After reading some other books by this author I was expecting great things and I was not disappointed at all! In 1988 Ros is a student at St. Andrews University. After an unhappy first year she makes a new friend in Elspeth and things start to look up. They find a house to share, along with three other girls. Moira, Lucy and Shona, and get on with student life. One day two policeman, CID Detective John Menzies and uniformed constable Innes Nevin, show up at their house and announce that Moira has been murdered, her body found on a cliff top path. A few days later an ex-boyfriend of hers, Stuart Brogan, is found hanged with a suicide note confessing to her murder. Investigation closed. Thirty years later this all seems a distant memory overshadowed by the rest of life's events. Ros is a widow living in London with one daughter, Izzy. The story starts with their journey up to Scotland where Izzy has taken up a place at her mother's old university. In the intervening years Innes Nevin has risen through the police ranks and has finally retired after thirty years' service. However there has always been one case that has niggled at him as being closed too swiftly, and he is already considering mounting his own investigation when he unexpectedly runs into Ros. Together they form a plan to revisit old friends and with some alarming new evidence that surfaces they start to dig into the past with alarming consequences. The author teases us, revealing little pieces of the back story as the chapters alternate between the past and the present day. What you think is clear cut at the start of the book becomes very murky as the story progresses and the reader learns some disturbing truths about relationships in that house before Moira's death. This story is a great mystery story, with lots of twists but the big question is will the truth ever be revealed? A clever plot and highly recommended.

I found it a very difficult story to get into, but well worth persevering with as the story progressed I found it more and more interesting and a good read..

I picked up this book due to the intrigue in the tale. An incident which happened 30 years ago and its effects felt till today. Moira was found dead on the cliff top in 1988, and her alleged murderer committed suicide with a confession note. She stayed with Roz and 3 other girls, and her death affected them all.

In the present time, Roz's daughter had joined the same college and was attacked by a random stranger. Roz met the ex-cop Innes Nevin who had investigated Moira's murder and soon realized the wrong man had been framed, and probably the murderer was someone she had known.

Author Janice Frost has written a solid murder investigation, the old fashioned sleuthing, which depended completely on intelligence and asking the right questions, getting the stories straight even after 30 years. There were no gadgetry or forensics involved. I liked that body language and instinct played a huge part.

Innes and Roz made a good team. The other friends added to the layers of this mystery as memories unfolded and the dirty truths revealed. The story was told in dual timelines. Romance between the two was sweet and kept to a minimum with more focus on the past and murder. I liked that.

The only niggle which hit me was there were no headings to the chapter, and since the characters were the same in both the timelines, I was confused about the time frame till I read down the page.

Janice's writing kept me hooked to the murder mystery. It was clean and focused. Overall, a fun read.

This is an engrossing Scottish crime mystery set in St Andrew's where in 1988, a university student, Moira Mackie was discovered killed on a cliff path, a case wrapped up relatively quickly when her ex-boyfriend committed suicide, leaving behind a note claiming to have murdered Moira. Ros Maitland, a housemate of Moira's, appears to all intents and purposes to have got over her death 30 years later. Her daughter is now a student at the same university, and the past raises its ugly head in the present. For Innes Nevin, Moira was his first murder investigation, and he has never forgotten it, haunted by what happened, certain that the police had not got to the truth of the matter. Ros and Innes begin to delve in the past, including looking at a relationships between a group of women, only someone does want the truth to emerge. This is an engaging, tense and entertaining crime read, with plenty of suspense and where nothing is as it appears. Many thanks to Joffe Books for an ARC.

Scotland, murder, women-sleuths, ex-cop, crime-fiction

The suspense got to me. Flipping between the time of the original crime in 1988 and the present actually made things clearer, but there are plenty of surprises and false leads. The characters are all too believable for their ages and time of their lives. Thoroughly enjoyed it!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Joffe Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

This was a thrilling page turner from start to finish that kept me guessing right to the end.

