A good read and one that kept me on the edge of my seat while I was reading, interesting characters and a lot of depth.

My first read by this author and certainly will not be my last. A page turning domestic thriller that had me engrossed from the first page.

Love all of Julie’s books and loved this one too, a great book of which didn’t last long for me (they never do) loved it and will defo buy it for friend and family to enjoy too

The book was a fun read with 3 best friends with their daughters being good friends when one of them found a scandalous note in the bag of her daughter. That would have caused the whispers of a scandal to come out. It was up to the friends to stop them.
Quite intriguing in most of the book in its writing with complex dynamics of friendship. But a new subplot added at the end felt to be not-needed. So it was easy to guess the perp. overall, an enjoyable read.

A strong domestic thriller from one of my favourite writers that had me guessing until the end. The characters are believable and I enjoyed the multiple perspectives, which gave a broader view of the whole story. Secrets and lies and twists and turns - what's not to love?!

This novel was an absolute treat! Three parents whose kids go to the same school are forced to face the unpleasant truth about their little community as an anonymous note breaks up the sense of unity between the seemingly good friends. I throughly enjoyed the characters and the premise and can highly recommend this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Whispers of a Scandal was both familiar and different in its delivery. Three best friends whose daughters were best friends too found themselves in the center of a gossip storm when one of the daughters discovered a scathing anonymous note in her school bag. The note was the reveal of the secret that the women were trying to hide. Someone was hellbent on exposing them, and it was up to the trio to stop them.

Author Julie Corbin wrote a compelling prose till nearly 2/3rds of the story where the women had to deal with a whole lot of drama in their personal lives, some of them affected their friendship. I liked how their dynamics ebbed and flowed but always remained a support in moments of need.

According to me, the reveal was done quite earlier on. Hence, the last few chapters, which had a new plotline, though connected to our leading ladies, felt to be extraneous. And it was easy to guess the perp of that plot. For me, that brought down the excitement factor. Had the last plotline been embedded into the current one, it would have made a great twist.

Nevertheless, the book provided me with entertaining hours between my chores (channel the Desperate Housewives series) and was a pleasure to read.

This book had me hooked from the beginning. The book started with a "whodunnit" and I was hooked from the first chapter.
Julie Corbin's writing pulls you in and it is a real struggle to put the book down
Two sittings later and this book was finished.l
I loved the way the author managed to create both characters that I hated and ones that I routed for.
This book was a real domestic thriller, full, of twists and turns.
I did manage to guess the ending, but I just read far too much!
Thank you for the copy.

A good read
A good psychological thriller
Will have you hooked
It will have you guessing till the end
Thanks NetGalley

This is one of those domestic drama, suspense, with thrills threw in that you can pick up and read fast. It’s not going to completely blow your mind, but also is not one that is a total DNF. Well written with some great twist anc turns, thrills, chills, and shocks! Would definitely recommend to someone looking for a quick. Good, and fast paced read!

Oh my word what an absolutely brilliant domestic drama this was. Right from the start I was completely gripped by this book and nothing else mattered only that I kept reading this book. A brilliant read with oh so many twists and turns

This is a very middle-of-the-road mystery. It's not earth-shatteringly original, but the set-up is solid and the characters come across as believable. The story does drag a bit in certain places, and certain twists were telegraphed from page 1 so they didn't really add a shock factor.

I liked that the story was told from multiple perspectives. Since all three members of the friend group get their time in the spotlight, you end up getting to know everyone through a few different lenses and you get a broader picture of the story.

To be honest, at times I thought about giving up on the story, because certain elements weren't particularly to my taste, but I pushed through and was left feeling satisfied both with the story's ending and with the fact that the story had ended.

This was such a great read. I found myself right in the middle of these women, some ok some nasty some kind hearted yet towards the end just who could I trust?

Gossip, school mums can thrive on it. My kids better than your kid. It takes a certain kind of Mom to realise that you’re child could be naughty, could be the culprit.

When notes are left in this little girls school bag without a signature without knowing who it can be plus, what’s written on these notes herein lies suspicion.

More notes. More nasty secrets coming out and the domino effect on that, just who knows your hidden secrets, just who could blow your life out of the water? Who has the power to unleash your life into a turmoil?

It’s a great plot that will have you guessing

The story and characters was really relatable, we’ve all been there, a friendship group, being a parent at school drop off, being in a relationship. Then add in a mystery and the whole thing takes a turn! In art imitating life there were characters that I liked and others that were damn right irritating but all comes good in the end…such as life:)

This a run of the mill read, nothing earth shatteringly original and it was predictable for the most part; although there was one real wow moment I really didn’t see coming. Nonetheless there was enough here to keep me reading to the end

So what’s it about - after every parents' evening, friends Nina, Bel and Rachel look forward to their regular debrief at the pub. But there will be no clinking Prosecco tonight.

