Thank you to Netgalley, Atlantic Books and Catherine Ryan Howard for this ARC in return for my honest review. A rollercoaster of a read, there was definitely some surprising moments in this book. This is my first read set during Covid and especially being from Ireland myself, the dates, Leo's speeches and the experiences are all very relatable. I loved the non linear timeline and that the story was told from multiple points of view. This book deserves to be a huge hit.

Being my very first 'covid-set' read, I was intrigued by this book instantly and actually found it quite fascinating because it's obviously something that is still very present today. It bought back memories of the early days of covid, the tense supermarket trips and daily walks.

The main characters of Ciara and Oliver are likeable but you never totally trust them for obvious reasons so hold them at a distance while watching their relationship develop, searching for clues. I also really liked the relationship between the detectives as they worked to unveil what had occurred - I'd actually be interested to see them both return for future books. The twists and turns aren't a massive shock or anything but they are really well done and more than enough to keep the reader entertained. I do agree with other readers that the receptiveness was a bit dull but I can appreciate why the author felt this was necessary.

Overall a worthy read that I looked forward to picking up.

Wow what a roller coaster! I thought I knew where the story was heading at least twice only to have a ‘OMG’ moment both times. Loved the telling of the story from different viewpoints. Such a different, and refreshing, thriller. Highly recommend. Finished in a day.

The first book I have read which is based during lockdown . However, lockdown is central to the plot and in no way an add on. We follow the story both from the beginning and through the investigation of what happened. The main characters are both hiding something and lockdown allows the story to play out.

I absolutely tore through this book. Twisty, fast-paced, and full of highly charged moments that leave you breathless, I couldn't put it down. The timeline isn't linear and some scenes are told from two different points of view, but at no point was it unclear or confusing due to the sharp, clever writing and perfect plotting.

56 Days is not the first book to mention Covid-19, but it is the first book I've read to actively feature and be set during the pandemic. The author is spot on in her note at the end - many authors have dismissed the idea of writing or even reading books set during this time, but here we are 18 months after the first lockdown and we are still very much living through the pandemic. It has changed the world and so too the world we set our books in. I hope to see more of it, because although fiction can provide an escape, it can also be a way of understanding the world around us.

Well this was a fantastic surprise for me. A hugely enjoyable read.

As seems to be the norm for me these days, I went into this one more or less blind and I would advise you to do the same also, if you want to get the full enjoyment out of it.

Set during 56 days in Dublin(my home town) during the early stages of the Covid 19 outbreak, I knew that it involved a murder but not much else.

Told in different timelines and also from our two main protagonists perspectives, it not only jumps back and forward but also returns to the same timeline, viewed from the persons perspective.
This might be jarring for some as it repeats scenarios but its a brilliant tool to really flesh out the story and the characters.

This is a story of secrets, of regrets, of love, of revenge and of self doubt.

It is beautifully written and plotted with some lovely surprises that I didnt see coming in the final third.

One of the best books Ive read this year. Highly highly recommended.

Thanks to the publisher for an ARC through Netgalley.

A novel set during lockdown? Do we need this? Is it necessary? Whatever one's opinion, Catherine Ryan Howard has given us a crackin' novel. I absolutely loved this book! By turns, exciting, shocking, tense, funny (the banter between the cops) and, in places, tender and terribly sad, this is a novel to remember. Well done and thank you, Catherine!

PS The cops mention a previous case referred to as The Nowhere Man. I didn't realise it while reading, but this is, in fact, a nod at one of Howard's previous novels and right now, I'm scuttling off to buy a copy. If it's half as good as 56 days, it'll be something to look forward to.

The storyline is certainly unusual but you need to be on your guard because it keeps jumping back and forward and it can be confusing remembering who knew what the last time. Neither of the two main characters, known as Oliver and Clara, are who they appear to be and both maintain the deception for different reasons. That is the attraction for the reader as the reasons for their engineered meeting in a supermarket are gradually revealed. There is also police involvement but introducing the male police officer in handcuffs after a heave sexy session seems pointless. The book is well written and an unusual idea.