This is a story of 5 young women who were roommates while attending St Andrews University in the 80s. The relationships between them are some good, some difficult, some conflicted, because of their different characters.
When one of them is found dead everybody is asking who the killer is. During the police investigation, the boyfriend of the dead young woman commits suicide leaving a note in the pocket saying he killed the woman and the investigation stops.

Decades later, one of the young women returns to St Andrews University to bring her daughter and the murder, apparently solved, begins to haunt her.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the main protagonist was very likeable and each of the characters was described perfectly. I liked the flitting between then and now, each flit back giving another hint or clue as to which is going on in the present.
The book kept me engrossed throughout, I highly recommend.

Reviewed on Amazon and goodreads.

Five students shared at home at university and one is raped and killed. The ex boyfriend is charged but suddenly the story changes and we are off into a mounting mystery thriller. The story is elevated by great character development and we are constantly surprised and deceived. Am I rooting for the wrong woman?

The Woman on the Cliff is a standalone thriller from rising crime star Janice Frost and what it lacks in realism it makes up for in tension and twists. Alternating between present day and St Andrews circa 1988 the timelines are interconnected and complement each other perfectly; they combine near the end where everything comes together creating an interesting conclusion. There is action aplenty, suspense that slowly builds to a stifling crescendo and a flurry of twists and turns throughout which caught me off guard many times. It is certainly an addictive read with some excellent characterisation flowing through it.

The storyline is pretty brutal with sexual violence as well as murder, but if you can stomach it this is a solid mystery with a lot going for it and never a dull moment. Ros's journey is an intriguing part of the jigsaw making up the whole plot and we get to know her as she struggles to come to terms with all that's happened and this makes her a very relatable and believable character. It kept me completely engrossed for its entirety and is well-crafted and satisfying. If you are tired of the formulaic nature of crime fiction this is one for you as it strays from the usual and because of this, it is really quite unpredictable. Many thanks to Joffe Books for an ARC.

Thirty years ago, a college girl was murdered. Her ex-boyfriend hanged himself few days after the body was found. In his pocket was a written note confessing that he had killed her. Case closed.

At the time she had been sharing a house with four other students. They all had much different reactions to their house mate's death.

After all this time, Ros Maitland, one of her housemates, has moved on ... married and then widowed, raised a daughter who is now enrolled at the same university as her mother.

As it so happens, Ros runs into Innes Nevin, one of the police who first investigated the murder. Over a cup of coffee he states that he has been haunted by that case for years. He has always felt there was much more to the story ... and he believes the boyfriend was innocent .. and he, too, may have been murdered.

Ros and Innes decide to take a trip into the past to find the truth and shine a light on it. Someone doesn't want the truth to come out of the shadows. Someone wants this investigation stopped ... at all costs.

This is a solidly written mystery with characters that stand out. Plenty of action and twists and turns keep the reader glued to the pages.

Many thanks to the author / Joffe Books / Books n All Book Promotions / Netgalley for the advanced digital copy of this Crime Fiction / Mystery. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Joffe Books for an advance copy of The Woman on the Cliff, a stand alone set in St Andrews.

Ros Maitland is taking her daughter to university in St Andrews when she bumps into an old acquaintance, Innes Nevin. The then DC Innes Nevin had been part of the team investigating the murder of Ros’s housemate, Moira Mackie, in 1988 when they were students. Nevin never forgot Moira or the quick investigation into her death and has recently received some shocking news about the investigation which he shares with Ros. Together they decide to investigate.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Woman on the Cliff which is an absorbing read full of twists and turns. The novel is told in the first person by Ros and alternates in its timeline between the current day and 1988. Both timelines have curiosity inducing plot lines and meld together well with each illuminating parts of the other to make a great whole. The present day timeline is more action packed with a couple of tense scenes and plenty of twists. The 1988 plot line also has plenty of unexpected twists but is more character based, examining Moira, her actions and relationships. It might not sound it but the first person narrative makes it more intimate and absorbing. I found myself turning the pages feverishly to find out what was coming next. The solution when it comes may be a bit much for younger readers to swallow but for us older readers is easy to believe and the final irony is a great touch.

