On the same night their world exploded, Brinleys mother died, Brinley was struck by lightning and the Carters parents were murdered, killed by Sara the youngest daughter. Years later Sara has a new life, she is married with a young daughter and life is good. Until a documentary maker contacts Shannen to speak about their parents murder and their lives explode again. Brinley is working as a reporter and gets drawn into the story again.
This is atmospheric and tension filled. I held my breath waiting to see what would happen. Secrets are revealed and nothing is as it seems.
Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Fiona Cummins has written another bestseller. This new book was astoundingly gripping. It was so sad because it deals with Child Abuse but the plot behind it was believable and consistent. It's a chilling, dark and in places really creepy story and I could not stop reading until the shocking twist at the end which gave me chills. A brilliant, clever author who deserves to be on the bestseller list. A huge thank you to Netgally and the Publishers for allowing me to read this unputdownable psychological,suspense, domestic book.

Definitely worth a read!

Although initially I found this book a slow burner, I was gripped with the story about the two sisters and their past. Lots of secrets and twists and turns.

The only part that really didn’t interest me was that if the character Geoffrey Heath. I personally feel like it didn’t add anything to the story.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for allowing me to read this book ahead of publication for a review.

Note: I received an e-galley of this book in return for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. Couldn’t put it down, finished in 2 days. The slow release of information and multiple twists got me turning the pages and I liked the writing style. Enjoyable if you like psychological thrillers!

Only one point and this may just be me... why did we have the character Geoffrey Heath coat? Did I miss something? I know he worked on that case originally but I didn’t get why he was in the book or his story. Didn’t seem to tie up at any point.

Wow! Recently I have fallen put of live with the Crime/Thriller genre as everything seems to have got so samey and predictable, but Fiona Cummins has reeled me back in with her latest novel, When I Was Ten!
The plot centres around the Carter sisters, 12 and 10 and their best friend. They are raised in a home of abuse and one of them eventually snaps and kills the parents. The story is told in two main parts, then and now. Now, after serving her time in a detention centre, gaining a new identity and creating a new life and family, Catherine Allen's carefully constructed world is about to be shattered with the airing of a new documentary on the case.

Honestly, I felt this book was a little slow to start, but thankfully it is a slow burn to create a massive explosion! A real page turner, right up until the very end, it will have you second guessing yourself and making you crazy trying to work out who dunnit... and why. Plenty of twists and some great sub-plots, you will want to devour this twisty tale in one sitting!

Another fantastic book by this talented author. The story goes back and forwards in time which is a great way of writing and giving the characters 3D. I loved this tense and roller it of a ride. 5/5.

This is a whodunnit where you know who did it, but there are so many secrets left to be uncovered. It follows the two main voices Catherine and Brinley as they come to terms with a tragic evening from their past, when Catherine sister Shannon stabbed her parents to death. With a release of a new documentary following the murders, Catherine and Brinley's time may finally be up!

Twists and turns are a plenty and it's a wonderfully fast paced story.

Dark, intriguing and gripping. This was a very well written novel that drew me in and kept me turning pages until the wee small hours.

Children abused take revenge on unsuspecting parents, but the twist to the story as they develop into adulthood leaves you reeling with suspense. I thought this was a well thought out and intriguing novel, and thought about it often after I had finished reading. If you love an intelligent plot, this novel delivers, excited to see what fiona Cummins will come up with next.

I'm on the fence a bit with When I Was Ten because in the beginning the story was slow to develop and a bit confusing (had to read up on the plot again to figure out what the story was actually about) and then at other times, it had me gripped and I couldn't put it down.

The story is based on two sisters growing up in a mentally and physically abusive home and what happens when one of those sisters finally snaps. It involves cover-ups, lies and the consequences of protecting someone that you really shouldn't have.

There are some subplots throughout the story that seem very inconsequential and I wished the author had left them out and spent more time talking about the psychology of child abuse and the impacts of all those around them. I wanted to know whether there were adults that had an inclination for what was going on or if they didn't, why they didn't suspect anything.