They are discussing an anonymous note that has been left in a child's schoolbag: This class has secrets. All the parents tell lies.

As more notes are discovered, scandalous accusations are made and the school playground becomes rife with rumours.

Who could be revealing the three friends' secrets? Because they thought the only people who knew everything about them were each other...

Thank you to @netgalley for the gifted ebook.

This was a good psychological thriller which certainly held my interest. It kept me guessing throughout and I really enjoyed the ending.

Whispers of a Scandal is the type of thriller I adore- with family secrets just popping up out of nowhere!
The author is skilled at evoking different character’s viewpoints and emotions. I very much enjoyed the book. 5 stars!

This one is a really difficult book to review. Purely because my opinion on it changed throughout me reading it. It also felt like to separate books in one.
You had the mystery of the notes, and then at the end the mystery of 'who dunnit' ( i wont say any more than that as I don't want to spoil it)
The mystery of the notes was solved and wrapped up fairly quickly considering how long the storyline was drawn out - it went on a bit, and became repetitive. However I did enjoy this, as I had no idea who was responsible.
Then the mystery at the end of the book just came completely out of the blue, and just felt like an 'easy' way to end the book. I also knew who was responsible for it straight away. I don't think this one was difficult to guess.

There was also a really strange section in the book when I thought I was reading 'big little lies' - as it was revealed that one of the friends had slept with another friends husband but many years ago, and he could potentially be the dad of their child. This subplot just felt irrelevant to everything else going on, and I don't understand why it was in there.

Overall I did enjoy reading this book, but it took me a long time to read as the more the book went on, the less interested i became - purely because these random sub-plots started taking over. The structure was all over the place and I'm not sure what the author was trying to say.
It was an OK read, but a little all over the shop!

A brilliant who did it!

I loved the simplicity of this story, it’s something we can all relate to in some way, belonging to a friendship group, being a parent at school drop off, being in a relationship. Then add in a mystery and it gets exciting!

Although I did have an idea about who was writing the notes half way through I still didn’t actually predict the outcome or why they were writing so it was a nice build up to the reasoning behind them.

I liked the variety of characters in the book, although I did find some rather irritating! Although I guess they got their comeuppance!

The twist at the end I did not see coming and it was a real wow moment.

Overall it was an enjoyable read and I would recommend to others wanting an easy mystery!

Thank you NetGalley and Crimefiles for allowing me the opportunity to read Whispers of a Scandal.

Unfortunately I couldn’t get to this book before you archived it will definitely be reading it soon and leave my review on all my media platforms

I really enjoyed Julie Corbin’s A Lie for a Lie and this book, while not a sequel in any way, has a very similar premise and style, so if you liked one you will probably like all.

This story follows three school mums – Nina, Bel and Rachel – as they navigate the school gate cliques, their relationship troubles and parenting their nine-year-old daughters (who are also best friends). But something is wrong right from the start, as Nina’s daughter, Lily, has been receiving anonymous letters accusing the class parents of secrets and lies, and the friends that should be coming together in support, find themselves drawing apart in suspicion instead.

The narrative is told in the first person for most of the story, with the perspective moving between the women’s viewpoints – mainly Nina’s – as denoted at the head of each chapter. This insider view into the different women’s heads should give the reader an advantage over the characters in working out what’s going on, but in Julie Corbin’s writing (as in real life) you can’t always trust that someone is even telling the truth to themself. Everyone has secrets, but who is lying?

I honestly couldn’t put this book down and stayed up way too late reading to find out what was going on with the notes, and the marriages, and the kids… I really liked almost all of the characters – with one glaring and notable exception; I loathed HIM with the burning heat of a thousand fiery suns! – and so I was very invested in positive outcomes for them all, even though things looked so grim that it seemed impossible to imagine.

If you’re looking for a gripping read, packed with secrets and lies, betrayals and intrigue, then look no further, because Julie Corbin has mastered domestic psychological suspense. Just make sure you don’t have to be up early the next day!


‘My jaw tenses as Mrs Fleming walks across to the projector. I’ve been dreading this moment. I know that the notes are going to be even more shocking, magnified several times and projected onto the whiteboard. And I’m right. As soon as the first note appears the mood in the room sharpens. Backs straighten and several parents let out small gasps of shock. The first note says:

This class has secrets all the parents tell lies‘

– Julie Corbin, Whispers of a Scandal


Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog