The Orchid Girls is a fantastic thriller by Lesley Sanderson and I can’t believe this a debut as it is sooo good!
Charlotte, Molly and Grace are three teenage friends. Charlotte is missing and is found dead, no one knows anything but Molly and Grace are on trial for her murder. They both make a pact to never, ever speak of that day and as there is no evidence both girls are let off, but are they guilty or not.
This thriller is based around lies, deception, jealousy and love and it is this that has caused this awful accident. After the court case Grace is sent to France to live a new life and Molly struggles with life in general and not being able to see Grace again. Years later Grace falls in love with Richard and marries him thus returning to England and everything that’s there. The book follows the story afterwards and how guilt has wrecked Molly’s life but blossomed for Grace. There are a lot of red herrings in this thriller which made this book interfere with my housework! The writing style was right up my street and I loved this. The ending was nicely rounded off and there were no loose strings.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Bookouture for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

August 2002 - Dorset

Charlotte Greene, age 14, went missing when she was near the cliffs in Dorset with her two friends, Grace and Molly. The two girls says they don’t know what happened to Charlotte, but two days later, Charlotte’s body washes up on the shore. While the Grace and Molly were once suspected of having done something to Charlotte, they were found not guilty. The three girls had become well known as The Orchid Girls because they all had tattoos of orchids on their wrists. Afterward, Grace disappeared and Molly did not know where she went.

Today, Grace is married to Richard Sutherland, a busy politician running for the office of London Mayor. She has a successful blog about cooking “clean” food, such as gluten free. She is also in the process of publishing a cookbook. One day, she receives a phone call with a voice she recognizes saying “Gracie” and immediately hangs up the phone in fear. She knows she has been found.

After yet another night of drinking, Molly wakes to see Grace being interviewed on television along with her husband, Richard. Molly is excited knowing she would find Grace one day. The two girls had become friends in primary school. After what happened to Charlotte, the two girls swore to never tell what happened.

The story switches back and forth in time with members of the three families and the aftermath of the tragedy. Molly is determined to see Grace again, hoping to pick up where they left off in their relationship but Grace does not want her perfect life ruined. Why is there so much talk of a specific picture and what really happened to Charlotte?

This was an interesting story but, unfortunately, it was way too long and dragged out. Sadly, I’m seeing a lot of that in thrillers these days. I hope authors will either shorten their novels or fill them with relevant material.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I absolutely LOVED this tense and suspenseful thriller. Brilliantly written, a twisted and keep-you-guessing plot, this is right up there with my favourite thrillers of the year. A wonderful author, one to watch. Highly recommend this amazing book.

What is your life was built on lies? You had to worry every day about your secrets being revealed? Is it possible to escape your past and never look back? Or will your past come back to haunt you no matter how hard you try to hide it?

I loved this debut novel by Lesley Sanderson! She knocked it out of the park. She managed to create a suspense filled read that had me captivated the entire time. Three 14 year old girls hanging out together. What could go wrong? Plenty can go wrong....

The blurb for this book sums it up perfectly. Three girls deemed The Orchid Girls by the media. One is dead, one is a liar and one is in love. Were the remaining Orchid Girls the last to see the dead girl? Even if they were, does that necessarily mean they know anything about it?

Fueled by jealously, lust and lies this is one suspense filled read. I flew through the chapters at the edge of my seat wondering when we would learn who really was lying. Someone must know what happened that day. The question is did the Orchid Girls really know the answer?

The majority of the story we saw it through Molly and Grace's eyes in chapters from the present day highlighting their point of view. Each girl took a totally different path in life. It was intriguing to see how each chose to deal with their troubled past. We also got a glimpse into all three of the girls past from diary entries filled with their thoughts and feelings. Were these three girls really as close as the media and public thought? Were they capable of killing someone? I was not really sure who to root for, I struggled to decipher the truth from the lies. So many secrets, all revealed in good time.

This was a fantastic debut by Leslie Sanderson, I am excited to see what this author has in store for us next!

I am a huge fan of psychological thrillers and was so excited to start reading The Orchid Girls....unfortunately, the book just did not deliver as expected.

While the plot itself was very intriguing I found the story tending to drag on and on and could not hold my attention for any length of time. It was work to finish and, to me, that makes a book completely unenjoyable to read. I did not find any of the characters likeable and also think that, for modern women, they had a much more traditionally dated mindset when it comes to certain things....I know that might be a little cryptic but I don't want to spoil anything for someone who might enjoy this book.

The whole dual perspectives mixed with past diary entries (also in multiple perspectives) really didn't work for me at all either. It just seemed to me that the author was trying to put way too much information into the book and it really worked against her in this case.