I really enjoyed this book. Set in Dublin, Ciara and Oliver meet in a supermarket queue and start dating. Then lockdown is declared and they decide to move in together. 56 days later one of them is dead! It becomes clear that both were not who they say they are, and the story gradually unfolds. This is a great story that will keep you guessing right to the end.
Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.

Howard has managed to make a story about the first Covid-19 lockdown than I actually wanted to keep reading, which is a feat in itself. Plus, she weaves together multiple perspectives on the same events, moving back and forth between different timelines, without any confusion for the reader, which is not a small task. I don’t actually want to say too much about the plot, because it would be easy to spoil, but at its root, 56 Days is a love story and a crime thriller, and it’s nothing like you are expecting. I love love loved that the Gardaí detectives dealing with the events of 56 Days mentioned the Nothing Man case, creating a sense of a Howard cinematic universe. I also hope there’s more to come from the detectives because they were well-rounded characters. Whatever she does next, I’ll be following Howard’s fiction closely.

Too soon for a novel about the pandemic?

In a word, no! This is a lively and cleverly structured novel that takes us through a lockdown mystery. I raced through it in two sittings because I really needed to know what happened.

The story begins when Ollie and Ciara meet in a Dublin supermarket (56 days before the present day). They bond over Ciara's space shuttle bag and a romance begins. When the Irish Taoiseach orders people to stay in their homes, the couple decide to live together rather than spend the lockdown apart. However, a murder investigation in the present day suggests that something has gone wrong and the Garda are left puzzling over what could prove to be a perfect crime.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel - I did wonder whether it was too soon to be reading about the pandemic, but actually it was strangely cathartic to go over the weirdness of the past year and a bit in the company of some fictional figures. Indeed, the pandemic - with masks, lockdown, limited social contact - actually creates a brilliant and creepy backdrop for a thriller in which secrecy is key.

My favourite parts of the novel were the sections about the police investigation. I loved the Garda team - the way that they are introduced at the start of the novel made me laugh (oh dear, Karl!) and the dynamic between them is brilliant. The fact the lead detective is female was an extra bonus for me.

I enjoyed the cross-cutting between Ollie and Ciara in the past and the police investigation in the current day - this ratchets up the tension as the reader hunts for clues about what happened and feeds on the paranoia of both Ollie and Ciara regarding the situation they have got themselves into.

It's so hard to write about this book without giving spoilers, so I'll just recommend that you read it! I think this would appeal to domestic thriller fans mainly, although there is the added bonus of a police procedural element too. It's pacey, cleverly-plotted and compelling to the last. Highly recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley for my copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This is an amazingly clever plot and extremely well-written.

Set in Dublin, Ciara and Oliver meet just before lockdown, so they decide to give their relationship a good chance by taking the opportunity to move into Oliver’s swish apartment together. The story covers various points throughout the 56 days and moves between them, but I had no problem with this as the story was easy to follow.

Weeks later, a neighbour reports a bad smell in the apartment block, so detectives Lee and Karl investigate. There’s a dead, and decomposing, body in the shower. As they delve deeper into the find, we discover that there was far more to Ciara and Oliver than met the eye.

I was totally hooked and couldn’t put this down. Utterly brilliant.

Thank you to NetGalley, Atlantic Books, and Corvus for an advance reader copy in return for an honest review.

As many others, I was on the fence about reading a novel set in the COVID days, as we are not past this hurdle just yet. Much to my surprise, this talented author was able to create a very intense and claustrophobic thriller without falling into the traps of which I was weary. Highly recommended!

