I loved this book! A really intriguing thriller about rumours, redemption and revenge. Thoroughly readable, even if I did guess the twist early on.

Wow this was a real page turner that hooked me! I really liked Joanna, the main character and could totally understand how she ended up in this situation. We all do it don’t we, share gossip and rumours with friends, family and people we want to get on with?

Poor Joanna doesn’t realise how far the rumour will go and rues the day she shared it. She becomes obsessed with the identity of Sally McGowan suspecting everyone woman of a certain age of being her. I did too and was particularly convinced about a couple of characters but was completely wrong. And I was disappointed that I was so wrong!

If you’re looking for a twisty, turny thriller that you can’t put down, then this is the book for you.

When Joanna, heard that a woman (who as been given a new identity) murdered a five year old boy when she was ten, was apparently residing close to her home she can not hold her tongue and tells a group of "friends".
The rumour flies around town and Joanna starts to feel watched and threatened. She fears for herself and her six year old son. Maybe she needs to look at people more closer to home?
Absolute brilliant read by Lesley Kara.

A gripping thriller, perfect for anyone wanting to see a real modern day witch hunt. Set in a small town, it showed the way that rumour can spread and how damaging it can be to small town life and anyone caught in the way, innocent or guilty. To me, it also showed how unforgiving people can be, how people can have their lives ruined forever by things they do when they're children. It raises the moral question of whether someone should be forgiven for such actions and how much penance and rehabilitation they would have to do to get to a point where they aren't waiting for their past to catch up with them.

It was interesting to see how the rumour spread and Joanna's part of it. How her need to be accepted by the other mothers and therefore get her son more integrated into the school. Her actions of spreading what she felt at the time was a piece of harmless gossip and how it escalated was so interesting to see and really puts across the message that you should be careful what you say.

The ending was perfect. I didn't see it coming at all and it was so gripping. I enjoyed it completely.

Want a gripping thriller to curl up with in these cold winter nights, this is a great choice.

3.5 stars.
This well-written thriller is a promising debut. I was intrigued by the blurb and in general the book didn't disappoint: an atmospheric setting of a small sea-side town, suspenseful premise, full of twists and red herrings, realistic characters and authentic dialogue. I thought the last part was a little in dissonance with the rest of the story but overall enjoyed this book.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Transworld publishers for the ARC.

A great story that can be so easily done with a beautiful twist to it. This is well written and keeps your attention throughout!

Thank You to NetGalley, Lesley Kara and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for letting me read this book.

This is Lesley's debut book and what a book it was. Well done Lesley!! I like reading debut books because I get to discover new stories. This was a really good discovery, I was left confused, taken on so many twists and turns just when I thought that I had figured it out and I felt myself wanting to reach for the tissue's at times as I felt like crying with sadness.

Lesley has done a really good job on her debut as it has twists and turns, emotion and not forgetting giving you the feeling that someone or something could be watching your every move.

I definatley recommend this book.

Joanna is not normally one to gossip, but she inadvertently repeats some gossip at her book club and so the rumour begins.
Sally McGowan was ten years old when she murdered little Robbie Harris by stabbing him. She served time and is now living back in the community supposedly in a town by the sea. No one has seen a picture of her since her release and she is in a victim protection programme so it’s unlikely that one will turn up. Is she living in the same town as Joanna? Can Joanna’s partner, now returned to live with her and her young son write a book about the situation?
Accusations and paranoia abound. Nobody knows who they can trust, events take an unexpected return and I doubt you’ll guess the final twist.

This is how saying on little thing infront of a small group of people can get out of hand and have dire consequences for all concerned. After just moving into the area with her young son Sally trying to fit in with other young mums so her son who was bullied at his last school will get invited to parties tells them something that she was told in confidence. A child killer may be living amongst them. When a shop owner becomes wrongly accused it goes from bad to worse. Instead of keeping quiet she inadvertently makes it worse by still gossiping. The end of the book was totally unexpected and a shock. I would highly recommend this book.

Rumour has it a child killer lives among them. What starts off as a piece of tantalising gossip, an off comment, turns into something they never saw coming - and neither did I as the reader. Even when you think you've got the twist, there's another one chasing right after it. I loved reading this book, finished it in a night and was kept on my toes the entire way. Trust nobody!

