This is probably the first thriller set during the covid pandemic that I've read.
This was a quick enough read. I didn't really have any issues with the pacing.

Since this is set during the pandemic the characters interactions were a little different. Like choosing to stay together 5 seconds into meeting. Knowing very little about each other.

I didn't see some of the twists coming. Although I feel looking back I should have. Certain things were hinted. The reveal of who Ciara really was for example I feel I should have seen coming but I didn't.

I was intrigued for around 3/4 of this but towards the end I found myself less interested. But I also felt the ending was underwhelming. Something bigger could have happened.
I also don't understand how Ciara could feel that way about him.

In March 2020 the entire world went into lockdown. Shops were closed, streets were empty, and people stayed safe in their own houses. In Dublin, Ciara and Oliver had met two weeks earlier and, not wanting to spend the lockdown separated, Ciara moves into Oliver’s apartment so they can be together. It sounds like the beginning of a beautiful love story, right?! Instead, it is a story of secrets, revenge, and murder.

In the present day, a fire alarm goes off in a residential building. When officers arrive on the scene, they find a body decomposing in one of the apartments, so DI Leah Riordan and DS Karl Connolly try to figure out if it was an accident or if it was murder. Fifty-six days earlier, Ciara and Oliver met in a supermarket queue, bonding over their passion for space. However, was their encounter a mere coincidence?

WOW…what a rollercoaster of a read!!! The author cleverly created a compelling and gripping story that alternates between different timelines and told from different perspectives, full of twists and surprises, and a suspense palpable from the first to the last page.

The tension is kept high by the intriguing and well-developed characters created by the author. Ciara and Oliver are multi-layered characters full of secrets whose past is slowly unraveled keeping me deeply engrossed in the story. On the other hand, Detectives Leah and Karl – or Lee and Karly – are entertaining characters. I enjoyed their easy and witty banter that gave a bit of levity to the story.

I became a fan Catherine Ryan Howard after reading The Nothing Man, but 56 Days makes her my must-read author. Highly recommended!

I was so excited for this one, the plot intrigued me so much when CRH first promoted it on her Twitter account!
The Covid aspect didn't bother me, as I know some readers feel it is too close to home at the moment and don't want to read about it at the same time as living it!
If done well, I think this could have been a belter. But I have to say I am disappointed. The plot sounded RIGHT up my street but the execution just confused me to the point I lost a lot of enjoyment. The constant changing of POVs and timelines didn't initially bother me, but the police detectives' working out the timeline of events just didn't click with me so I could relate that back to the 56 days previously. The descriptions of evidence lost me frequently and I had to refer back for it to make sense. I felt a little bombarded with information.
The characters were complicated and not wholly likeable, but I think this was probably intentional. It just means I struggle to get truly invested in the story.
I think my expectations were a little too high going into this one.

The first book I have read directly about the Covid-19 pandemic. Based in Dublin this is a story of a young couple meeting just before lockdown and how their relationship moves forward. Or is it? Oliver and Ciara meet randomly in Tesco buying lunch. Both are new to Dublin and it seems fate that they meet. Oliver is naturally suspicious as he has a secret to hide, not wanting anyone to know his identity. The story moves from 56 days previously to the present day, and at various intervals in between. Cut to the present and a body is discovered in Oliver's flat, which has been lying there, rotting for weeks. Gradually the story emerges of how we got to this moment. A good twist at the end that I was not expecting. #netgalley #56days

The concept of this was brilliant. So many twists you really won’t guess what is happening. The first (covid) lockdown is the perfect backdrop for this story but covid itself isn’t a major factor in the story, just the lockdown. This is a new author for me but one I will add to my list of ones to watch out for. Really well written.

I will admit I have been trying to steer clear of books featuring the pandemic because reading about something that I am experiencing is not always a good thing for me. However, I loved Catherine Ryan Howard’s first book The Nothing Man and I decided to take the chance that I would be so drawn in by the events that I wouldn’t really be bothered that COVID featured in the storyline.

Funnily enough, it is not a backdrop but a tool utilised in such a clever way that I needn’t have worried if I would find it enjoyable. It actually serves really well to create this claustrophobic atmosphere, that we can all relate to, which helps build the tension in the story as the two characters try to figure each other out.

The same with most thrillers of this type I wish I could discuss everything about this book with you but I wouldn’t want to spoil it. It is the type of book that slowly reveals enough information to keep you guessing and keep you wanting more and so many secrets on top of secrets. I love that I was constantly surprised by how everything fit together and I did not want to put this book down, if I could have managed it in one sitting I would have because I was just captivated.

