A powerful and well written book. I found the content difficult to read at times (cannot explain without giving too much away) but absolutely believable. I really could not put this book down and have great admiration for Fiona Cummins' hard hitting style of writing. I do not know if she has written any other books but will definitely look out for her name.
Thank you Fiona, Pan MacMillan and Netgalley for allowing me to read this brilliant book and give my unbiased opinion.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for an advance copy of When I Was Ten, a stand alone psychological thriller set in London and its environs.

The novel opens in 1997 with a young girl telling us that all the grown ups are dead. It then switches to 2018 to tell us that in just over ten minutes Catherine Allen will be dead. Then it slowly unfurls the events surrounding these two positions.

Wow! This novel had me on the edge of my seat throughout. Just as I thought I had a handle on proceedings it changed course again. I couldn’t put it down although many times I wanted to when it got tense. It’s always the sign of a good book when you live every second with the protagonist, in this case Catherine Allen.

Ms Cummins is a fantastic storyteller as this tale loops back and forward between 1997 and the days leading up to current events as well as the current events and between characters, mostly Catherine Allen and her childhood friend, Brinley Booth who is now reporting the story. It should seem muddled and choppy but each new revelation adds another twist and angle, leaving the reader desperate for more information. I couldn’t read it fast enough and I’m not overly keen on psychological thrillers.

This is a difficult novel to review without spoilers but it has plenty of secrets, an examination of family dynamics and the repercussions of abuse and loyalty on the psyche. It is the kind of novel I would want to re-read for nuance as I feel I blasted through it, so caught up in the plot.

When I Was Ten is a great read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

When I Was Ten is gripping, chilling and with some great twist and turns. If you’re looking for a new thriller to read the look no further than this book.

Shannon and Sara Carter are sisters. They live next door to their best friend Brinley. Everyone remembers the Carter sisters. Their dad was the local GP and they lived in the beautifully Hilltop House. One day the village wakes up to a brutal double murder. Dr Carter and his wife have been stabbed to death fourteen times with a pair of scissors. The girls were ten and twelve at the time and one becomes knows as the Angel of Death, spending the next eight years in a secure unit accused of the killings. On the anniversary of the trial, a documentary team has tracked down one of the sisters persuading her to speak about the events of that night.

This book had me hooked from the first page. It’s impossible to put down. It’s deliciously dark, well written and a joy to read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Pam MacMillan and the author for the chance to review.

I really enjoyed this book. 2 sisters live in the big house in a seemingly perfect family. But one night 10 year old Sara kills both her parents with a pair of scissors. 20 years later the story hits the news again when the older sister agrees to tell her story in the hope of reaching out to Sara, whose identity has been changed after serving her sentence. This is a real page turner which will have you on the edge of your seat right til the end! Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

What a really good book this is, Fiona Cummins from an unusually starting point developed a intertwined story of three young children who lies goes with them into adulthood with surprising results. Not a book you can put down easily once you’ve started, with a background of the cruelty that many children have to endure it evolves into a tense thriller with many twists along the way. No heros, no heroines just people who are changed forever by a few minutes when they were 10!!

Reading the synopsis of this book and being a fan of Fiona Cummins, I knew it was something I’d be interested in. All I can say is wow. Fiona Cummins has a unique way of taking sensitive subject matters and handling them with tact and grace. The first couple of chapters are quite slow paced but by chapter three I found myself completely hooked! I thoroughly enjoyed how the book was split into three sections, Starting in present time where Catherine is seriously trying to keep her past hidden. In the second part we are introduced to Shannon, Sara and Brinley as children. This is also where we find out the chain of events that occurred on the run up to the murder. And lastly we are brought back to present time where Catherine is desperately trying to get her life back into order whilst regaining the trust of her family.

All in all this was a fantastic book that I would hugely recommend reading!

WOW! What an absolutely fantastic book, such drama, so many surprises, brilliantly written. I devoured this book. I will be recommending this to everyone it's going to be big.

I struggled with this book, I liked some of it but found it to be quite disjointed,and I am afraid it wasn't one of my better reads.

Where do I begin ......? Take a deep breathe!! Firstly I was 100% hooked by this book and was taken on a dark and twisty journey that has left me breathless and feeling like I’ve been in a tumble drier on a high setting!!

We start this amazing story in April 1997, a young girl running away from a murder scene is struck by lightning leaving her with scars on her back. The young girl is Brinley whose best friends are sisters Shannon and Sara. The murder scene she was fleeing from was the girls parents Dr Richard Carter and his wife Pamela, stabbed to death by a pair of scissors. Sara is found guilty.

