Two Wrongs ticked all the right boxes for me and was everything I'd want in a decent crime novel. It was a great read that kept me gripped right to the end. The story begins with a punch, with a dramatic event that shapes the narrative of the whole story. I enjoyed the locations - and although I'm not familiar with Bristol could clearly visualise the key places where the story unfolds. I could see this making a great ITV 6-parter along the lines of Liar or The Bay perhaps.

The story is well told through the perspectives of three key characters - Nevis, Honor (her mother) and Cullen. All three characters were easy to picture and get to know, although my opinions of them and their actions changed as I made my way through the book. I would definitely recommend Two Wrongs to fans of this genre.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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

An easy and enjoyable read despite touching on both suicide and rape.

Two Wrongs centres around Nevis and her adoptive mother Honor. Nevis is studying at university and shares a flat with best friend Satnam.

A dramatic incident on the Clifton Suspension Bridge with Satnam triggers a chain of events involving other university students. Central to this storyline we hear from Nevis - affected by Satnam's actions and determined to find out the cause, Honor - caring and supporting her daughter and struggling herself with a tragic past, and university Dean Christopher Cullen. The multi-perspectives from these three characters really set the scene both past and present.

To begin with I found the pacing a little slow for my liking, the drama for the bridge scene a little lacking, but soon found that I was hooked and desperate to continue reading. It becomes rather compelling when obvious secrets are there, cover ups are taking place and people are less than scrupulous.

I found Nevis a wonderful and complex character. A little socially awkward, not street wise and perhaps a little vulnerable and naive. She takes things a little too literally which had me chuckling at times. Honor, too, is a brilliant character. Completely loyal and faithful with so much love for her daughter.

A great psychological thriller with dark gritty secrets, intensity and suspense. But be warned it does cover heavier and darker topics.

(TW: Rape, Suicide)

Thank you to @hqstories and @Netgalley for providing me with a #gifted digital copy of the book.

I was really looking forward to reading Mel McGrath’s latest thriller- and it certainly touched on some unsettling and current topics.

The story is told from three different viewpoints; Nevis, the frequently spikey student, slightly disfunctional but nonetheless with a strong moral compass; Honor, Nevis’s ‘mother’ and Cullen, the Dean of the University.
They all had very clear roles, but I particularly liked Honor, and found her to be a sympathetic character, although I did wonder if her story was going to be developed further, particularly regarding her friendship with Zoe. The sections where she was on the houseboat were interesting, and brought a bit of an unusual element to the location.

Ultimately though, there were no real surprises. I have really enjoyed Ms McGrath’s previous novels, and had high expectations of this one, but pretty much from the start I had worked out what had happened.

Regardless this still a good read which held me to the end, to check that my early assumptions were correct!

I really struggled to maintain interest in this slow, at times plodding, read.

The premise sounded exciting - young women were dying and it looked like suicide, but, was it? However, the reality I found to be rather hard work.

If you stick with it, it does come together. However, overall, I found it to be a 2* OK read.

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

After seeing some of the other reviews on here, I didn't really have high hopes for this book before reading.
However, I was pleasantly surprised! I really enjoyed it. I sped through this, and didn't want to put it down. I loved McGrath's writing style, it was just so easy and enjoyable. I haven't read any Mel McGraths books before but I definitely will now. Got a fan now!

I really liked the plot, and as a teacher myself I could really picture it. The writing was so visual and filmic. Definitely think it would make a great TV show. I can see this as the next Netflix series.

The only downside for me, and unfortunately I find this a lot with thriller books, was the ending. I found it very far fetched and overly dramatic. It all ended quite quickly too. That's the reason I couldn't give the book the full 5*.

Overall I really enjoyed this, and would recommend to others! Now to read through McGrath's back catalogue!

The book is centred above Nevis and her adopted mum, Honor. Nevis and her mum, Honor, have become estranged over the months. The book begins with Nevis currently studying at Avon University and sharing a room with her best friend Satnam. Unexpectedly, Satnam tries to commit suicide. As the story unfolds, Nevis discovers, there is a lot more to Satnam’s suicide than not being able to cope with uni life. Two more suicides occur in the group of friends and Nevis sets out to find the truth about what is going on.
Overall, I found this to be a gripping book. I am always a fan of the short chapters and the dual perspectives as these add to the suspense and the pace of the book.
I was longing for Nevis not to get caught up in whatever was going on and she quickly became my favourite character.
About half way through the book, me and Claire managed to piece together what was going on, although there were blanks and some far fetched theories along the way.
I really enjoyed reading this book and would highly recommend it. Now to check out more of this author’s work.

