I was so intrigued by the premise of The Imposter and I’m pleased to say that, for me, the book totally lived up to my high expectations! The story follows newspaper archivist Chloe who becomes obsessed with a decades old story of a missing girl. As Chloe dives deeper into her investigation she comes across an advert from the missing girl’s parents offering a room for rent in their home. Chloe cannot stop herself from taking the opportunity to ingratiate herself into their lives and solve the mystery of their lost daughter. Things get even stranger from there on in.

I loved this book – my favourite thing about it is the overwhelming atmosphere of creeping dread which grows the further into the story you read. Chloe is an odd woman, to say the least. She definitely has the feel of a slightly unreliable narrator and whilst the missing girl’s parents, Maureen and Patrick are suspicious in their own right, it is Chloe who I found myself constantly second guessing and thoroughly unsettled by. She lives an isolated and lonely life with her nan as the only family she appears to have. Her compulsive fascination with the missing Angela is decidedly weird and her mission to solve the case comes across as simultaneously creepy and sympathetic. Once Chloe moves into the Kyle’s house the tension build and builds until we finally start to understand what secrets Angela’s parents are hiding and who Chloe herself really is. I found myself totally engrossed in the story – it is darkly compelling and actually has quite a chilling and spooky feel to it. I think anyone who loves a quietly disconcerting thriller will very much enjoy The Imposter – I certainly did.

hloe lives a quiet life. Working as a newspaper archivist in the day and taking care of her nan in the evening, she's happy simply to read about the lives of others as she files the news clippings from the safety of her desk.But there's one story that she can't stop thinking about. The case of Angie Kyle – a girl, Chloe's age, who went missing as a child. A girl whose parents never gave up hope. When Chloe's nan is moved into care, leaving Chloe on the brink of homelessness, she takes a desperate step: answering an ad to be a lodger in the missing girl's family home. It could be the perfect opportunity to get closer to the story she's read so much about. But it's not long until she realizes this couple isn't all they seem. In a house where everyone has something to hide, is it possible to get too close?

What an amazing debut by the author. I really enjoyed reading this one.

The book was like nothing I’d come across before. It was original, suspenseful and thought provoking.

The book is hard to review without giving away potential spoilers. However I urge people to pick up this fantastic debut. It does not disappoint.

Chloe lives a quiet life. Working as a newspaper archivist in the day and taking care of her nan in the evening, she's happy simply to read about the lives of others as she files the news clippings from the safety of her desk.But there's one story that she can't stop thinking about. The case of Angie Kyle – a girl, Chloe's age, who went missing as a child. A girl whose parents never gave up hope. When Chloe's nan is moved into care, leaving Chloe on the brink of homelessness, she takes a desperate step: answering an ad to be a lodger in the missing girl's family home. It could be the perfect opportunity to get closer to the story she's read so much about. But it's not long until she realizes this couple isn't all they seem. In a house where everyone has something to hide, is it possible to get too close?

What an amazing debut by the author. I really enjoyed reading this one.

The book was like nothing I’d come across before. It was original, suspenseful and thought provoking.

The book is hard to review without giving away potential spoilers. However I urge people to pick up this fantastic debut. It does not disappoint.

Not my usual kinda read but it surprised me and will defo look for more from this author, great content and well written, fully recommend

I devoured the first half of this book in a day. I haven't read a book with a storyline like this before and wasn't disappointed with the outcome.

The drip feeding of clues and suspicion was intense and slow, on occasion too slow, making the pace wane a bit. I felt some elements were held back that perhaps didn't need to be. Nonetheless, as soon as I reached 75% we were offered a lot more insight and the pace ramped right back up again.

I was perplexed by the main character. She is a complex, troubled woman with a lot of emotional and psychological issues plaguing her. Although I was fascinated by her story, I found her unnerving and not entirely likeable. I found her treatment of her friends and others frustrating and selfish, not to say I didn't want to find out more as I did, I just didn't root for her to "be ok". Her big story reveal at the end meant I understood her, but did I then feel sorry for her, and forgive her behaviour ? No. Whether or not we were meant to though is a question only Wharton could answer!