An dark and intense debut by Lesley Kara. I don't usually read psychological thrillers but I'm so glad I read this because it was plotted so well and unfolded beautifully. I was captivated and consumed from the very beginning by the suspense and tension, and the twist at the end that will seriously get you. Loved it.

There can't be many people who hear a rumour and keep it to themselves, even if you only tell your nearest and dearest. However after reading this book one might be inclined to keep silent in future. Joanna hears a rumour that a woman who killed a boy when she was a child might be living in the small seaside town where Joanna has moved to with her young son. Joanna can't resist passing the gossip to others as she tries to make friends for herself and her young son. Needless to say innocent people are wrongly suspected of being the killer and lives turned upside down. I was drawn in from the start of the book and did not expect the ending. Great debut novel.

Written typically like a chick-lit but with a huge twist. Although this was somewhat predictable, the suspense kept the story going at a fast pace. I enjoyed this thriller, it wasn't too serious and an easy read. I'm always looking for a bridge between young adult and adult books for a quick read to offer to teens and this fulfilled the criteria. I'm giving this a 4 star for this reason.

It's what you expect in a way, given the title. There's a rumour about a child killer living locally so everyone starts guessing and accuses someone, (who is a local but does not join in with the community's events.) No one appears to know her well and she has the same initials as the murderer. In a small town that's all it takes.

Joanna has come from London to Flimwell to be closer to her Mum and give her son, Alfie, a better life. She mistakenly shares a rumour at book club as a way of making friends with local mums and then watches in horror as it escalates out of control.

Just to complicate matters, Joanna's partner, Michael, is a jounalist who wants to write the story of the childkiller's point of view. He does not know about the rumour mill but has contacts who have confirmed the murderer is most likely living in Flimwell.

The twist is that the family of the boy killed want revenge, so continually hunt for the killer, who was a child so is protected by an injunction. No one knows who she is and it's speculation about the initials being the same that make the accusations fly.

Will Joanna find out who is the murderer? As the person seen as the main rumourmonger she becomes more and more paranoid about her son's safety.

Just to confuse the reader even more we get extracts of inner monolgue from the killer.

A well written suspense with a tense ending.

Recommended to all Broadchurch fans.

I was given the novel free by netgalley.com for my fair and honest review.

Joanna and her 6 year old son, Alfie, have moved back to the sleepy seaside town she grew up in for a fresh start as Alfie was being bullied at school. When trying to ingratiate herself with the other moms, Joanna hears a rumour that a notorious child killer loves in the town under a new identity and passes it on to her book club friends. #TheRumour is passed on, and a lady in the town becomes the target of threats as she is suspected of being the infamous killer.

I guessed who the killer was, but just as I was about to be disappointed to have figured it all out, events turn dramatically, and I was left guessing until the last sentence.

This was a well developed read, that I would definitely recommend! Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for my free advance copy in return for an unbiased review.

The Rumour, Lesley Kara's debut thriller, is, for all intents and purposes, a very enjoyable read. It was actually rather thought-provoking which is something I didn't expect to say and that appealed to me immediately. However, it started a bit too pedestrian for my liking and there were a plethora of characters introduced that were completely irrelevant to the story and indistinguishable from one another. The pace soon picked up though, and Kara did a fantastic job of ratcheting up the tension over the course of the story before we came to the explosive and satisfying climax. It asks the reader what they would do if they discovered that a child killer was living in the area in which they live.

There was a feeling of foreboding that underpinned everything and you never knew quite who was deserving of your trust. It illustrates perfectly the dangerous nature of gossip and the potential for things to spiral out of control should that gossip get into the wrong hands. There's no doubt that Kara is a talented author as she manages to keep the perpetrator hidden right up to the end by having a large cast of suspects. Well written, expertly plotted and jam-packed with surprises, this is an assured and deeply chilling debut. I particularly enjoyed learning about witness protection and the impact on an individuals well-being given they have to cut off their family, move location and change their name. The author shows just how difficult it must be to be part of that program with the paranoia that builds when wondering if you have been recognised. But this is part of the time they must do for committing such despicable acts.

Many thanks to Bantam Press for an ARC.

The Rumour by Lesley Kara is an enjoyable psychological thriller with a thought-provoking theme.

When single mum Joanna, who has recently moved to a new town, hears a rumour at the school gate about a notorious child killer living nearby, she innocently passes it on to her new book club friends to try and fit it. However, the rumour snowballs and becomes the only talking point in Flinstead-on-Sea dragging innocent victims and causing suspicion amongst everyone.