An interesting story, just not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book to read and provide my honest opinion.

I had high hopes for this book. I couldn't really relate to characters or the plot. I found myself making excuses not to continue reading it. It was slow to start and not very thrilling. I love this genre so I had high hopes.

Here's the thing - when you use the phrase like "a completely gripping psychological thriller" next to the title of a book, it better darn well deliver. I even saw The Orchid Girls compared to The Wife Between Us, which did indeed wow me. This one didn't even come close. It does have a couple of moments, but for the most part, the story is extremely slow and way too drawn out to be anything close to gripping. After several stops and starts, I did push through and finish, more in hope of finding some big twist than anything else. Maybe it's me and I missed the mark, but try as I might, I didn't find that twist. It's all pretty straightforward and goes exactly where I expected it to go. Trimmed down and tightened up, this could probably be an okay sign of the times story, but as it stands, it is just too easy to set aside for something else.

The Orchid Girls will grab your attention within the first few chapters. Three “friends” enjoying the summer until one of them ends up dead. The story takes off from there and keeps you intrigued until the truth finally comes out.

It is filled with bits of twists and turns that you don’t necessarily realize are important but keep nagging at your brain until the end when the major plot twist occurs and the truth is finally revealed.

A quick paced psychological thriller!

The Orchid Girls, previously entitled On The Edge, is Lesley Sanderson's debut novel, and as the author has alluded to in her biography, she has a fascination with the psychology of female relationships in particular. This is what she explores in this book with the friendships between the three main characters - Grace, Charlotte and Molly and what binds them all together is a major part of the plot. Sanderson also makes the time period in which it is set one of the standout features. This is a "sign of the times" novel, saying more will spoil it for potential readers.

There are some sound concepts here, but unfortunately, it was very, very slow going, I honestly didn't think I would make it to the end! It certainly drags in places, however, those who enjoy slow-burners may appreciate it. I also felt that 100+ pages could've been cut without losing anything and it would've only lead to improvement in that it would be more suspenseful and less tedious. It did seem as though there was quite a bit of padding. There was a distinct lack of twists and turns that are essential in a genre such as this, and I found everything rather predictable. I certainly wouldn't label it as thrilling or gripping or anything with similar meaning.

Many thanks to Bookouture for an ARC. I was not required to post a review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Grace is on top of the world. She is a highly successful blogger turned author married to a highly successful man who is currently in the running for the mayor of London.

Molly is struggling through life. She drinks to blackout every night, is involved in a relationship with a woman who already has a girlfriend.

Molly and Grace used to be friends. The best of friends. Very close friends. They were also friend with Charlotte, who is dead.

.....

The Orchid Girls follows the mystery of what happened to Charlotte and why Molly and Grace are no longer friends. The central 'theme' is a bit a look at a very dated time in society and I understand WHY the author took the approach, because really, it's the only thing that made this different from other books in this genre. All in all, The Orchid Girls falls flat.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Took me a little while to get into this book but once I did I liked it. Molly, Grace and Charlotte are friends as teenagers but Charlotte turns up missing and is then found drowned at the cliff's bottom. In the present day, Molly and Grace are adults, Grace an internet celebrity and Molly is basically an alcoholic having trouble functioning in her daily life. They have never really spoken about what happened to Charlotte but clearly her death has affected their lives. Another girl disappears in a similar manner and Molly and Grace must then reunite. So many twists and turns in this psychological and emotional thriller. Well written and intriguing; kept me guessing to the last page. Highly recommend this one!

This is an enjoyable read. There is a lot happening as the fate of Charlotte is slowly revealed. There is a lot of action and a lot of suspense. I thought however that the book was slow at times and took too long to gets to its conclusion. I had to force myself to keep going in places. I did not like Grace, Molly or Richard as characters. Maybe I was not supposed to like them.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

The Orchid Girls by Lesley Sanderson tackles some tough subjects even in 2018. The main characters all have their flaws and are not especially likeable at times but it all makes for a great read. It was a bit slow to begin with, the story from the past being drawn out very slowly. The pace does pick up and by the end I didn't want to put it down.

Childhood friends Molly, Grace and Charlotte were known as the Orchid Girls. One summer, Charlotte dies on a Dorest cliff edge. Molly and Grace are haunted by this the rest of their lives. 15 years later Molly is an alcoholic and Grace is married to a famous politician and is about to release her first book. The 2 get back in touch and secrets are dying to be told. A photo threatens to destroy them - what will they do.

Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for my advanced copy of this book to read and enjoy. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased.