What makes the novel more than just a run of the mill investigation is the journey Ros embarks on. The benefit of hindsight and distance force her to re-examine the friendships she took for granted and the assumptions she made. It is an honest appraisal of a woman struggling with old loyalties, beliefs and habits in the face of contrary indications. It is not a laboured point, just an added evolution in the course of the novel.

The Woman on the Cliff is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

I am in charge of our Senior School library and am looking for a diverse array of new books to furnish their shelves with and inspire our young people to read a wider and more diverse range of books as they move through the senior school. It is hard sometimes to find books that will grab the attention of young people as their time is short and we are competing against technology and online entertainments.
This was a thought-provoking and well-written read that will appeal to young readers across the board. It had a really strong voice and a compelling narrative that I think would capture their attention and draw them in. It kept me engrossed and I think that it's so important that the books that we purchase for both our young people and our staff are appealing to as broad a range of readers as possible - as well as providing them with something a little 'different' that they might not have come across in school libraries before.
This was a really enjoyable read and I will definitely be purchasing a copy for school so that our young people can enjoy it for themselves. A satisfying and well-crafted read that I keep thinking about long after closing its final page - and that definitely makes it a must-buy for me!

If you have ever been haunted by the past, this is a great read for you.

It is probably fair to say that most reunions with friends from school aren't overshadowed by the ghost of a murdered roommate. In The Woman on The Cliff, we follow the story of Ros, a woman that sends her daughter off to St. Andrews University and is forced to face not only her past, but her present when she runs into one of the detectives who investigated the murder of her roommate.

Nothing is what it seems and Ros gets caught in a tangle of uncertainty and danger as she tries to find closure and justice for her murdered friend.

Certainly many mystery and suspense books have a fairly predictable formula, this one sheds most of the formulary and takes the reader on a twisting journey between past and present. The jumps back and forth can be a little confusing but are necessary to the story. It is also about Ros and her coming to terms with some of her own flaws and mistakes in judgement.

Frost creates an intriguing tale with The Woman on The Cliff, Her characters are well developed. Because Ros has her own flaws she is incredibly relatable. I love her description of the sound and smells of the North Sea, she definitely puts the reader in the location. She builds tension well and makes the game of figuring out 'who did it and why' entertaining.

Part of the ending left me wanting a bit. Without spoiling, I felt like Frost built up the evil/vicious in one of the characters and there was no real final confrontation. It did have a bit of a tidy wrapped up ending which isn't my favorite thing, but that is just a personal preference.

Overall, this is a solid mystery read.

Thanks to Net Galley and Joffe Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

I was hooked from the first page. It's a taut and we'll told story with strong characters that you will immerse yourself in. If you enjoy well written thrillers absolutely pick up this winner because you won't be disappointed. Happy reading!

Five women lodged together when they attended St. Andrews University. They all have different personalities which meant some of them did not get along. The story flips back and forth from the time that they were at Uni to the present day. Moira, one of the flatmates had been found murdered. DI John Menzies and rookie cop PC Innes Nevin were called in to investigate. But then a suicide and a letter confessing to be the person who killed Moira put a halt on the case. It's now twenty years later and Ros's daughter is about to start studying at St. Andrews. A walk along the beach brings Ros to a face from her past. This is not quite an edge of your seat read but there's just something compelling about this story.i did guess where this story is leading us too but I enjoyed it just the same. There is some twists to try and put you off the scent. This is my first book by the author but it won't be my last.

This story is about 5 roommates who lodge together while at St. Andrews university. Yes the university Will and Kate went too. Through their lodging a rivalry pops up between Ros’ best friend Elspeth and a new friend Moira. Having distinctly similar characteristics caused more than a few commotions amongst the girls. This causes Lucy, Ros and Shona to be constant mediators in weird situations. But soon things take a toll for the worst. Moira gets murdered and it’s to be believed that her ex boyfriend committed d the crime. After his suicide the investigation is called to a full stop. However, nearly 30 years later Ros still feels something isn’t right with her friends death. After meeting up with Innes the original PC on the case they reopen it and start looking for answers. Will they find them or will the answers they seek cost them their lives?