This was the first of Mel McGrath's books that I have read and I enjoyed it. I liked the three main characters (Nevis, Honor and Cullen) and liked that they took turns as the narrator of the chapters. I found Cullen tremendously creepy and his behaviour had me shocked. I just couldn't believe how dreadful he was and his descent in to more and more drunken chaos was fantastic!

I look forward to reading more books by this author in the future.

I enjoyed this book although at times there were parts in the book that I found hard reading it has some very strong and complicated characters

# Two Wrongs # Netgalley

A well written book and one of interest I didn’t want to put it down in parts, as I wanted to see what Nevie would do next. Especially as Cullen had taken her to dinner. I was also pulling for Satnam. Jessica and Tash I really felt so much anger in a way, more Jessica to be in such a place that suicide is the only way out. It’s so sad. I actually know this was a fictional novel. However the subject should be made more public. University’s are always going to try to cover things up. But no they should not be able to get away with it. It’s not just university’s realky it’s any establishment a university, a business, if they have the money they can afford to cover anything up. A real twisty turny book with a few surprises you just do not see coming

One event starts a chain of events but where will it all end ?

A university student is found on the Clifton Suspension Bridge but she collapses before she can jump. Her best friend Nevis can’t understand why her friend would want to end her life. But she soon finds out that her best friend has been keeping secrets !!

Nevis’ Mum, Honor, tries to comfort her daughter but their relationship is a little strained. When another girl at the university kills herself Honor starts to worry that Nevis could be next. Will Honor be able to save her daughter and uncover why these girls are trying to kill themselves ?

This is a great twisty psychological thriller that although starts off a little slow it soon picks up the pace.

Thank you to HQ and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book.

Two Wrongs is a standalone thriller about the possibility of the phenomenon of suicide contagion spreading through students attending the same university. Sondra is walking home after a long, arduous shift cleaning the A&E department at Bristol Royal Infirmary when she happens upon a terrifying sight. On the Clifton suspension bridge, a known suicide hotspot, a young woman climbs over the safety railings and prepares to jump to certain death. The woman is Satnam Mann, a mathematics and biosciences student at (the fictional) Avon university, and Sondra tries to intervene and talk some sense and hope into the apparently determined girl. She eventually manages to persuade Satnam to call her best friend and flatmate Nevis Smith before she passes out, falls into a coma and is taken to the nearby hospital for treatment. The naive, introverted and autistic Nevis can't understand what would have made Satnam want to end it all and is sad that she didn't share her problems with her to ease her burden. Nevis arrives at the bridge in an Uber and texts her estranged mother, Honor, who she hasn't been on good terms with and has not spoken to in months, but right now she needed her comforting presence. Honor is awakened by the text message — "need speak now” — as she sleeps soundly on the narrowboat she calls the Kingfisher and her mother's instincts tell her immediately that something is wrong. Almost on autopilot, she disembarks the barge still in her pyjamas, navigates the canal towpath and jumps straight into her reliable old van, Gerry, heading for Bristol. Honor isn't actually Nevis’ biological mother; she was Honor’s friend Zoe Jeffers’ daughter who died aged nineteen by committing suicide when Nevis was only three months old.

However, Honor has never found the right time to tell Nevis that she is the product of rape, which certainly won't be easy to stomach. Meanwhile, we discover that Satnam's parents, Bikram and Narinder Mann, weren't exactly overjoyed when their daughter chose to head to university. They adhere to Indian cultural traditions and had arranged a man for Satnam to marry, but she already has a boyfriend, Luke, who the family disapprove of because he's white. Her academic performance has been declining and she had been concerned that failing her degree would pile on the pressure to return home and marry the suitor. Professor Christopher Cullen is also facing issues of his own with a spouse determined to live above their means. He is already struggling to afford his mother’s care home fees and the stunning Regency property they inhabit, when his wife, the Honorable Veronica Fanshawe-Drew, decides she wants to have a child. This drives him to drink and he develops a serious liking for whisky. When two other girls from the university leap into the abyss and succeed in killing themselves, Nevis begins to investigate. This is a riveting and compulsive thriller with an original plot and a wickedly twisty narrative that reveals explosive secrets, vicious betrayals and dark duplicity. Full of intense and enthralling drama, it is told from the perspectives of our three main characters — Satnam, Nevis and Cullen — and how their lives and their once separate plot threads converge is cleverly executed. The prologue whets your appetite ready to sink your teeth into a story of a mother’s unbounded love for her daughter and a deadly desire for vengeance.