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this book still and would recommend it to people who enjoy books with slow release mysteries and twists and turns with a darker psychological feel.

The Imposter by Anna Wharton is a psychological thriller that kept me thinking about it long after I had finished the book.
Chloe works as a newspaper archivist during the day then goes home to look after her Nan. Just reading about others lives as she files the newspaper clippings away is all she needs in life. There is one story that she can't get out of her head. A girl her age Angie Kyle, who went missing twenty years ago. The girls parents have never given up hope. As Chloe's nan is moved into a nursing home she is almost homeless until she spots an ad for a lodger...in the home of Angie Kyle's parents, is this the opportunity for Chloe to get closer to the story she is fixated on, or has she bitten of more than she can chew? As the saying goes.
Chloe really struggles with her identity and the fact her nan has got dementia does not help her at all. Everything she has is slipping away, the only concrete thing she feels she has is the facts she knows about Angie Kyle's disappearance. As the story unfolds we see Chloe become so obsessed she has an actual 'murder wall' with all the facts of her disappearance. Even the idea of moving in with Angie's parents makes you think she is on the edge. The question is has Chloe found something really concrete or is it her sanity? Is she so close to a breakdown or, has she found her way into something she may not get out of?
A book that is a dark and twisty story, so twisty you never know who you are dealing with. Anna Wharton has deftly woven a web in which makes you think one thing and then you realise that this is a blind alley and you are veering of to another tangent. strap yourself in and get ready for the read!
Thanks to Random Things Tours, NetGalley and Mantle Books for my copy of the book.

Thanks to the publishers and netgalley for this read.
The main character Chloe is twenty nine and works as an archivist at a Peterborough newspaper. She also looks after her elderly nan who has dementia.
Initially, as a psychological thriller this book was a slow burner, but I was enjoying reading about Chloe and her life. The more I read the more then tension built up. At 60% and 70% I was convinced I had it all worked out ... but I was so wrong! I was impressed with the twist and reveal at the end.
Highly recommended.

The prevailing themes that run throughout the plot of this emotionally charged story is love,families and identity. The title could cover both the duel issues of the imposter that takes over your body when your brain succumbs to the horrific,debilitating disease dementia. And the activities of our main character and narrator Chloe. It's a story about love,fitting in, being appreciated and accepted,things that we all want in our lives but are not always granted by the cruel hands of fate and destiny.

Chloe was a complex individual who obviously suffered from some serious emotional and psychological issues which caused me to feel a tiny bit unfair at the times throughout the story when I thought she was a rather unlikable character. I did admire Chloe's patience with Nan when she was struggling with the confusion that was caused by her dementia but then I felt rather disappointed with her when she started to neglect Nan after she was put into the home and Chloe moved in with Maureen and Patrick Kyle. The ironic thing was that Chloe was so obsessed with trying to find love and acceptance elsewhere that she didn't realise that she already had someone who obviously cared about her in the shape of her loyal,best friend Hollie.

The plot of this story highlights the issues and difficulties in deciding the best plan of action for protecting a vulnerable person's mental health and well being.I really didn't like the way that poor Nan was basically forced into the care home by social services, something that I know happens in reality. But, unfortunately there have been quite a number of cases of where elderly people who have been forced to go into hospital or care homes have slowly lost the will to live or are abused by the people who are supposed to take care of them. her

We also follow Chloe's obsessive search for the truth behind the disappearance of the Kyle's four year old daughter Abigail. Maureen and Patrick come across as a normal couple who had been forced to endure every parents worst nightmare but after she moves into their home,Chloe begins to suspect that Patrick is not all he appears to be. Why is he so cold and aloof towards Chloe? Why does he appear obsessed with watching forensic programmes on the television? Could be have been involved in his own daughter's disappearance? Has Chloe's search for answers placed her in the home of a stone cold killer?