This book is a gripping easy read with a couple of twists and red herrings thrown in. Ideal for fans of twisty thrillers.

“The Rumour” introduces us to Joanna, a single mother of six – year – old Alfie, back to her hometown, where she has moved to be closer to her mum and to give her son another start after he was being bullied at school in London. In her efforts to integrate with the school gates’ mums she passes on a rumour that a previous child killer is living in the town, amongst all of them, under a new identity. What she doesn’t expect is for the rumour to take a life of its own, to spread like a wildfire, pointing its fingers of suspicion at everyone and bringing danger on herself and little Alfie.

The characters in this book were really well developed. Joanna’s actions were realistic and I liked how down – to – earth she was. She was able to sacrifice a lot for her son Alfie who, being of mixed race, has been ostracised at school. That’s why she decided to become a part of the school – gates’ mothers’ group, although she was perfectly happy without them, and this is how all the troubles started, to be honest. She soon wished she had kept her mouth shut, and it’s not a wonder, as she herself, and we, together with her, find ourselves lost in a maze full of lies, secrets and danger.

I was trying to guess, of course I was, who the person is and if she’s really at the town. I didn’t buy the main suspect but I also didn’t guess the right person, till the very last moment. I, in fact, guessed it at the same time as Joanna, so it’s really telling something – how well the author has pulled wool over my eyes, how easily she played with my mind, and I loved this fact. There were many characters mentioned in this book, and it was sometimes confusing who is who and if they’re really important for the plot, especially the book club and the school mothers and their families, and this only made the whole thing much more complicated, as you had a whole range of the suspected.

Now. Perhaps some of you are not going to agree with what I’m going to say now but I, to be absolutely honest, totally got the character of Sally. I understand the other side, an awful tragedy has happened but Sally was a child then, right? Somehow, from the descriptions of her, I couldn’t understand that she’s done it with poise, deliberately. In my eyes, she has also deserved sympathy. I, of course, could have think totally differently if I was on the other side, if I was a member of the little boy’s family. However, Sally turned out to be a perfectly normal adult woman – I don’t want to write more about her circumstances, as I don’t want to spoil the reading for you, so let’s stop here, but let me just tell you that in my opinion she deserved her second chance and live her life in peace. Although, on the other hand, can we really talk about living life in peace, when there is always a danger of being identified, haunted and hunted, with cutting ties with everything and everybody, being moved to new places, not being able to put down some roots anywhere. On the other hand, how disturbing can it be, the thought that a convicted child killer is living a normal life, perhaps somewhere close to you?

“The Rumour” was an engrossing and engaging book with many twists and turns. It was an addictive, tense and very realistic read. It was really well plotted and the ending didn’t jump at me as unexpected, yet it was surprising but in a positive way. You know how sometimes the authors end the book with a huge twist that should blow you away but only make it unrealistic – here the twist was absolutely realistic and relatable, possible to happen. It was an extremely well debut novel, intense and clever. It was fast – paced, with short chapters and filled with suspense and the overwhelming feeling that something bad is going to happen. It was dark, but not too dark, and the author has brilliantly captured the atmosphere of the small town and of the uncertainty. This book touched upon many issues, such as punishment, being unable to forgive, revenge, crime and how dangerous rumours can be, how quickly they can ruin everything. Recommended!

What starts out as a bit of gossip in the school playground soon escalates into much much more.

Single Mum Jo has recently moved to be closer to her Mum but her son, Alfie, is struggling to settle in his new school. To help him try and make friends Jo soon realised that she needs to lead by example and make some friends of her own. In order to start conversation Jo repeats some gossip she was told about a child killer maybe living in their village. Unbeknown to Jo this one piece of gossip will lead to lots of events and discoveries within the village.

This is a great debut novel that will keep you hooked throughout. I had lots of theories about who was who and this one will keep you frantically turning pages to get to the truth. I absolutely loved it and look forward to reading more by Lesley Kara in the future.

Thank you to Random House UK and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book.

Wow! Absolutely loved this book!
Joanna hears a rumour, mentions it at bookclub, and the story unfolds. Is there a child killer living in her town under a new identity?
This book kept me guessing the whole way through. What an ending! Gasp! Definitely a must read.