I am so glad that I didn’t miss out on reading this because it is such a gripping and intense thriller and I am very much looking forward to seeing what this author comes up with next.

Firstly a massive well done to the author for setting a book based around the first lock down in Ireland. I completely and utterly loved this book and was gripped from the very start. I was sure I knew what way this book was going but a few times I was completely on the wrong track. A brilliant thriller which was perfect reading during these times .

I absolutely loved ‘The Nothing Man’ so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on her new release and it didn’t disappoint. A well written thriller that had plenty of twists and turns. I was hooked from start to finish. A definite hit for 2021! Looking forward to her next book. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

56 Days is a fantastic thriller set in early Covid lockdown. The story is creative and filled with twists. The plot is told in three different timelines with three narrators. A couple meet in the supermarket the same week Covid hits. They move in because of lockdown. The guy is hiding who he really is. And today there's a body inside. This story is twisted and scary how true it could be. Highly recommended!

A book set in the early days of lockdown is, while we are still living with the virus that pre-emptied such circumstances, always going to be tricky to read. Thankfully, COVID is a backdrop to the very specific set of circumstances taking place at this point in the story we watch unfold. It certainly does not unduly affect the narrative that we’re concerned with.
From the start we know that a body has been discovered in an apartment in Dublin. Little information is given initially, other than the body seems to have been there for a few weeks. Of course, anyone would have questions.
The narrative then shifts to 56 days ago, when new to the city Ollie meets Ciara. The pair talk briefly, seem to hit it off and decide to go on a date. With a fledgling relationship happening at the precise time that lockdown is announced, it could go either way. The pair decide to take their chances and move in together.
We are shown the events from both the viewpoint of Ollie and Ciara. We are alerted to the fact that both are keeping secrets. Other information is imparted on a strictly need-to-know basis, and sometimes done in such a way as to send you scurrying down the wrong route. When you become aware of these little bits of misdirection, you’ll kick yourself but then be desperate to see exactly what happened.
As the pieces fell into place I pitied those caught up in investigating the crime. Suffice to say, nothing is as it seems…and it certainly shows how your past can - no matter how careful you have been - catch up with you.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this in advance of publication.

As the first case of Covid 19 is announced in Ireland, Ciara & Oliver meet in a supermarket queue. They strike up a conversation & although they are both quiet shy people there is a connection, so when a National Lockdown is announced it seems the ideal time for them to be locked-down together. They can both work from home & Oliver swanky apartment is a world away from Ciara's bedsit, it makes sense.

Fast forward to post lockdown. A body in an advanced state of composition is found in the swanky apartment. Whose is it & whodunnit? The story is told as the lockdown goes on & by both Ciara & Oliver providing some perspective, but also posing more questions.

This was a very clever well constructed story. I wonder how many stories will come out from Lockdown & if they will be as good as this one. I bet I'm not the only one who would like to see DI Leah (Lee) Riordan and DS Karl Connolly appear in another book! Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book- it was a good 'un!

56 Days is the second book from Catherine Ryan Howard, author of the excellent “The Nothing Man”. I had high hopes for this but approached it with some trepidation as it is the first lockdown inspired novel I have read so far.

I needn’t have worried, 56 Days is an excellent psychological thriller which uses the first days of the lockdown in 2020 as a highly effective tool to throw the 2 protagonists together. Oliver and Ciara meet in a Dublin supermarket, both new to the city. A whirlwind romance commences and, when the lockdown is ordered, they decide to move in together to wait it out. But what do they really know about each other? It appears that neither of them are really telling the truth about who they are.

The novel begins with the discovery of a decomposing body in Oliver’s flat and flashes back through the relationship and the weeks before. Oliver and Ciara both recount their versions of events, as you question who is telling the truth and what is their motive? There are a couple of very clever twists at the end, Catherine Ryan Howard is the master of misdirection.

I really enjoyed this novel, her debut was excellent but this is even better, I can’t wait to read her next one.

56 Days is a compelling and original romance-based domestic thriller that uses the circumstances of the pandemic (namely the lockdown) as an excuse to throw two virtual strangers together under house arrest in Dublin, Ireland, culminating in some explosive scenes. Set during the weeks immediately leading up to the first confirmed case of the virus on Irish shores and the weeks to follow, we are introduced to two lonely souls who decide to help alleviate each other's misery by beginning a relationship to ease them through the even darker times to come. Oliver Kennedy is an architectural technologist and Ciara Wyse an internet services concierge; both are in their early 20s, bashful and starved for the company they yearn for. After a series of fateful repeat encounters while in the local supermarket queue, they decide to purchase coffees and head to the nearby park on a date. They chat and get to know one another and it leads to them starting a relationship, and when lockdown threatens to keep them apart, Oliver invites Ciara to move into his spacious flat with him so they can stay together through the fortnight-long state-mandated lockdown. Smitten and in the throes of a new romance Ciara decides on a whim to take the plunge, and while they keep both the move and their relationship hidden from those they know, she moves into the plush apartment provided to Oliver by his employer, KB Studios, as part of his compensation package.