The Imposter is a very well written, thought provoking debut that had me hooked in from the first page and glued to my kindle. It's a captivating story that causes the reader to experience a wide range of conflicting emotions The plot has a cast of vivid, well rounded and realistic characters, keeps you guessing and has a seriously sinister conclusion. I really really enjoyed this enthralling story and look forward to reading many more of this author's books in the future.

Chloe is a character who is struggling with life as The Imposter starts. Her nan is suffering from dementia and Chloe often has come in late to work or leave early to care for her, trying to keep social services at bay. While working in the newspaper archive one day she comes across the case of Angie Kyle, a 5 year old girl who went missing over 20 years ago. Chloe becomes obsessed with the case, reading all the articles she can find. Angie’s parents have regularly pleaded for more information over the years but no clues were ever found.
When Chloe’s nan goes missing, social services insist she go into a care home and that the house be sold to pay for it. Chloe looses her job and things are looking increasingly desperate and then by luck, she comes across the Kyle’s who now live in a remote countryside house and are looking for a lodger. Chloe moves in and soon becomes a good friend and confident to Maureen Kyle who confides in Chloe about how much she misses Angie and how she never has given up hope. Chloe is unsure about Patrick Kyle though – he isn’t keen on the idea of having a lodger and neither him or Chloe feel comfortable in each other’s company.
This is a really accomplished and exciting debut. Chloe is a vulnerable character who doesn’t have any family apart from her nan and has only one good friend. Her obsession with trying to solve the Kyle case is unhealthy and once she becomes personally involved with the family, things start to spiral out of control. The Kyle’s are also memorable and sympathetic characters – trying to carry on with their lives with the sadness that comes from loosing a child.
The Imposter took me in a completely different direction to what I expected and it was an exciting and tense read.

Good lord but I loved this book, it speaks to anyone who feels that the life they are living is not what it should be, that the path you are walking on has a massive sense of disconnection and not belonging anywhere.

Chloe spends her entire life under the radar, constantly reminded of her mother's absence in her life by her dementia stricken Nan, and eeking out a living in a newspaper who are about to replace her with a computer.

She cuts out and archives clippings, reading and paying witness to the lives of others whilst desperately trying to fool the world that she is coping with her Nan,social services being kept at arms length in one direction and her demanding boss in another.

In between, she is just going through the motions until a story, one which she remembers from childhood, pops up with huge similarities to the life Chloe used to have. The missing girl, a life unlived could be the chance that Chloe has to set herself on a path to having the opportunities she never had. And it's an act borne of desperation, of wanting the things which others take for granted.

However, Angie Kyle, the girl who disappeared, actually was taken and the person or people who took her soon notice that an impossible situation has occurred. Loneliness, isolation and never really being noticed plays in Chloe's favour as she fits herself into the life unlived by Angie, but how far will she go to keep this deception going? And when she becomes one of the news articles that she has been constantly cutting out, what happens when those who took Angie notice her?

And, what actually happened all those years ago?

It is a thrilling and intoxicating blend of mystery, character study and emotionally wrought story telling which pulses from each page. I absolutely loved it.

This is a great read, a little slow to get going but a slow burner builds up the tension. I thought I had the plot all figured out but I was wrong. I'm reluctant to say too much as I don't want to spoil anything but the ending was totally unexpected. There is one part near the end which is unrealistic but it did not detract away from the main premise of the story.

2 stars for the book on the whole, and 1 for that twist at the end.

This is a psychological thriller that you didn't know was one. Sounds fascinating, but it's only when you reach the end that you realise how much. The narration is incredibly slow, to the point that I was beginning to wonder if it would ever get going, and the narrator is someone difficult to like or empathise with. I wanted to give up many times, but didn't because I wanted to find out what had happened to the little girl who'd disappeared 25 years ago. It's not difficult to piece together the clues, so it's disappointing when you end up right. I was almost up to the last few pages, wondering what the point of the whole thing was...

