Small town gossip is vicious. Nobody can escape the wagging tongues. Are you an introvert, keeping to yourself? Uh-oh... maybe you are a brutal killer, trying to blend in!

Joanna is new to Flinstead and doesn't have many friends. When her son, Alfie complains about other kids not playing with him in school, Jo takes her mum's advice and tries to make friends with other mothers. She fancies herself as someone who's not into gossiping, and yet, she figures the best way to get in on with the mums is to jump on the bandwagon and speculate about a possible child murderer living among them under a new identity in their peaceful little town. Not just once, but on every possible occasion.

Jo's sort-of-boyfriend, Michael (a.k.a. Alfie's dad), a journalist, is not helping matters with his endless digging for the truth. He's so dead set on writing a book about Sally McGowan, that he even broaches the subject of moving in with Jo and Alfie, even though up until now they weren't even in a relationship.

Once the first accusation is cast, the story hurtles towards a big showdown with great speed. There's always something to worry about. A dubious twitter account with cryptic messages, a neighbour who might not be as trustworthy as everyone thought, a book club meeting cancelled, or just strange, doctored photos showing up on Halloween. Take your pick.

There's also the debate whether children who commit a heinous crime deserve a second chance, and if whether it's even possible to rehabilitate them completely.

A thrilling, and absolutely entertaining story about the power of gossips, The Rumour will appeal to fans of small town mysteries and suspense.

Set in a small town it tells how a rumour affects the inhabitants who are unsure just who they can trust. I found the characters and their actions totally believable and raced through this book in just one day.

‘Rumours can kill’

I really enjoyed this book, it had me guessing the whole way through and I didn’t see the end coming! Great read

This is an original idea and that is welcome. It is very well written quite apart from the intriguing storyline. The reader should be aware that what seems an obvious outcome is not like that at all! The characters are well drawn and there is none of the unnecessary description that is sometimes used to fill out a book. It is not hard to identify with the characters. This book is a significant and welcome achievement.

I liked this book - found it very beleivable about how just an innocuous comment can start nasty rumours and how easily things h=can get out of hand. Good storyline, good characters and I was kept guessing. Good twist at the end. An easy read which made you want to keep going to find out who the child murderer was. Would recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley for my free copy.

This was certainly an interesting story line and for once we didn't have a heroine who made silly errors of judgement and then wondered why everything went wrong after that. Personally I felt there were too many similar characters, I got a bit confused between Liz and Karen and Kay and the other women in the babysitting circle and blook club. It had a disappointing end where everyone was constantly in tears with tears either running down their faces or their cheeks or in their eyes, enough tears please. and it wasn't a revelation when we learned who the child murderer actually was. I think this was meant to be a brilliant denouement and in some ways it was, but by then I was a bit past caring. Having said some negative things it was a read that kept me going back to it when I had a few minutes and I would recommend it.

A twisty-turny thriller! This was fast paced and fun, with well-drawn characters. The interaction between yummy mummies was very believable, and I was easily swept into Joanna's world. Good twist too!

This book has plenty of twists and is fast paced. I really enjoyed it as it managed to create suspense whilst also developing the characters.
It was a good example of how dangerous gossip can be and that no one actually knows what goes on behind closed doors.
Watch out foe the twist at the end!

Would definitely recommend this to others and will to my book club gang.

I found this a little slow when I started. But things did start moving and it became more and more gripping. Worth sticking with for the build up.

My thanks to Penguin Random House/Transworld for an eARC, via NetGalley, of this debut novel by Lesley Kara. The ebook edition is now available with its publication in hardback following on 27th December.

When it comes to novels like this, I try to read them without much background knowledge, apart from cover teasers, as spoilers can ruin the pleasure of trying to work out the various twists. So I won’t say anything about the plot itself.

I was quickly drawn into the story, which highlights the dangers of rumours and gossip. Once started I found that the hours had whizzed by as I read on needing to find out the resolution. For me this kind of engagement in story and characters makes for a successful work in the psychological/domestic suspense sub-genre.

I certainly will be looking out for Kara’s future books as this was an impressive debut.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. A great story with enough twists to keep you guessing until the end. Will look out for this authors work in the future.

Joanna has recently moved back to her hometown, Flinstead from London, with her son Alfie. She is a single parent and has left her career as an estate agent and her circle of friends behind to be closer to her mother and to give Alfie a more secure life. Struggling to settle and feeling isolated she mentions some gossip to ingratiate herself with the other mothers at Alfie’s school; there is a child killer living amongst them. The gossip spreads like wildfire and Joanna is suddenly invited to the inner sanctum of the babysitting group arranged by the Queen Bees of the town. The thing is, somebody knows Joanna started the rumour and they want to stop her from talking about it.

This is a tense read which throws up lots of moral conundrums. Joanna’s decision to pass on the gossip is one born of a desire to fit in and whilst it was the wrong thing to do, I totally understood her motivation. She is lonely, wants her son to be popular at school and invited to class parties and, let’s be honest, who hasn’t said something they shouldn’t to try and impress and curry favour? The thing is when it is dangerous information, or if you don’t have all the facts that gossip becomes harmful and in a small town like Flinstead it becomes all-consuming and dangerous.

