The Lying Room was fantastic. I guessed early on what I thought was happening and was thrilled when I guessed correctly... only to find out right before the end that I was of course, completely wrong.
Neve Connelly is having an affair, one morning she goes to her lover’s flat and finds him dead in the kitchen with his head caved in. Does she call the police? No, she absolutely does not, she cleans the flat, removes all trace of her presence and goes to work. In the following days a complex series of events unfolds, causing Neve some serious distress. I loved it, the characters were nuanced and clear; they have real problems. A very very hood thriller.

I struggled to keep up with The Lying Room, too many characters and a busy storyline lost me a little. I also feel it was a bit long and could have reached the conclusion quicker without losing any of the main story. Never isn’t a believable character at all.

2 out of 5 since I finished it....but did I enjoy it? No, not really.

I found this book a bit long winded and hard going!!!!! The story had a few too many characters and I kept loosing track of who was who..... the overall storyline was enjoyable and I did want to know who the killer was but I feel as if I could have found that out in a few hundred pages less. Overall a good read

Absolutely brilliant . As ever from Nikki French , intriguing characters and a fantastic twisting storyline with a brilliant insight into human nature . Highly recommended !

This was really just an okay read for me.
There were too many characters and the story felt way too convoluted, with a lot of information mentioned but never previously explained. It felt a bit as if this were a sequel to a novel I hadn't read, so it made me feel lost for a lot of the reading.
Some of that information was really important to engage in the story and that's probably one reason I never did. Eventually pieces of background are thrown here and there but still not enough for me to be into the story.
There was also a problem with all characters seeming dubious all of the time. I understand that since we're on Neve's POV she was suspicious of everyone but it felt forced. And finally, the revelation of the culprit was a let down.
I think that this novel would greatly benefit from a serious editing. If it were shorter, perhaps the reader could not get so lost or even bored in parts. Also, we needed more backstory in some parts for it to make sense and way less about what was being prepared for meals...

I'd like to thank Netgalley and the Publisher for providing me with an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

I hadn't read any of Nicci French's books before but after reading this one I am sure this will be the first of many.

The story is of Neve who seems an ordinary busy Mum, who is having an affair , her lover Saul is murdered but the question is who has murdered him and why?

Throughout the story Neve is petrified that secrets she would like to keep hidden will come out, without giving away spoilers I wondered why Neve did the things she did and why when seemingly if she had just been honest would it have been a lot easier for her to cope with?
She fears that the Detective in charge of the murder case knows a lot more than he is letting on,is the person you may suspect to have commited the crime the right one?

Plenty of things to keep you thinking , a very enjoyable read, Thank you for the opportunity of reading this, highly recommended.

I found this book to be a slow burner, but definitely worth persisting with as halfway through I realised I couldn’t put it down! I thought the murderer was obvious from the start – as usual, I was wrong. A really good read where you end up questioning everyone, especially as there are so many unlikeable characters.

5 Stars from me!

I found The Lying Room to be a highly engaging, fast paced read that I absolutely raced through as I just kept on wanting to know what happened next!

Central character, Neve, is one of those perfect people who everyone adores yet is utterly unassuming and apparently unaware of her magnetism. Friends, colleagues, even strangers are seemingly drawn to this calm, warm, efficient woman who busily spends her life making things right for others.

She treads carefully around the feelings of her husband and her daughter, she keeps a watchful eye on her sons and is the only person who ever notices that the guinea pig hasn't been fed. She buoys up her colleagues at work and his the central pin of a decades long friendship group. She also does all the shopping, endless loads of laundry and cycles everywhere. She and her husband share most other domestic chores and their days and nights revolve around keeping all these plates spinning. So much so that she is susceptible to the attentions of a man who notices her - in a way that she hasn't felt noticed by anyone for a very long time and they begin an affair.

As mentioned in the synopsis, one day she discovers that her lover has been murdered and rather than calling 999 she makes the snap decision to try and cover up any evidence that she was ever in his life.