The ending proved to be a little bit unrealistic for me and I do question whether two 12 year olds and a 10 year old have the emotional intelligence to make some of the decisions that they made on that fatal night that led to the reveal at the end. However, overall this was a good solid book and it did hold my attention once it had got it.

3.5 stars

WOW, just WOW. I had never read anything by this author before but if this is anything to go on I will be searching for more of Fiona's book. This was really well written, extremely dark with several twists and turns. Absolutely amazing.

It is based around 2 sisters and a best friend and it follows their stories back in time and the present. We find out along the way the reason for the killing and some of it was truly shocking. I found a real knot in my stomach at times but such compelling reading, I just had to keep turning the pages to find out what happened next.

I will remember this book for years to come. It's one of those which just sticks with you as I devoured every single word in the book. There was no chance of having to skip through pages due to losing the plot.

Words to describe this book ; sensational, shocking, atmospheric, amazing, awesome, fantastic........ I could go on but I think you get the picture!

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC from netgalley, so I want to say a massive thank you to them, the publishers and the author for the opportunity to discover the most fantastic read. In my top 10 of the year so far.

Dark, haunting and extremely compelling Un-put-down-able thriller of the year!

Wow, I've just discovered a brilliant author who knows how to please her thrill loving audience with her stunning words that spin the stories for her. WHEN I WAS TEN is all about child abuse, humiliation, and unguarded prison sentence for children which destroy their lives without mercy, when they to be forgiven for their grave mistakes.


I'm still reeling from the shock of this book, kindly forgive my rambling review.

Twenty years ago, On a rainy night, one of the Carter sisters killed their parents by stabbing a scissor into their bodies 14 times and nothing is ever the same again.

Brinley booth was a friend to the sisters, and a neighbor who was also a first hand witness to the grueling night of terror. She's now a journalist now, her life still tainted by her past. And the guilt she's carrying with her.

Somewhere else, Catherine Allen's quaint family life is about to be shattered by the media frenzy and the startling truth that's been kept shut for all the years is about to come out into light. And it's going to cost more life, sadly.


Brilliant is the word I'll be using over and over again. There are so many pages that I wanted to cry my eyes out reading about the suffering and cruelties and it's terrible even to think of something like that happening to a child. I'm very glad that it's a fiction story but Fiona Cummins has such effect on you. Very dark and suspenseful right from the start, Cummins never wastes a single moment to unleash all her magic in this stunning new thriller.

It's going to be a GREAT book I'm so glad I've read it sooner.

This kept me guessing good interesting storyline likeable characters and lots of twists good read just not quite a 5*

This was totally gripping, the story of a child who killed her mother & father.

Such a sad story, children who were failed by their parents. A shocking murder, and a lie that spans decades.

An unexpected twist.

WOW an absolute corker of a read!! This is the first book I have read by this author and it definitely won’t be the last!! From the very first sentence of this book to the last you are totally gripped !! It was one of those ‘just one more chapter’ books that are so difficult to put down once you start reading! Loads of twists and turns right up until the last page. Highly recommend this book and this author

<i>What drives a child to do the unthinkable? And even if you manage to escape from your past, can you ever be truly forgiven?<i>

This is the first time I am reading Fiona Cummins work, but I know it won't be the last!

The story was incredible. It had me guessing up until the end. The twists and turns had me breathless. I just loved how interwoven the characters were and how deep and realistic everyone felt.

Thank you so much to Pan Macmillan, Fiona Cummins and Netgalley for the review copy. This was one of my favourite thrillers of all time!

Every so often a crime thriller is written that is genuinely different and leaves a lasting impression on the reader. This is one of those stories. There are countless twists in this tale, some predictable but others far less so. The end is a genuine surprise which leaves the reader with a sense of closure. The story of a child murderer who is released with a new identity is a familiar one but the outcomes are very different. The whole plot is well-structured and the pace is very good. I would whole-heartedly recommend this book to all crime and thriller fans. I shall look out for other books by Fiona Cummins as I really like her style of writing.