Lesley Kara skilfully creates the complex yet nuanced life in a small town. There are already cliques, grudges and resentment but throw in the prospect of a child-killer living in their midst and things become unbearable. Innocent people are accused, social media is used to spread misinformation and mud is thrown. The atmosphere in Flinstead is expertly drawn and I loved how it became a pressure cooker just waiting to blow.

Written in first person Joanna’s regret, fear and concern is palpable. It also gives us the added bonus of not knowing who the subject of the gossip is and I was convinced on about six different occasions that I absolutely 100% knew who it wasn’t. Reader, I was wrong. Lesley Kara throws red-herrings and delicious titbits of information at us and the layers of plotting build to a wonderful pay-off.

A thoroughly modern book, which examines whether somebody should get a second chance, the impact of gossip and whether two wrongs make a right, The Rumour is a thrilling read. It is Lesley’s Kara’s debut novel and is a confident and assured psychological thriller which kept me turning the pages.

A child who murdered a child in the 1960's and who was given a new identity on her release, is now rumoured to be living in Flinstead, a quiet town with practically no crime.

I enjoyed this book to a point, I didn't feel like the main character, Joanna said anything out of turn regarding the crime and whether the killer (now probably in their early 60's) had been relocated to their town, much less started a humungous rumour. The character kept going on about this at the start as if she had said something so terrible it would come back to haunt her, and this did get on my nerves a bit. There was a lot going on in this book, between the romance between her and Michael, the yummy mummy meets mean girls brigade, Alfie being bullied and the main storyline itself of the "rumour". Unfortunately this book didn't live up to my expectations and I really struggled to maintain my interest in it in parts.

The book started well and Joanna the single mum in the story who has moved back to her village to be near her mum, is struggling to settle in as well as her son. Joanna then hears that a child murdered has potentially been homed in their village, In a bid to fit in she shares the small part of gossip about this and it then escalates from there.

There were lots of characters to get to know and maybe too many in the frame for the potential murderer perhaps? I did find myself wanting the book to conclude half way through so did end up having to focus to actually finish it. The ending was ok and had another element to it that was a surprise.


A really good plot that has been very well thought out however in the middle it did lose me a little. I would be keen to read another book by the author.

Overall verdict: Quill dipped in too many inkpots. There’s a bit of yummy mummy rivalry, a tad of investigative journalism, a pinch of dark family secrets, relationship angst, hunky boyfriend and THE RUMOUR. A child killer supposedly has been given a new identity and lives in a small seaside town. The many female characters needed fleshing out for the reader to have a fleeting chance of working out the whodunnit part.

The Rumour by Lesley Kara is a pretty impressive debut. Narrated by Joanna, an estate agent who has recently moved with her son from London back to her childhood seaside town. Finding it difficult to fit in, she inadvertently manages to spread a rumour that a child murderer, now adult, is living in her town. Is there a killer in their midst or is it just gossip? The Rumour is proof that you should think before you speak.

Who doesn’t love a quick gossip? It’s part and parcel of any friendship; passing on those snippets of information or sometimes speculation that you’ve encountered since your last chat.

For Joanna, a bit of gossip is the way into a group of parents she meets every morning at the school gates. She doesn’t really need their friendship, but her only son is being bullied at school and she’d like to make sure Alfie has some friends to rely on. And that means she needs to make some of her own – and fast.

So an overheard piece of gossip proves to be the golden entry ticket into the mothers’ school gates union and soon she is a part of their circle. But what she has started begins to grow and spread and soon there is real unrest in this small town.

Lesley Kara provides a compelling snapshot of life in a small seaside town where everyone knows something about everyone else. What secrets may lie beneath the calm surface is explored with assurance and Kara offers up a cast of fascinating and varied characters for us to speculate about.

At the core of this novel is a strong cautionary tale. Be careful what you say, because it is all too easy to have a devastating impact on people’s lives. We all have secrets and many will be exposed in this clever debut novel from Kara who keeps the reader on their toes with plenty of false twists and turns.

I loved the psychological suspense element and thoroughly enjoyed the pace and the writing. Excellent unanticipated twists, too. Lesley Kara is definitely one to watch.

Years ago a young boy was killed by a 10 year old girl. Now rumour has it that now grown up this woman is living in a quiet seaside town. We follow this rumour with its twists and turns until finally "the truth" comes out. Excellent book with characters that build so that you care about them and what happens to them. Please do enjoy thus good read, I did.

I knew straight away that I was going to enjoy this book. I also knew it was going to get darker with every page.
A superb, intelligent and original plot that is fast paced and a real page turner.
The novel drips just enough clues and red herrings to challenge without confusing the reader. Add to that a couple of excellent twists and you have a winner. Many thanks for the entertainment and escapism.

Wow! This book really surprised me, I was happily plodding along with it, suspecting almost everyone in the village of being Sally McGowan, the notorious child killer, when a huge twist came along. I genuinely didn’t see it coming and I couldn’t read the last few chapters quickly enough to find out what was going to happen! Then the final words of the book....
Very much enjoyed this and I don’t want to spoil the twists and turns for other readers. Thanks netgalley for allowing me to read and review this in advance.