I never repeat the blurb. This was sloooooow, ridiculously slow. It got to the point that I was almost beyond caring. Worth persisting though.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

In the city of Bristol, young women are dying in mysterious circumstances. The deaths look like suicides - but could it be somethng more sinister? Honor is terrifed that her daughter might be next. But as she looks for clues as to what really hapened to the girls, she stumbles on a link to a dark secret of her own past - one she's kept from her own daughter. Now Honor has the chance to avenge her child for the terrible events of years ago. But how far will she go to protect her daughter and right the wrongs done to her family.

This is a thriller that covers: rape, betrayal and friendship. The pace is slow at the beginning but it soon picks up to a more steady pace in the second half. Female students are seemingly committing suicide. This is a cleverly crafted story. Honor and her adopted daughter Nevis try to work out what is going on. Honor findss herself involved due to an incident involving Zoe, Nevis' birth mother. I found this story a little predictable. But i still enjoyed the book.

I would like to thank #NetGalley, #HQ and the author #MelMcGrath for my ARC #TwoWrongs in exchange for an honest review.

This story is slow-building psychological suspense that explores important contemporary themes through the three different character viewpoints. It begins dramatically, but it's what lies beneath that makes this addictive reading. The mother-daughter dynamic is well written and counterbalances the abuse, betrayal and deceit revealed.

The three main characters are carefully and realistically crafted, and they drive this story forward.

I received a copy of this book from HQ via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Another good read from Mel McGrath. The book opens with an attempted suicide by Satnam, a student. She collapses before she can jump from the Clifton Suspension Bridge. Her best friend and fellow student, Nevis, cannot understand why Satnam would have attempted to end her life. Two further student suicides follow and Nevis becomes convinced they are linked. and as she digs into the events a whole host of murky issues begin to emerge. Alongside trying to discover what prompted the attempted and actual suicides, Nevis is dealing with her tricky relationship with her mother and issues from their past.

The narration is shared between Nevis, her mother Honor and the Dean, Cullen, at the students' university and it moves quite neatly back and forth. As the story develops it is clear that matters are not as they should be at Avon University and there are cover-ups and a host of secrets.

The characterisation is very good. Nevis is a complex character, she doesn't really 'get' people but she is very loyal and rather sweet. Honour is a loving mother who is struggling to understand what has gone wrong between her and her daughter. Cullen is a deluded egotist, a bully and a coward.

There are some dark themes in this novel mainly around power and control, prestige and reputation. They are very effectively explored. I enjoyed the university setting with all the plotting and politics. It was pretty realistic!

The pacing of this novel is clever in that it starts off quite slowly but as events unfold it rapidly accelerates to the point where I was whipping through the pages. The end was very satisfying.

In summary, this was an intriguing psychological thriller with a clever story and great characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A quick and easy read, if a little predictable. The main twist at the end was easy to spot much earlier and none of the main characters were particularly likeable or given much depth. The themes in the book cover adoption, suicide, exploitation, mental health, rape and crime. It's a bit too much in my opinion.

I enjoyed reading Two Wrongs. Yes the story is predictable but the characters are interesting and well formed and it is an enjoyable read. A good old fashioned crime book not to be overlooked.

I enjoyed this book even though it featured well worn tropes and the ending was fairly predictable. That being said it was well written and atmospheric, I went to college in Bristol and the city and its surroundings were well described and the characters were certainly fleshed out and relatable.

3.5 stars
This is a good read.
The story is told from the perspectives of three characters: Nevis, a university student, Honor, her adoptive mother and Cullen, Dean at the university. It was a bit confusing at first at they all have secrets that they’re hiding.
The book begins with Satnam, a student at the university, about to commit suicide by jumping off Clifton Suspension Bridge. A passer by calls out to her and she asks her to call Nevis.
Before Satnam can jump she collapses and is rushed to hospital. Nevis’ mum arrives at the hospital and it’s clear there is tension between them.
Nevis tries to work out what drove her friend to this point by digging into her life, but two more suicides follow and she realises there could be a link.
Cullen’s life is starting to unravel and he struggles to cope with his past.
This is a bit of a slow burner and took me a while before I really got into it but it’s a good read.
Thanks to HQ and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.