Coming up to the anniversary of a mass shooting Cassie finds herself along with a journalist uncovering the truth about what happened and why in 1994.
Really enjoyable read with some surprises.

The plot was interesting and enough, and in the end that’s what saved my rating because I couldn’t connect with the main character at all. She was hard to relate to, or sympathize with, and if it wasn’t for the general mystery, I don’t think I could force myself to care for her.

The pace was slow, and though the main character made it a struggle, I still liked the mystery surrounding the event that happened twenty five years ago.

I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

I enjoyed this overall. The story did feel a little drawn out and I didn’t really connect with the main character but overall I liked it. Recommended.

Struggled so much to get into this book which is such a shame as I usually love reading this author. Story was predictable, making it so much harder to read.

Thank you Little Brown Book Company and Netgalley I should have read this sooner.
Amazing storyline, although a little slow in places, but persevere as this is a great read.

An enjoyable read with a good storyline. The book sometimes felt a bit slow and drawn out, I think in part due to the main character who I really struggled to connect with.

I was gripped by this and couldn’t put it down. The storyline was engaging and I found I was flying through the pages to see what would happen!

A good read with an unusual storyline. I found it a little long winded in places which made my attention wander a bit and felt that the book would’ve been better a little shorter .

This book was everything I look for in a book. It was so exciting. The plot was fantastic. It really had me on the edge of my seat, and my heart racing. It was very well written and flowed well.

The Anniversary refers not to a wedding anniversary, but actually the 25th anniversary of a mass shooting in Hartstead when 11 people were killed, including the dad of 4 year old Cassie.
Cassie, now a single mum of a demanding baby, returns to Hartstead around the time of the anniversary to care for her mum who has dementia.
When she is befriended by a journalist writing an aftermath piece on the shooting, Cassie is keen to uncover the events of the day, particularly those relating to her dad, which her mum can no longer answer.
Told between different timeframes and POV, this is an intricately plotted story which had me gripped from beginning to end.
I cannot recommend this book enough.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.

Something about the description of this book made me wait to read this book. It felt like i needed the perfect time to give it my attention, however some of the story felt familiar, and I due to the way we get to know Cassie I struggled to keep going at times. Overall the idea behind the book is good and the supporting characters are the reason I kept going. I was a little disappointed that the ending was tied up in a bow rather than provide a forehead slapping twist.

This is my second book for Laura’s that I’ve read it was a good thriller yet again. It wasn’t as fast paced as I like thrillers to be and I found it hard to warm to Cassie at the start. I was gripped to find out what had happened on the day in June 1994 and how all the characters developed - I had an idea of what the twist might be early on but that was shut down towards the end and gave the book a different perspective. Overall, the book was good and would recommend to people who don’t like books that are too scary (me!).

This is a thriller about the impact of a mass shooting in a small town.
This is a slow burn novel with many twists and turns. It is told from a dual timeline.
A great psychological thriller

This was an intriguing book which I enjoyed despite not really connecting with the characters. There is Cassie whose father was the last victim of Travis Green, the multiple rampage murder, who has returned to her home town with her newly born daughter to live with her mother who is suffering from dementia. I liked the delicate way we got to know Cassie who is struggling with desperate feelings of inadequacy, both as a parent and as a daughter. Through her we come to know the barman, the journalist, the friends and the tragedy. I liked the interpersal of what happened on the day ofthe shootings with the current 25 years on story. Overall I think this is a good book but I was slightly disappointed with the ending - in that everything got wrapped a little too neatly for me.

The Anniversary by Laura Marshall is a book that kept me gripped throughout. The plot was slightly repetitive but there were plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader guessing.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author via NetGalley and this is my honest and voluntary review.

Thank you to Netgalley, Little Brown Book Group and Laura Marshall for my arc of The Anniversary in exchange for an honest review.

Publishing 5th August 2021

It has been 25 years since a man stalked the streets of small town Hartshead slaying 11 people and changing the lives of many more.

Cassie Coleman daughter of the final victim, returns home against her will to look after her mother who has early onset Alzheimer’s. But when a reporter starts sniffing around and Cassie finds some strange things in her mothers possessions, she begins to wonder if the story they’ve all been told for 25 years is even true.

This was a little more slow paced than Laura’s other books but I enjoyed it all the same. A cold case mystery unfolding between a victim’s daughter and a reporter. Laura Marshall captures the essence of a small town where outsiders are viewed with suspicion and secrets are held close. I liked Cassie the main character as well, her honesty about her struggles with new motherhood and looking after her mother.

Really recommend for any lover of a cold case crime thriller and a good mystery.

On 15th June 1994, Travis Green - husband, father, upstanding citizen - walked through the streets of Hartstead and killed eleven of his neighbours. The final victim was four-year-old Cassie Colman's father.

As the twenty-five year anniversary approaches, Cassie would rather forget the past - even as her mother struggles to remember it at all. Then something hidden in her mother's possessions suggests those eleven murders were not what everyone believes.

Once Cassie suspects she's been lied to about the most important event of her life, she can't stop digging up the past.

But someone will do anything to keep it buried ….

A gripping book, great characters and really interesting premise post tragedy in a community. Twists and turns in the story really kept me absorbed until the end and it was a book I was actually sad to finish as I’d enjoyed it so much. Well recommended.
Thanks for NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
#TheAnniversary #NetGalley

I loved this book. It genuinely gripped me from start to finish. I loved the switching between now & then. It was very well written & the plot line had me gripped. It also shows how our memories can be influenced by those around us . A huge thumbs up from me

A book with an unusual premise in that the plot revolves around the anniversary of a massacre in a small market town in southern England. The tragic killings in Hungerford in the late 1980s immediately spring to mind when you read this but Laura Marshall delves behind the faces of those who are left behind when something like this happens. A twisty thriller that is a slow burn and really picks up the pace in the last third. A good read.