The honeymoon period is now underway and everything is seemingly rosy, but it is not to last. Heaven soon turns into a toxic hell when secrets begin to unravel and Oliver becomes increasingly paranoid of the outside world, especially an enigmatic woman who warns Ciara that Oliver isn't a good or stable person and to get out while she can. Fast forward 56 days to the present day, Garda DI Leah Riordan and DS Karl Connolly arrive at the couple's apartment thanks to a neighbour reporting a disgusting stench emanating from their comfy abode. It turns out that Oliver has been hiding disturbing secrets far darker than anyone could have imagined. A decomposing body is soon discovered in the shower without fingerprints and there is no sign of any identification. However, the true depths of his deception will astound not only the police but the whole of Ireland, too. This is a compulsive and highly entertaining thriller with pitch-perfect strategically placed twists filling the narrative and a truly horrendous mix of toxic behaviour, mental health issues and more deception than you can shake a stick at. I was hooked from the start, although I was wary as I have come to believe that many domestic suspense novels and family dramas have much the same premise. But I am overjoyed I trusted Howard and her amazing storytelling and plotting ability as she has crafted yet another completely enthralling, engrossing and impressively unguessable read. Highly recommended.

This book kept you on your toes all the way through.
First you think it is a love story set during the pandemic but before you know it someone is dead and is it murder or suicide.Then you find out that both of the parties have terrible secrets.
All the twists and turns keep you on your toes right to the very last page.
Very clever plot which I can highly recommend.

This Fascinating and powerful thriller from Catherine Ryan Howard is a brilliant read.

Setting a story slap bang in the first lockdown after Covid-19 hit takes some guts from an Author, especially when we are far from out of the woods yet.

The story tells of Ciara and Oliver, who meet just before the first Lockdown in Dublin, after just a few dates and with Lockdown about to kick in, they take a massive plunge and decide to move in together on the basis the Lockdown was going to be 2 weeks as we all first thought way back when.

The trouble is, that not all is at it seems with the charming Oliver, as Ciara soon finds out…But all is not as it seems with Ciara…

Extremely clever, this thriller is absolutely rammed with tension and suspense as you flick though waiting for the worst, and when the reveals and twists do come they are absolutely awesome, completely surprising and so well hidden and crafted, I loved that I had no inkling. Absolutely top class writing.

The intrigue plays out though chapters bouncing between timelines, from
Ciara and Oliver’s point of View, and also the quite entertaining detectives investigating , as they bring a little light to the dark and atmospheric proceedings.

I couldn’t have enjoyed this one anymore and I absolutely loved the Lockdown setting, a Top Drawer Crime Thriller

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

When I read the synopsis of 56 Days, it really piqued my interest. The COVID pandemic has thrown so many of us in to uncharted territory, with no rule book to consult.
I remember seeing newly found couples in the news, who had decided that moving in together would be make or break. They were full of optimism for their greatly accelerated relationships. Having read this book, it makes you wonder how they fared.
The story merges two book genres, we have the age old “boy meets girl”, Oliver and Ciara meeting in a queue in a supermarket; but we also know from the start that we are reading about a crime. We have the start of a relationship, and 56 days later, a decomposing unidentified body. We don’t know who, why or when.

I don’t think any of us will forget those early terrifying days, weeks and months of lockdown, where everything we ever knew had been turned on it’s head. I wasn’t sure that was ready to read a book so heavily centred on the pandemic yet, but I’m very glad that I chose 56 Days. This is a clever book, the author sucked me in, and let me believe I had solved the plot, I felt jubilant that I had solved the crime, and why. Then Catherine very quietly let me know how wrong I was, and I loved it. It is very hard to say anything about the story, and not give any of it away, and I want everyone to read this 5* book with fresh eyes, as I did; and love it, as I did.
I had not heard of Catherine Ryan Howard prior to this book, but she is definitely on my radar now. I’m heading off now to consult Fantastic Fiction to find her other books, and add them to my towering TBR pile.

