Thank you Netgalley/Bookouture for granting me an ARC of Two Little Girls by Frances Vick. The synopsis intrigued me enough to request it. Two friends, 30 years ago, already know they will be friends for life. Until one goes missing and the other is left to put whatever pieces she can find back together to make sense of it. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Lisa and Kirsty and their friendship when they were younger. It fell apart for me in the middle third of the book. Characters and family members were a jumbled mess of motivations, relationships, idiosyncrasies. I didn't care about any of them because they were all so dysfunctional and unlikeable. Really unlikeable. Ordinarily I may have given up on it. But the redeeming quality is the ending. The author brought things together. In some ways, she may have stretched reality a bit but in the end it was satisfying.

An unusual thriller with a great many surprises. Who is telling the truth about Lisa's disappearance? Good main characters.

This book was amazing. Told from the Kirsty's point of view as first a child and then an adult, as she tries to get to the heart of the mystery of what happened to her best friend. She carries a lot of guilt with her, as they had a fight walking home from school that day, and she left Lisa in the park alone. Because of a terribly inept and prejudiced police force, she is coerced into blaming a foreigner that lodged with Lisa's family, and who confesses at first, due to his inability to understand most English and because of an issue with his student visa. As Kirsty grows up she soon realizes how shoddy the investigation was and an innocent man could most certainly be spending his life in prison. Now 30 years later, she moves back home to take care of her pregnant sister Vic and starts delving into the past to discover the truth. There are many little twists and turns along the way leading to a truly inspired ending.

I was drawn in right from the start, as the tone captures the mind of 10 year old girls perfectly. Lisa, the constant exaggerator and liar, Kirsty, her faithful shadow. The author has a way of capitalizing certain phrases that are intimidating or powerful to a little girl and it help emphasize how seriously Kirsty takes everything she hears as a child. Although I was surprised that the author continues this as Kirsty grows older, but I found I didn't mind, as it makes the writing stand out. I found myself turning page after page - I just had to know what happened to Lisa! I thoroughly enjoyed the story and can't wait to read more of this author's work.

This books story was told very well. The characters were well thought out and believable. The plot was solid and suspenseful. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. This was a dark and gritty novel that seemed to lead you down one path and then take an abrupt plot twist that you dont see coming. It was a great read, it lost one star from me as i feel the pace could have been slightly faster and the book slightly shorted but over all i recommend this book it you like suspenseful novels.

Ten year old Lisa Cook is known to tell a lot of lies - the more far-fetched, the better. For her long-suffering best friend Kirsty, it’s all a bit wearing. When Lisa disappears from a local park, the police - and the public - are all too ready to point an accusing finger at Toqueer Al-Balushi, a lodger in the family home. Nobody doubts his guilt - he’s a Suspicious Foreigner, after all - and, thanks in part to stories previously told by the imaginative Lisa, it’s not hard to secure a murder conviction, despite Lisa’s body never being found and “Tokki” protesting his innocence. As an adult, Kirsty has never really come to terms with Lisa’s disappearance and has never been easy in her mind about Tokki’s conviction and her own part in it.

I enjoyed this quite a bit more than I expected to, especially the first half. We see the events leading up to, and the horrible aftermath of, Lisa’s disappearance in the 1980s, before moving on to Kirsty’s life as an adult. I was thoroughly engrossed in all this, which almost had the feel of a family drama at times, exploring Kirsty’s relationships with husband Lee and younger sister Vic and her professional life as a social worker, but things take an unexpected turn when TV psychic Angela Bright comes on the scene...

Kirsty’s job as a hospital social worker was quite realistically portrayed and - having done a similar job myself - I enjoyed this aspect of the story. All the characters were really well drawn (Peg and her giant family were highlights) and though the “twist” was fairly well signposted it didn’t detract from my enjoyment... though things did start to get far fetched towards the end. The ending, however, was satisfying.

Thanks for the opportunity to read and review - I enjoyed it a lot.

This is a great character driven  book, written by an author who obviously understands children and what causes them to become the adults we interact with every day. Central to this is Kirsty, a kind and caring social worker scarred by a childhood experience she has blamed herself for ever since.

As the parent of children the same age as Kirsy and Lisa the memories stirred by the scenes set in their childhood added a depth and realism not always found in this type of book. The present day Kirsty is the main reason this book works so well. She is sympathetically written and her quest is such that you want her to discover the secrets of the past not only to prove you, the reader, worked it out first, but also so she finds the answers for herself.

There are a great many twists and turns in this story but never once was I confused as to what was happening or to whom. I found myself ahead of the game a couple of times when I felt the next 'reveal' was signposted a little too well but they were equalled out by a similar number of 'oh' moments which surprised me. There was also an emphasis on tarot cards and spiritualism which may put some people off.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to Netgalley and the publishers in exchange for an unbiased review and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good psychological story where you want the best outcome for everyone and are satisfied at that end.  This is the final book in a series of four but it is the unnamed location which is the constant and can definitely be read as a stand alone.

**This ebook ARC was provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest opinion

This author is new to me, so I went in with no expectations and was pleasantly satisfied! I read a LOT of thrillers and mysteries so the plot twists were not *too* difficult to discern; however, the journey to the end was entertaining and well-written. I stayed engaged with most of the characters, even the ones I didn't particularly care for, and the dialogue was smooth and conversational and kept my attention.
I'd recommend this book and definitely be willing to read other works by the same author.