What would drive a 10 year old child to kill both her parents? And not just kill them, but butcher them to death while they slept? ‘When I was 10’ sets out to explore the answer to that question, along with the lifelong consequences for all involved (aside from the parents - as let’s face it, the consequences for them are pretty self-explanatory...)

Catherine (formerly Sara) lives a quiet life with her husband and daughter many years after the brutal murder of her parents, for which she spent her teenage years in a rehabilitation unit. Her steadfast desire not to confront the past is forcibly upended when her estranged sister, Shannon, takes part in a documentary discussing the murder.

The multi-perspective approach, and the slow reveal of details, meant that even though the book cover indicates Sara as the killer, I found myself questioning each character’s role and motivation all the way through. Empathy shifted between characters at times, and I liked that the author was careful to keep some things open to interpretation without throwing in overly contrived or clumsy red herrings (which is one of my pet hates).

The sisters’ relationship was well drawn and poignant, and some of the descriptions of abuse were extremely bleak. This was of course a necessary element of the plot, but as a heads up, some readers might find this content disturbing. I felt the author confronted the ugly reality of child abuse head-on, in an unflinching manner, without being gratuitous in her depictions of abuse and tyranny. There was no real violence (ok, apart from the parents’ demise) or even raised voices; but the insidious and breathtakingly cruel nature of the girls’ treatment was almost more unbearable to imagine. The fact that this kind of appalling cruelty is happening to children, right now, is a difficult reality to contemplate.

A couple of minor grumbles with the plot led to the deduction of one star from this review. I felt the Heathcote storyline was pretty superfluous to the main story; having said that, it was an interesting and somewhat light hearted diversion from the gruelling nature of the main plot. I was also a little dubious of Catherine’s ability to marry and have a child without ever revealing anything about her past, but I suppose that was a prerequisite of her new identity.

Lastly, the twist in Brinley’s final chapter, whilst unexpected and quite satisfying, seemed a little implausible- without giving away spoilers, surely a post-mortem would have taken place, such that the ‘twist’ would have come to light?

Speaking of Brinley, her characterisation in particular was another of the book’s strengths; I felt like I was able to get inside her head and it was interesting that the author chose Brinley (rather than Catherine) as the first person narrator. But is Brinley an unreliable historian? You’ll have to read it to find out...

Such a sad story about two sisters and their best friend. The story is mainly told from the perspective of 2 of the characters, one of the sisters and their best friend. It flips between past and present. Whose telling the truth ? And once you kill will you do it again ? Thanks to Netgalley for letting me read this book.

Chilling ghosts from the past always come back to haunt even the most delicately crafted futures...

Catherine Allen lives a quiet life with her husband and teenage daughter. Brinley Booth is trying to break through into a successful journalism career.. Shannon Carter is trying to reach out to her estranged sister to reconnect after a tragedy that forced them apart. The three women's lives come colliding back together after their past gets thrown into the spotlight once again; the race is on to protect what they've created of their futures before it all comes crashing back down again.

This book was great, albeit a little slow to start off with! The narrative is told mainly from Catherine and Brinley's perspective, with short notes from Shannon, as well as occasional snippets from the side character of Geoffrey Heathcote. I wasn't quite sure where his role fit into the overall story-arc, although I was still interested in what was happening with him. My only conclusion was that he was sprinkled in as an additional way to show how the press can make or break people? Due to the heavy nature of the main story - this sub plot often felt a little out of place! I loved the build up of each of the women's backstories and I liked that even right up until the very end there was something to shock you. Part 1 is mainly about the present, part 2 focuses on the past, and part 3 ties the two together in an intensely gripping culmination. Fiona Cummins writes with emotion, skill and intent - which means the reader goes on an excellent journey throughout, trying to figure out what twist she'll take you on next!

A great read, from a great author!

Thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for my advanced reader copy! 💕