Then came the twist, almost right at the end. And things started to make sense.

Review copy from NetGalley.

When we first meet Chloe she is struggling to cope with the demands of looking after her grandmother. Though she has dementia, and caring for her while working is proving hard to manage, Chloe is reluctant to put her grandmother in a home. Her only family, we can see Chloe is desperate to belong and do whatever she can to keep them together.
Chloe’s work in the archives of a local newspaper means she has an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of certain cases. The one that fascinates her is the disappearance of four year old Angie. Though years have passed, Angie’s parents have never given up hope that their daughter will be found alive.
The story unfolds quite slowly. We get little details about this case, Chloe’s home life and her fascination with what might have been. After her grandmother is forced into care, Chloe risks homelessness...and it seems like fate that Angie’s parents are looking for a lodger.
From quite early on we are led to believe in a couple of quite straightforward possibilities. I found myself thinking it was all too obvious, and it was good to see that we were given a bit of a shake-up. There were clues, but it all seemed to take such a long time to get going that it was a relief when we started to get answers.
Certainly an interesting exploration of loss, and the extent to which people’s need to belong will impact on their behaviour.
Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this prior to publication.

Chloe is a 29 year old woman who lives with her Nan, who suffers with Alzheimers. The descriptions of their interactions are heartbreaking for anyone touched by this horrible disease and so well written.
Chloe is being persuaded by social services to sell her Nan's house in order for her to go into a home, but, she's so keen to continue to care for her, even whilst clinging onto her job as newspaper archivist.

What follows is a touching story of loneliness and heartbreak whilst also being a mystery as Chloe, upon finding a newspaper clipping about a lost little girl, decides to solve the mystery.

It's a slow burn, interesting read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview.

I enjoyed this book. I thought the premise was interesting and though I felt I could see the ending from quite early on, there was some surprises along the way and I didn't guess the *exact* ending.

This book was a little slow paced for me. I'm starting to realise I need really quick, action packed books and while this was good, it just wasn't my style. I know so many readers like a developed, well fleshed out plot and this book definitely has that!

Overall I rated this three stars, a solid read with lots of peotentional fans but just not for me.

Thanks to NetGalley, Anna Wharton and Pan Macmillan for an eArc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My thanks to Pan Macmillan Mantle for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Imposter’ by Anna Wharton in exchange for an honest review.

Set in 2004, this character driven psychological thriller is Anna Wharton’s debut novel.

Twenty-nine year old Chloe lives a fairly quiet life. During the day she works as an archivist at a Peterborough newspaper and looks after her Nan at night. She loves her job and is not looking forward to everything being digitised in the near future. Among all the clippings one story haunts her: the disappearance of four-year-old Angie Kyle in 1979, twenty-five years previously. Chloe is struck by the fact that Angie’s parents have never given up hope.

As Grace, Chloe's nan, is becoming increasingly confused due to dementia, she is moved into a care home. Feeling adrift Chloe gets it into her head that she can investigate Angie’s case and bring her home to her loving parents. What is she thinking?

Naturally this kind of obsession can become dangerous, not only in stirring up the past but for Chloe’s mental health. Chloe then takes the desperate step of answering an ad placed by Angie’s parents to become their lodger and thus get closer to the story. I won’t say more to avoid spoilers.

While it was a slow burn, ‘The Imposter’ built up the tension well leading to a climax that had me on the edge of my seat.

With psychological thrillers twists are pretty much expected. Still, Anna Wharton impressed me with the reveal in this tale. As a result I will be on the lookout for her future projects.

Chloe is not like any character I've met in a book before. At first I was struggling with her as she seemed to lack the wherewithal to take charge of her life. Then I became scared of her, and then I became very scared for her!

