our society and the danger of Chinese whispers. By putting all of these together with a captivating plot and intriguing characters the author creates the right recipe for a perfect story. Everyone is nearly always the right fit when it comes to being the suspect, and Kara gives the reader a run for their money with this exceptionally well-plotted read.

This contains more red herrings than a fish counter and a twist that will send you COLD. Absolutely brilliant.

A fairly normal family , with secrets , living in a nice seaside town . One woman hell bent on revenge before she dies . A rumour going round about a killer on witness protection living there , but who could it be ? A number of people are suspected , one of them with a shop is accused by local vigilantes and her shop vandalised . A well written book with numerous twists in its plot , leading to a thrilling climax.. I think this book is well worth 5stars . This is the first book I have read by this author and look forward to reading more in the near future .

This book was a slow burner that took a while to draw me in but when it finally did I was hooked. What would happen if a rumour started about a child killer in you little seaside town ? This is how the book starts a rumour. It starts to spread and before long anyone could be the killer. I didn't guess the ending at all, and all my suspicions were completely wrong. I fell for the rumours even when the clues are there to see. I was gripped until the end and the twist in the final scene left me I shock. This is a brilliant book and cannot wait to read more from this author.

Thanks to Net Galley and Random House UK for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
This is an outstanding debut novel, a psychological thriller, it all starts with a comment thrown into a conversation, very quickly the rumour is spread. Joanna feels guilty that she may have started it when she was simply trying to make friends in a new town and help her son Alfie make some friends.
The rumour is, there is a child killer living in their town, undercover, who could it be, the story is full of tension and suspense, Joanna begins to over think everything and suspect everyone. The story highlights how quickly a rumour spreads and the damage a rumour can cause. Very well written, the ending being totally unexpected. Will definitely be looking out for future books by this author Lesley Kara. 4.5 stars. There would be lots to discuss if this was a book club read.

Brilliant debut novel!

This book had me hooked from start to finish. A fast paced thriller that kept me guessing throughout. Would definitely recommend.

Looking forward to reading more from Lesley Kara.