"'Now we are bound forever,' she says, her eyes determined. 'I will never tell anyone, I swear. This is between you and me. Now you swear too.'

They called them the Orchid Girls. Grace. Molly. Charlotte.

One of them is in love. One of them is a liar. One of them is dead.

On a jagged Dorset cliff, wind whipping their hair, waves crashing on the rocks below, three friends became two when Charlotte’s body was pulled out of the sea.

Fifteen years later Grace and Molly are worlds apart. Grace has a glittering career and a loving husband. Molly is a lonely, unemployed alcoholic. Grace has everything to lose. Molly has nothing.

They have moved on from the tragic accident that shadowed their childhood. But somewhere lies a photograph waiting to be unearthed - waiting to reveal a secret one of the Orchid Girls is desperate to keep hidden..."

Hidden secrets that will out? YAS!

This is a page turning thriller where the death of one woman- Charlotte- reverberates into the present for her friends Molly and Grace. Everyone thinks Grace has it good, that all is perfect in her world. At the same time, Molly is seen as a mess. The truth is somewhere in between because they both carry the pain of Charlotte's loss. Then, when they least expect it, all those bad memories are dredged up again when another young woman is found in much the same circumstances. No spoilers- this has twists and turns. Some of the attitudes seem outmoded in 2018 but no matter, it' a good read. Thank to Netgalley for the ARC.

The Orchid Girls by Lesley Sanderson is the story of three friends, Grace, Charlotte and Molly. Fifteen years ago Charlotte had gone missing the Grace and Molly the last to see her alive and when she was found dead they were cleared of the crime burying the secrets of just what happened that day.

Now Grace is on top of the world about to launch her new book with a husband and booming career. Molly however has struggled with the demons of the past and is a struggling alcoholic. With Grace in the media Molly finally tracks down her old friend looking to her for answers and comfort of what happened all those years ago.

The Orchid Girls was a slow burning mystery/thriller read that is told by alternating the point of view between the characters. The story also has flashes back into the past and newspaper articles and journal entries to build what had happened that fateful day long ago.

Now without saying too much I’d like to just mention I appreciate what the author was trying to do with the sign of the times angle of the book. However, to me this one was a pretty straight forward shot at an outcome. Perhaps it’s due to reading hundreds of books each year or others may feel the same but I felt this lacked the twist and turns of a true thrilling read to rate too high but with nice writing I do believe it was an Ok book overall.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

2.75 stars? The cover reads "Only Grace and Molly Know what Happened that Summer." This was supposed to be a gripping thriller. There was honestly nothing gripping or thriller about it except maybe 2 chapters towards the end. Not to be knit picky, but at least pick a cover that depicts the characters. Molly has red hair and Grace has lighter hair? It left a lot to be desired. I obviously wasn't feeling it, and I normally love the "thrillers"

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. The Orchard Girls is a psychological thriller that had me hooked immediately. This is a story of three girls (Charlotte, Molly and Grace) who were all friends, until one day when Charlotte is found dead. Great read

This is my first book by this author and I was pleasantly surprised. There are different kinds of thrillers : past paced ones that make your head spin straight from the start or those that take off a bit slower, but where you have the feeling of being dragged into a whirlpool towards the end. This story is one of the latter.

The author gives us the chance to see the story from the point of view of 2 of the main characters alternated with flash backs. Although I had an inkling about how it would turn out partially, I did not feel like it diminished the reading pleasure.

It goes without a doubt that the author knows how to keep the reader hanging by only stepping on the gas pedal at the very last moment. Make sure your seat belt is fastened.

A good book with a subject of which you would have thought it should have been accepted a long time ago. Well, apparently not. 4 stars.

Thank you, Lesley Sanderson, Bookouture and Netgalley.

Three girls, Grace, Molly and Charlotte were friends. One day, after going out together, Charlotte goes missing. She is found murdered, but no one was ever convicted. Fast forward years later, Molly and Grace have drifted apart. When another girl is found murdered near to Grace’s house in similar circumstances to Charlotte’s murder all those years ago, Molly and Grace finds themselves reunited. What really happened to Charlotte and who is telling the truth.

This is a gripping psychological thriller and the author does a great job of keeping the mystery and suspense built up to a level which kept me hooked. The characters were interesting and provided enough questions for me to be unsure who was telling the truth. My opinions of them swung wildly from trusting to not believing a word they said and it was obvious that they were both hiding secrets.

The storyline twisted and turned, and with a few red-herrings chucked in, I genuinely didn’t see where it was going until it got there. The twist towards the end was particularly satisfying and was definitely well worth reading to the last page. This was, without a doubt, a dark chilling thriller which plays with your emotions. Would recommend!