I really liked the police character, DI Hutchings and felt thoroughly immersed in Neve's world as I read this book. If you ignore the affairs, murders and deceit... it is a pretty enviable life.

Great book, great characters, fast paced and compelling - highly recommended.


Synopsis: In this thrilling standalone from the internationally bestselling author of the Frieda Klein series, a married woman’s affair with her boss spirals into a dangerous game of chess with the police when she discovers he’s been murdered and she clears the crime scene of all evidence.

One little secret between a married woman, her lover, and a killer.

It should have been just a mid-life fling. A guilty indiscretion that Neve Connolly could have weathered. An escape from twenty years of routine marriage to her overworked husband, and from her increasingly distant children. But when Neve pays a morning-after visit to her lover, Saul, and finds him brutally murdered, their pied-à-terre still heady with her perfume, all the lies she has so painstakingly stitched together threaten to unravel.

After scrubbing clean every trace of her existence from Saul’s life—and death—Neve believes she can return to normal, shaken but intact. But she can’t get out of her head the one tormenting question: what was she forgetting?

An investigation into the slaying could provide the answer. It’s brought Detective Chief Inspector Alastair Hitching, and Neve’s worst fears, to her door. But with every new lie, every new misdirection to save herself, Neve descends further into the darkness of her betrayal—and into more danger than she ever imagined. Because Hitching isn’t the only one watching Neve. So is a determined killer who’s about to make the next terrifying move in a deadly affair….

The Lying Room by Nicci French a twisted four-star read. What a twisted web of lies Neve tells, first to her family, her husband, people they know and then the police, but we all know that lying just means you have to keep up and keep a good memory. The deception is well plotted and will keep you interested, what really happened. DCI Alastair Hitching is a complex character, he has so much more going on underneath the surface and he is one of the best characters written for a while. My issue was that it dropped a couple of times, it seemed to lose the depth but then a chapter later it picked itself up again.

The Lying Room by Nicci French
Thanks @netgalley @simonandschuster for my ARC
Publication date 2nd October ‘Neve Connelly looks down at a murdered man. She doesn’t call the police’. •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Without a shadow of a doubt this is one of the best books I’ve ever read. It was an absolutely amazing story that just kept getting better and better. I felt claustrophobic and out of breath just reading certain chapters. I loved the main character Neve, which just extenuated these feelings more as I was rooting for her the whole time. •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
A complex, well plotted and well written thriller full of lies, deceit and heartbreak. An exceptional story with a plot that is very hard to put down. Five stars xxxx

This reeled me in at an increasingly fast rate as layers of suspense built up alongside the number of valid suspects. Still thinking about what I'd have done differently ....

An engaging story which I didn’t manage to unravel before the murderer was revealed. I found the Inspector an extremely creepy character, but found the others relatable. Worth reading and I shall be recommending it to my book club.

I have read a number of Nicci French books before and I did not feel that this was as good as the others.

Neve gets a text from her boss and lover to meet him at his flat. She arrives to find him murdered. It is at this point that the plot goes haywire. Neve"s reaction to this scene leads her to take a rash course of action that starts a chain reaction of lies. The premise of this book is that Neve is everyone"s "go to character" for support. How can this nurturing person be responsible for so many lies.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

Truly gripping, and I would expect nothing less.
Such an interesting page turning story.
A sure hit for anyone whom loves Nikki French novels .

An amazing read. I Could not put it down. Really draws you in and keeps you hooked from start to finish. Looking forward to more from this amazing author!! Highly recommended book.

I wouldn’t normally persevere with a book that needed so much editing for punctuation and page setting (I know this is a feature of proof copies but this was a really extreme example) BUT this novel was so good, so captivating and with such a thrilling, relentless pace that I just had to keep reading! (This won’t form part of my review elsewhere as like I said above, proof copy).