An interesting book by this author , set at the start of the Pandemic , when people were starting working from home and isolating . Just a few days before lockdown has started a couple Oliver and Ciara meet up in Dublin and start dating , Oliver is worried , for various reasons in his past, that they should not be together but gets carried away and starts falling for her. She has a tiny bedsit and he lives in a nice apartment provided by his employer. Ciara moves in with him and for a time things seem to be going well . After a fire alarm goes off he tries to stop her leaving the building saying it is a false alarm and it keeps happening .
Whilst she is outside the apartment a blonde lady, Laura, who is from a neighbouring apartment asks if everything is all right between them and says to call her if she needs anything .
A couple of weeks later a neighbour complains of a smell from Oliver's flat and the Garda find a decomposing body in the shower .
Enter detectives Lee and Karl to try and make something of this case , which appears to be an accident , but things do not ring true as all the surfaces have been cleaned down to hide evidence possibly .
When they find the identity of the body it transpires he was involved , as a teenager , in the murder of a 10 year old boy . He had been released at 18 and given a new identity . Laura is questioned and it appears that as a journalist she knows a lot about him .
There are many twists along the way and you think you know what is coming but things change and are not as expected . An enjoyable read .

This a very solid read which also serves well to remind us of the early days of the pandemic and just how weird everything was then. Told over a time frame of 56 days from when Ciara and Oliver first met to now when the Gardaì are investigating a body found in Oliver’s apartment we see snapshots of their time together told from both perspectives, the timeframes do skip a bit but I found it easy to keep track and it revealed more elements of the story really well. I really don’t want to give any spoilers but there’s so much going on between the two and they both have so many secrets that you really do feel compelled to work out just what has happened between them. This is a fantastic thriller, I think I preferred it to The Nothing Man which was also fantastic, can’t wait to see what Catherine Ryan Howard pulls out next.

Although there are many books out there that touch on or are indeed set in the pandemic this one explores a different view, from a couple who meet only days before lockdown and make the decision to give it a go together, moving in to create their own bubble.
The book move between now- when a gruesome body is found in the flat to the past 56 days at various time points as we disover more about Ciara and Oliver all whilst wondering what went so wrong that now someone is dead.
Tension is high throughout and the final conclusion is mind blowing!
A truely successful pandemic story.

This is a fantastic read and I highly recommend it.

I've really struggled recently to find a book I could truly and honestly recommend as more than a 'decent / 3* good read' and I was genuinely considering a break from reading. How glad I am that I found this gem in my TBR list. It's a real cracker.

Ciara meets Oliver by accident in a supermarket in Dublin town centre and so begins a flirtation that is accelerated due to lockdown. Now, I'm not sure I'd normally have gone for a lockdown narrative. However, this was so highly recommended that I gave it a shot and I'm delighted I did as it's so incredibly well written and not in the slightest bit boring about COVID, if that makes sense. It's a multi layered read with a genuine sense of unease as it appears that both these individuals have something to hide and I was absolutely gripped throughout as more was revealed.

There's a murder enquiry and again, I'm not a massive fan of police procedurals, but, the 2 detectives involved are so well written, incredibly likeable and they bring another dimension to the overall story that I loved it and them.

It's also a heartbreaking read at times and for anyone who enjoys a fabulous, well written murder / mystery / suspense / romance / thriller, this is a 'not to be missed' read.

5* fabulous and I hope the author is at this moment, penning another amazing read!
Thanks so much to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing / Corvus / Atlantic Books for the opportunity to preview.

I was intrigued by this book, a perfect murder in lockdown, how did that work? And it worked really well! Ciara meets Oliver in Tesco one day and they hit it off. But a few days later, Dublin gets locked down and they have to make a decision what to do.

Although it’s based around the pandemic and lockdown, it’s not overly prominent and I didn’t feel like I was re-living it. The characters are really well built up and I actually found that I was sympathising with the bad ones. I finished the story wishing that I’d had that story idea last year.

Well written and kept me on the edge of my seat. Highly recommended.

This is the first novel I have read that has been set during Covid restrictions. A young couple meet and due to lockdown end up living together, without them really knowing much about each other. When a body is found in the flat the story unravels. Set over 56 days as the title suggests there are a lot of red herrings to throw you off the scent.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atlantic Books for an advance copy

What a great story that keeps you hooked in, even when you think you know what is happening, everything shifts again...