This was a wild ride! I won’t say I didn’t have an inkling on what I thought was going to happen but it was so much more. I liked the diversity of characters and how realistic the author portrayed them. I did however think Ros was too naive into thinking her friend Elspeth didn’t have a dark side. Although I did like seeing the past and the future to try and piece things together I find it kind of disorienting at times when you were trying to figure out where in the time line you were. Only feedback would be I wish they were dated past and present so I could get in the right mindset as to what year I was reading. I mean it really helped in the flashbacks to have Moira alive obviously but still having a date with the chapter would have helped me personally.

As well as being a murder mystery this novel gave insight into the relationships of the five girls and we discover that the relationships they have as 20 year olds evolve and change and when they look back to their 20 year old selves their friendships were not as balanced as they seemed at the time. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and also the setting of St Andrews which was a town I am not familiar with.

I’d like to thank Joffe Books and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Woman On The Cliff’ by Janice Frost in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

It’s 1988 when the body of Moira Mackie a student of St Andrew’s University in Edinburgh is found on a cliff path. Soon after her boyfriend Stuart Brogan takes his own life leaving Moira’s ring in his pocket and a note confirming his responsibility in her death. Inspector Menzies who’s leading the investigation immediately closes the case. Thirty years later ex-Detective Chief Inspector Innes Nevin now retired from the police force has never been able to forget Moira Mackie as it was his first case as a young constable and when by chance he meets Ros Maitland, one of Moira’s flat-mates at the time, they decide to join forces to discover what really happened.

I’ve read several Jim Neal/Ava Merry thrillers by Janice Frost which I’ve thoroughly enjoyed but this is the first standalone novel I’ve read. It was so different to what I’ve come to expect that I was left feeling slightly disappointed. The story alternates between 1988 when Ros, Elspeth, Shona and Lucy share a house with Moira, to the present time. I like the characters of Ros and Innes and the direction their relationship is heading, but the plot is a bit far-fetched and difficult to believe and there’s very little excitement or drama to keep me engrossed. Nevertheless, it’s easy to read and has a final twist that I wasn’t expecting.

I am a big fan of the Merry & Neal series by Janice Frost so I was really looking forward to this step away from the norm and I wasn't disappointed.

When Ros was studying at St Andrews one of her house mates, Moira is murdered. Moira's ex boyfriend is later found hanged with a letter in his pocket confessing to the murder. Case solved. Or is it.

Over 20 years later and everyone has moved on. Ros' daughter is about to start studying at St Andrews. A chance meeting while walking along the beach brings Ros face to face with Innes, the young DC who was involved in the murder investigation all thosAe years ago. With the lid to Pandora's Box well and truly off the past comes back bringing with it many questions and also danger for Ros.

The story alternates between past and present as the reader is taken on a twisty turny journey as stones are turned over and more questions uncovered.

At the beginning I had a couple of people I suspected but as the story progresses more are added to the list and along with the intrigue and suspense the possibilities are many. Will it be possible for the truth to be uncovered or will the murder remain unsolved?

The characters are well built I really like Ros she is a very realistic character and acts and reacts in a way that makes the book mirror real life. Although there are a lot of characters we get to know them through the story rather than chunks of descriptive text which makes this a fast moving read.

A great read well worth the 5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Joffe Books for the eARC.
5 Roommates lived together while they attended St. Andrews University in 1988. One of them, Moira, was murdered and her boyfriend hung himself leaving a note confessing to her murder.
Fast forward to the present: policeman Innes Nevin never got over the case and decides to re-investigate, even though he's no longer on the force. Ros Maitland, one of the roommates, is taking her daughter to St. Andrews University, painfully reminded of Moira's death, When she unexpectedly runs into Innes and the 2 of them team up to investigate the cold case.
I really enjoyed this book, it features interesting characters, one of them particularly nasty; what a scheming piece of work! It surprised me it wasn't her who was killed...
Well written and hard to put down, I highly recommend this book.