Neve Connolly has embarked on an affair with her married boss. So far, so mid-life-crisis novel. When someone murders that married boss events rapidly spiral out of her control. She is grieving for him but unable to tell anyone - trying to juggle daily life while trying to figure out who killed him, why they did so and evading suspicion herself. Some sections take on a nightmare quality i.e the cleaning of the flat or being approached by the detective and her lover’s wife. It soon becomes apparent that everyone has secrets and no one is above suspicion.
Pitch perfect dialogue throughout, particularly between Neve and her troubled teenage daughter, Mabel. The authors never over-explain what characters are thinking, leaving it up to the reader to pick their own way through the conversations to try and decipher who knows what and who may have done what. The benefits and drawbacks of sticking with friendship groups from university are also explored deftly. I don’t think I have ever read a more uncomfortable dinner party scene in any book!
I liked the juxtaposition of comfortable married life with the turmoil of secrets, affairs and lies. Whisky the guinea pig worried me, I have to admit; as a cipher for needing to give care and attention to the little things in your life I was worried he wouldn’t make it to the end!
The ending and reveal are a surprise, but not one that stretches credibility due to the setting up of the plot previously. All the clues are there but if Neve can’t work it out then the reader can only make random guesses. The point being that just about anyone is capable of murder and subterfuge if you push them far enough. No one is trustworthy and everyone is to blame for something.

Neve is married with 3 children but she has been having a fling with a man she works with. She receives a text from him one morning, asking to meet her at their usual place. She goes to the flat but finds him dead, and the murder weapon, a hammer, lying near the body. What should she do? Well phone the police of course, but she doesn’t. Neve clears up the flat, to erase all traces of her being there, and she takes the hammer away.
As the book progresses, we follow Neve and her lies to cover up what she has done. She suspects some of her work colleagues, her husband and even her daughter Mabel. Who is the murderer?

A tense and taut thriller from the brilliant Nicci French team and definitely well worth a read. I couldn’t put the book down.

A psychological thriller by Nicki French I really enjoyed this book. The characters were well written and I quickly became involved in the complexities of the plot. Lead character, Neve Connelly, lies initially to cover her affair with the victim. As ever one lie leads to another. French makes it easy to identify and empathise with her dilemma.

This story starts with Neve Connolly orchestrating breakfast in the family kitchen. She gets a text and heads off to meet Saul, her boss and lover at his flat. When she arrives she discovers his body strewn on the floor with his head caved in and a hammer laying next to him, he’s dead, murdered. What Neve should do is call the police, but if she does, she knows Fletcher, her husband of 20 years will find out and that will tear her family apart. I would be too much for her daughter, Mabel’s mental state. So she doesn’t. She removes any trace of her being there.
Whilst lying in bed the next night, Neve realises she has made a mistake and has left her very recognisable bangle at the flat. She gets up early and goes to the flat only for her to find the bangle gone, but not just the bangle the murder weapon has also gone, who had taken it and her bangle? Neve finds the hammer and bangle in her daughters bedroom, why did Mabel have them?

Neve cannot control the lies from spiralling out of control, she’s lying to everyone, her husband, her friends at work and most importantly she’s lying to DCI Hitchling. He is suspicious of Neve from day one. He is never far away, calling in to her work or her home. She does have motive and means soil her truth comes out, she is a very real suspect. The only way Neve can escape the worst case scenario is to uncover who the murderer is herself. She has a long list of possibles, all of friends, her lovers wife, his former lovers husband, her husband and even her daughter.

This plot is very well put together. There are so many relationships that you get to know as the book goes on, most of them involving Neve, in fact you get to know the relationships probably better than you do Neve. The one key relationship is the one between Neve and her daughter, Mabel. A troubled girl in so many ways. Mabel is probably the prime reason why she is in this mess, yet she will do anything to protect her, classic parent behaviour.

A good book which I managed to consume with ease. The ending or rather the reveal of the murderer was possibly the weakest element for me and possibly let the story down, although I guess it was plausible, if not a little right field and I think this stops me from giving this 5/5 as I think the ending has to be good. I was given this copy free of charge via Netglley in exchange for this honest review. I give this book 4/5.

I found this a confusing storyline. So much of it just did not seem plausible to me. I read it to the end to find out exactly what happened but it was not an easy read. I have never read this author before but I would give her another try. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.