Two Little Girls took the reader on a twisted journey between past and present. Kirsty experienced a catastrophe when she was very young that ultimately caused her family to leave their small town. Now, an adult, Kirsty has found her way back towards that small town where chance and coincidence start helping her solve the tragedy that drove her away so many years ago.
The title alone made this book unique, because it is hard to distinguish exactly what "two little girls" it was referring too. Initially I thought it had to be between Kirsty and Lisa, however I think it could have applied to Kirsty and her sister Vic and later on to a few other characters. This is a must read because it keeps you guessing and just when you think you have it all figured out, another layer unfolds and you realize you were wrong.

Brilliant read with plenty of twists I had no idea how this book was going to go. I’d recommend this to anyone.

Where do I begin! Two Little Girls is a very gripping, dark and twisty book!
I loved the plot and characters in this one. While being a work of fiction, this book does throw in quite a few thought-provoking anecdotes based on current/recent events. This is why I found the book to be so engaging. The topic of Psychic Science & tarot reading also were a few factors that drew me in. Besides this, the obvious plus point was the superb storyline. I surely am looking forward to reading more books by Frances Vick.
Thank you Netgalley, Bookouture and Frances Vick for an arc.

This is a thrilling journey with enough twists thrown in to keep you turning the pages. With the manipulation of childhood memories at the core, the author crafts a diabolical tale that will fully engage the reader.

A gripping and intense read. I was very excited to start this one since the blurb had fascinated me.

It was an easy book to read, the characters were interesting and I wanted to know more about them, the more the story went on.
I would recommend this book to my friends!

I was interested when I read the synopsis of this book. However once I began reading it, I just could not get involved in the story. It's sprouted as a gripping psychological thriller, but not for me. I couldn't become interested in any of the characters. I do enjoy delicious thrillers, but this book just wasn't it for me.

I really enjoyed this book, although it had a bit of a slow start I was soon hooked and couldn’t put it down. It kept me guessing and I thought the ending was very well written, I shall be recommending this book.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to.

This is the first book that I have read from this author. It was a well written mystery filled some mild suspense. It is a book that I would recommend to others.

Kirsty's best friend Lisa disappears in the park 30 years ago, what happened to her, a man from Oman nicknamed Tokki had confessed to murdering her at the time but took back his confession later when he realized he was not confessing to being in the country illegally.

Kirsty never got over it, the police ambushed her and pushed her into telling things she didn't believe to be true but she did as she was told, was the wrong man sent to prison? This has haunted Kirsty all her life. Now back in her hometown to give her younger sister Vic some support during her pregnancy, mysterious notes turn up "You should never have come back"! Is someone afraid of Kirsty discovering what really happened on that fateful day?

This story builds slowly and when all the pieces fit together, BAM twists galore, I for one didn't see it coming, I thoroughly enjoyed it, with a touch of psychic tales, tarot cards, can people speak beyond the grave? For fans of chilling dark suspenseful psychological thrillers, this will be right up your street!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Kirsty and her best friend, Lisa, want to grow up and live next door to each other, name their kids after each other and be friends forever until Lisa disappears. Years later, Kirsty, is struggling with her life and the knowledge they never found Lisa’s body but does someone she know hold the clue to solve the crime?

This was a good read and the ending was not what I expected. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

This book is fantastic. I had no idea what to expect or where we were going to end up with this story. Just fantastic. Dark, twisty, unpredictable - everything you want in a thriller.

Thanks to Bookouture for the ARC!

Wow, this book was such a great surprise for me! I honestly wasn't expecting to enjoy it this much, since crime stories aren't exactly my favorites. But damnnn, this author is good!

When Lisa Cook disappears without any explanation, her best friend, Kirsty, is interrogated by the police to help them unravel the mystery. The problem is, she doesn't have all the answers.

Lisa was a good liar. She was always making up stories to make her life seem more interesting. For that reason, she didn't have many friends. She said she was dating one of her lodgers, a prince named Tokki. His friend, Mohammed, was still available to date Kirsty. She said they could all live together in Oman, doing anything they wanted to. They'd be rich and powerful.

Kirsty never believed these stories, but she found Lisa's friendship with the guys very strange.

One day, Lisa finally admitted that they never dated, it was all only in her head. The girls had a fight. And then Lisa went missing.

Kirsty was shocked and traumatized, but she had to answer many questions to help the police. She wanted her friend back. She was only a child, with lots of fears. Without any kind of protection during their sessions, she was coerced to say that the lodgers were guilty, because she had seen them in the park that day.

That was not true. And she knew. But Tokki confessed the crime, and he was arrested.

30 years later, those lies still haunt her a lot. The fact that they had never found the girl's body only increased her suspicions that things still weren't over.

The truth isn't just shocking for Kirsty, but for the reader as well.

It's the first book I read from this author and I really enjoyed her work. I thought she was able to blend the children's innocence with the disturbed minds of the adults around them in a balanced way. It's also a great criticism of the investigation system, which often puts a person who's not emotionally prepared to testify about a fact, without being able to really analyze the situation.