There is a trigger warning for dementia with this book. The scenes are so realistic that it could be painful for some to read. Very sensitively written and it's so spot on with the dialogue and scenes concerning dementia.

On the surface it seems like this will be a gentle read. A young woman whose Nan is going to have to go into care as she can't cope with her, no matter when she thinks herself. An interest in an old case Chloe finds through her archivist job at the newspaper of a missing four year old. But oh how the tension builds, I had my heart in my mouth several times for Chloe, silently screaming at her, as she carried out what I deemed reckless actions. At times it felt like you were watching scenes from a psychological horror film.

I can hardly believe this is the authors first book as she led us through so many twists and turns. At one point in the book I felt the scales fall from my eyes and was enthusiastically shouting that I knew what was happening. I couldn't then wait to get to the end of the book, however, what was to follow only confirmed how good a writer Anna is, because I was so, so wrong.

Once I had finished the book, I went back and re read some of the beginning - that's when I personally know it's been a very good read. So of course I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. I will be the first in line to read whatever Anna Wharton writes next

Chloe lives a quiet life with her Nan. She enjoys her job working as an archivist at a local newspaper and occasionally meets up withe her only friend, Hollie. But her Nan has dementia now and looking after her is becoming increasingly difficult for Chloe, especially a she tries to hold down a job at the same time. Her Nan goes missing one day and Chloe stumbles across some articles in the archives about a missing 4-year old called Angela Kyle. Feeling a kinship with the Kyles over their missing relatives, Chloe starts to investigate further. When her Nan is found but placed into a care home at the same time that Chloe loses her job, she takes her investigation even further, ending up as the Kyles' lodger and determined to uncover what happened to their daughter 25 years ago.

I was completely gripped by this book and devoured it in a few days. Chloe clearly has secrets from the get go and part of what was compelling me to pick it up was not only finding out what had happened to Angie but what had happened to Chloe. The parts of the plot that dealt with Angie's disappearance I found particularly difficult to read at times, being a parent myself but it didn't put me off reading. I did have my suspicions about what was going on with Chloe and was mostly right but that didn't take anything away from my enjoyment of the book. I thought the Angie plot line was good too and I found the book's conclusion satisfying.

This was great for a crime/mystery type book and I'd definitely read more from this author..

This is a book difficult to make a review without making spoilers, because the wrong word can take away all the mystery of the story, and believe me, there are a few twists that are really worth the read.
This is the story of Chloe, she works at the newspaper by day and at night takes care of her Nana, but Chloe’s life will start to change when her Nana will be accepted in a facility care…
I really don’t know what to think about Chloe, I didn’t like her character much, but at one point I think I started pitying her and understanding her decisions. Don’t worry, she is not a serial killer, only obsessed with an old case, a young girl that disappeared when she was 4 years old. So, after being terminated at work, she decides to start investigating the case and stays at the family cottage, this way she will be able to ask without being suspicious.
The story is quite complex and with a lot of emotions involved, the struggling of a family that has lost a daughter is heart breaking, how they never leave the hope that she will return home one day.
On the other side, there’s Nana, she has dementia and is starting to forget things, her best memories are from a young girl…
I read this book in one sit, it was easy to enter the story and fall for Chloe’s obsession. I was surprised by the ending but I think it fitted the story, blurred and dark.
Are you ready to discover “The Imposter”?

The Imposter by Anna Wharton

This book is a little bit different to the average thriller/family drama and I think that’s where it’s strength lies. There’s no huge dramas or far fetched twists, just a steady revealing that was pitched just right to keep the reader engaged.
I can’t say I really liked the main character Chloe but the more I read the more I came to understand and to sympathise with her. It really made me think about the people we all meet in life, those ‘slightly odd’ ‘a little bit different’ folk we might encounter but never really think about. I really enjoyed the premise and thought the writing was very good indeed, especially for a debut novel. Excellent ending.

Thanks to NetGalley and to Pan Macmillan for the opportunity to read and review this book.