Wow. Absolutely gripping thriller that kept me gasping and enthralled. Set during the first lockdown in Dublin, it is told by three narrators and from different times and I guarantee that the story that you think you are reading will not be the one that you finish with. Cleverly constructed with just enough information to keep it real, this is excellent and I will be searching out more by this author.

A great beginning , a dead decomposed body is found in a flat after being left for two weeks.
Ciara and Oliver meet in a supermarket within two weeks lockdown happens so they end up moving in with each other without telling anyone, but do they know each other both are not on any social media sites so who are they and is either telling the truth.

The story is told from both characters and can be repetitive in places.
Definitely a page turner.

This is only the second book I have read recently that actually includes the Covid pandemic, and as an integral part of its plot to boot. With that in mind, for some it might be too soon as it is, for some, still all too present in their lives. For me, notsomuch so I had no qualms when I started reading...
Ciara and Oliver meet in a supermarket checkout queue. They have seen each other several times in the same shop during that week but on this occasion they talk. Talking leads to coffee, which leads to an evening out. Sadly Covid and lockdown are looming so when that threatens their blossoming relationship, Oliver asks Ciara to move in with him. Shelter in place, one household and all that!
But that is all in the recent past. Back in the present and Detectives are called to Oliver's apartment complex where a neighbour has investigated a bad smell and discovered a body...
And so begins a twisty turny investigation where many things are not what they seem on first look... including that first meeting between our two main characters...
And that's all I'm saying as to say more might inject spoilers and that's a big no no. Suffice to say, and it's a part of the genre, that we have secrets and lies aplenty, served up with a healthy dollop of duplicitous behaviour. All of which kept me on my toes throughout...
One of the things that irritated me along the way with this book was the dual perspective element. We hear an account of something first from the pov of one of our main characters, and then a little while later from the pov of the other. This makes some of the book rather repetitive as often it's the whole scene that's rehashed just to get a small point across.
Other than that, the book held my attention nicely throughout. Sucking me in right from the start and spitting me out at the end mostly satisfied. It also made reference to another of this author's books along the way, One that I hadn't already read but which is now currently queued up on my MP3 player as my next audio listen. Not having read it didn't seem to matter with this book.
Hats off to the author for not only including Covid but also making it integral to the plot. Most authors appear to be shying away from it, and I can understand why. But that just makes those who embrace it all the more impressive.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I adored The Nothing Man and that made 56 Days a ‘must read’ for me. Catherine Ryan Howard is an inventive and entertaining writer and she approaches her subject with verve and originality. That is absolutely the case with 56 Days, a novel inspired by lockdown and set just as Ireland is about to enter the first lockdown phase.

Don’t worry, though, this isn’t a Covid novel, just the starting point for a brilliant mystery that will keep you guessing all the way through.

56 Days is an engrossing and immersive story about two people who meet for the first time on the eve of lockdown. Their story is one of secrets, lies and sharing spaces amidst the fear and isolation of the pandemic.

Catherine Ryan Howard’s story moves back and forwards across her three time zones, but is never difficult to follow. It’s a very clever device in which she slowly reveals snippets of information which the reader has to piece together, all the time jumping to conclusions which may – or as proves to be the case- may not pan out.

This makes it a fascinating thriller as we listen to the stories of Ciara and Oliver, meeting by accident for the first time. Then, after we have established that first attraction, the present day brings us to DI Lee Riordan and DS Karl Connolly. They are standing over a dead body in a shower, in an upmarket set of apartments in Dublin City. It’s been there a while. Has this person died an accidental death, or was it murder? Only by following the timelines will be able to reach a conclusion.

It is obvious when Ciara and Oliver first meet that there’s a mutual attraction. They find common ground very easily and though both are slow to trust, their attraction to each other leads to a relationship forming pretty quickly and that is only accelerated when lockdown comes. Forced to choose between separation and the isolation that would bring to each of these lonely souls, they choose instead to be together when lockdown kicks in.

Because of Howard’s time shifting plot, we know someone is going to end up dead in Oliver’s building. Which one will it be?

Howard is a brilliant writer whose reveals are at once fascinating and also deceptive. This is an excellent masterclass in how to reveal secrets and develop characterisation, all the while leaving the reader wrong footed in their conclusions.

She writes with wit, too. There’s a terrific vein of humour threaded through what turns out to be a dark and troubled story and even when you think you’ve got to the bottom of her fast paced and excellently twisted plotting, she still has some last surprises for you.

Verdict: 56 Days is quite cinematic in construction. It is vivid, very well written, twisty and propulsive. The premise is clever and the execution staggeringly good and all achieved with a seemingly light touch. A great suspense thriller that is as good as it gets.