It’s now 2018, Catherine and her husband Edward live in Essex with their 12 year old daughter Honor but their lives are about to be turned upside down by a newspaper article that will reveal Catherine’s secrets and will change their lives forever.

Told from two timelines from Brinley and Catherine’s perspectives. We discover that Sara and Shannon’s childhoods are not as idyllic as what they appear to be on the outside, their father a respected Dr living in the beautiful house on the hill. The murders are named “The Hilltop Murders” with press saying that Sara was “An angel touched by death”

It’s the anniversary of the murders and one of the sisters is ready to talk about what happened that fatal night. Brinley a journalist travels back to her childhood home to cover this story. But she has her own secrets that she does not want revealed.

This highly addictive book drags you in from the first page keeping you captive long after finishing the book.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

Rattled.
First of all I would like to thank Fiona Cummins for writing this book, and Net Galley for letting me read it. If you have not read Fiona's Bone Collector series then you are missing out, and if you have you will not be disappointed when you read this one.
Your two best friends,sisters live next door, and their parents, the local GP and his wife are strict disciplinarians. Their childhood is not a happy one, but your mother is terminally ill so neither is yours. Then early one morning your whole world is turned upside down as the two sisters are taken away by the police after their parents are brutally stabbed to death.
Twenty or so years on and the story is about to break again, you have moved away, making your own way in life with those events a distant memory, except you are now are journalist, and are sent to the village of your childhood to report on it.

Fiona was a journalist with the Daily Mirror before she started writing books, so you would expect her to know a good story when she sees one, and she has one here.
The story is told from one of the sisters prospective and also the journalist's. The sister is living under an assumed name, a new life given to her after her release from juvenile detention, which is about to collapse like a house of cards.
You feel for the characters.The story develops, being told in two time frames, then and now, allowing you to learn about them as children and also as adults.

Would I recommend you read this book? Absolutely, it is well written, totally believable and has characters you empathise with. Released in August 2020. Put a reminder on your calender.

Brilliantly written portrayal of a sensitive subject.

I could not stop turning the pages, I just had to know what was going on.

The relationship between the protagonist and her daughter was a nice frame for the story of her history and I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

If you've read Fiona Cummins before then you know what you’re in for and it’s a brace yourself read. It’s a chin dropper, eye popper, heart beater, hand shaker, mind blowing, breath taking, goose bump inducing rollercoaster of a book. Is Fiona Cummins middle name ‘Twisty’??!!! The book opens dramatically in April 1997 when a young girl runs away from an horrific murder scene. We later learn this is twelve year old Brinley Booth whose best friends are Shannon and Sara Carter, the murder victims are their parents. This is the infamous ‘Hill Top Murders’ for which ten year old Sara is convicted. Fast forward twenty one years to December 2018 to Catherine and Edward Allen and their daughter Honor who are living a comfortable and happy life in rural Essex. A news item catches Catherine’s eye and yanks at her heart and soul and their precious family life will never be the same. The story is told in two times lines 1997 and 2018 and principally from the perspectives of Brinley and Catherine but there’s also the inclusion of Justice Minister, the smugly arrogant Geoffrey Heathcote.

There are many themes in this multifaceted, well written and thought provoking book. It examines what drives children to kill and is an insightful depiction of one case. We learn of cruelty and evil and there are several sources of that. The inclusion of the Justice Minister in the storytelling highlights the role of justice and rehabilitation in cases like these, although I’m not certain we entirely needed all the details of his sordid life! Fiona Cummins also pulls no punches in the role of journalism and newspapers who drive a story and the ensuing public reaction. We are reminded that they take a stance and that will not necessarily take account of all the facts. She clearly shows too how in today’s world this is further fuelled by social media where allegations and assumptions are made on zero personal knowledge and how stories can grow exponentially and in this case social media also puts lives at risk. It’s unsavoury and it leaves a bad taste because that’s exactly what it is.

The most powerful parts of the story and what makes this book hard to put down is the story of the girls. Shannon, Sara and Brinley have so many damaging secrets, there are lies told but not for the reasons you might expect because this is about love, sacrifice and ultimately much needed shedding of burdens which will hopefully lead to healing.

Overall, a truly fantastic, clever book which exposes flaws in the justice system, in media especially how stories are represented. It’s a story of bonds and how the shackles of those bonds are finally broken and a tragic and heart breaking story emerges. As a fan of Fiona Cummins I can do no less than highly recommend this book.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Pan McMillan for the privilege of the ARC.

When I Was Ten opens on a startlingly dramatic scene whereby a distraught young girl, running outside in fear, is struck by lightning. This arresting scene sets the tone for the book, which is dark and, at times, horrific - not in a horror movie sense but in the unfathomable damage humans are capable of inflicting on each other.

Respected local GP Richard Carter and his wife Pamela are people who should never have had children; their two daughters, Shannon and Sara, are subjected to harrowing emotional, psychological and physical abuse, while presenting a very different image to the outside world. Their only comfort comes from each other and from their friend and neighbour, Brinley, who has her own troubles to deal with. Ultimately, something snaps, resulting in the death of the doctor and his wife and the incarceration of one of their children.

Twenty-one years later, a woman named Catherine is living a quiet life with her husband and daughter. There are secrets in her past which Catherine has never told, but her carefully constructed life is about to be torn apart.

The only thing I’m not sure quite worked was the inclusion of scenes charting the downfall of a Tory Justice Secretary, which were enjoyable enough to read but did seem rather to have dropped in from another novel.

Although it did, at times, feel unremittingly bleak, When I Was Ten is a compelling and powerful read.

This book covers a very difficult subject. It was well written but because of the subject matter I can't really say that I enjoyed it

The writing and treatment of a difficult topic were, as always, up to Fiona's brilliant and masterly style. This being a book about child abuse and torture and the murder of one child of another however, it was very tough to read at times and ultimately wasn't a book I can say I 'enjoyed' but I do admire the author for writing it and dealing with the subject so well.

The author says she was 'inspired' to write the novel to get inside the head of a child who kills another. She looked at the case of Mary Bell who was only ten when she murdered two boys in Newcastle. I immediately also though of Jamie Bulger who was only two when murdered by two ten year old boys. Shocking in the extreme and this book looks at the repercussions of this, how someone lives with a false identity and what happens when that big big secret comes to light.

Involving and detailed but not my cup of tea personally.

I’m going to be frank the first couple of chapters do nothing to pull you in.
I thought I’d started the wrong book. It gets better though and not just better.... it gets marvellous!

The subject is interesting, the written is brilliant and it all comes together to form the perfect book. We all know I can’t comment on a plot without giving spoilers so I’ll leave it here. When I Was Ten is a must-read!

Firstly as always thank you to Fiona Cummins, Pan Macmillan Publishers and Netgalley for sending me this to read and review.  This book is available to pre-order now and the publication date is 6th August 2020.

Okay so the description of this book caught my attention straight away, it sounded like exactly the kind of books I go for.  I hadn’t read anything by this Author previously and if I’m being honest, initially it didn’t grab me. I was thinking ‘hmmm should I persevere’ (I’m generally rubbish at doing so.)  Well I did and it was the right decision, about 3 chapters in and I couldn’t put it down!! I was desperately trying to stay awake in bed so I could read more.

The 2 main characters are sisters Sara and Shannon, despite the circumstances their captivating natures shine through. I could feel their need to protect each other. Brinkley their next door neighbour and Shannon’s best friend is also an interesting character, she can see what is happening in the girls lives but really is unable to protect them.

As I got further into the story and learned of the girls childhood, I became more invested. At certain points I felt like my heart was genuinely breaking for them. The 3 girls grow up and go their separate ways, only to be brought back together years later, when journalists track down Sara, who is now known as Catherine.

However all is not as it seems and there is a twist at the end which I did not expect. There is something about the way the story is written that I really appreciate. Although the nature of the story is a difficult one, it is written delicately and with sensitivity.

This made me think about children who commit murder. Do they deserve a second chance? Do they deserve anonymity? How does what they have done in their childhood affect their future as an adult?

I would definitely recommend this book and will definitely be reading her other ones.

I enjoyed this well paced read.

This book is split into 3 sections. Firstly, we are in the present where Catherine is trying desperately to keep the past in the past.

In the second segment, we meet Shannon, Sara and Brinley as children. We find out what happens in the run up to the dreadful murder.

Finally, we are back in the present as Catherine tries to rebuild her life and regain the trust of her daughter and husband.

I haven’t really touched on the politician as I do t feel he added much to the story. I also wasn’t totally on board with the letter writer. If we weren’t supposed to know who was writing, it needed to be more subtle. And if we were supposed to know then I’m not sure of the point!

All this said, it’s a great story, well written and paced. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and I’ll look for further books by this author. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy of this book.

huge thank you to pan Macmillan and #NetGalley for giving me the chance to read This amazing book, I loved the concept and the story the way it's written and the subject matter. I would recommend it and think it's worth the read.

The idea of what would you do to protect a sibling or a friend is relatable.
Sara and Brinleys stories are so well told although at times I felt it jumped a wee bit too much I definitely feel Fiona Cummins has smashed it with this book. I read this in two days I couldn’t put it down!

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. This kept me hooked on a very long at journey. This is probably one of the best books I have read in a while