I'm very delayed in reviewing the audio book due to moving house, no internet.

The narration was ok, characters well portrayed.
For quite a long time I found this book quite ordinary, a bit dull and predictable. My goodness what a twist right at the end. No spoilers so this is tricky to review and it would not be fair to give away the ending.
I was as so convinced that one of three people were the killer.
How wrong can you be!
Brilliant surprise end, don't read or listen to the end first.

This book was good and kept getting better as it went along. it was a multi POV novel set in a quaint English village, the story had a great ending. I felt it was an intriguing tale with its complex relationships, however the main character was abit annoying. i enjoyed the narration and would recommend

The secret by Debbie Howells.
Narrated by Claire Morgan and Helen Colby.
Best friends Hollie and Niamh tell each other everything. Behind the village of Abingworth’s closed doors, every family has its secrets - and their doors might hide the worst ones of all.
One day Hollie tells Niamh about a devastating discovery, swears her to secrecy, then vanishes. The villagers claim to know nothing. But when Hollie’s body is found, the police know one of their number isn’t just a liar, but a killer....
What did Hollie tell Niamh before she died? And who would kill to keep it hidden?
I enjoyed listening to this audiobook. I liked the story and characters. Wasn't who I thought it was. 4*.

It was a thriller set in a sleepy village where nothing much happens, yet somehow there are three deaths connecting two families. Tackles coercive behaviour and domestic abuse and the effects on family. It was a good plot however not too much substance to it and felt it could have been a shorter more intense read. Thank you #NetGalley for the audiobook to review.

Elise Buckley has it all - a big country house in a beautiful village, a sociable doctor husband, and a glamorous career as an air hostess. But behind closed doors her life isn’t as perfect as it seems and she’s keeping secrets from her neighbours. As it turns out though Abingworth is full of secrets, and when a young girl goes missing the true colours of its residents begin to show.

I really enjoyed this audiobook and thought the three narrators did a great job. I was kept hooked from start to finish, the pacing was good, and hearing from three different characters perspectives meant the tension was always kept high. One would drop something in, then we’d switch to another and everything would change again. There were lots of twists and turns which is always great in a book like this, and while I did guess the last major two in advance I still suspected multiple characters throughout so it worked for me.
That said I didn’t give it five stars is because there were so many different threads going on and it felt like they weren’t explored fully. Something would happen or there’d be a reveal and that would be that, nothing was dwelt on for very long. I like a succinct book but I felt there could’ve been more depth and background to make it really hit the mark; there just wasn’t enough detail. And while I was pleased with the resolution I wanted to know more about what would become of the characters and whether justice would be served. I would’ve liked an epilogue set years later to see how they’d all gotten on since.

Overall it’s an easy read and if you enjoy similar books it will keep you engaged from beginning to end. The audiobook is great and you can listen to it while getting on with other tasks, it isn’t one you have to stop and rewind for fear of missing important facts. I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a new mystery to sink in to.

Wow just wow! This is one of these books you just start with and all of a sudden you are drawn in and can't stop.
Debbie Howells is a new author to me but certainly one to watch out for!
The story is about Elsie, a (in my humble opinion) very strong woman and her daughter Niamh who is such a strong character as well. There is also the father, Andrew, a GP who does not behave as one would guess.
I really do not want to give more away, than Hollie, a teenage girl, who happens to be Niamh's friend, disappears one day.
Jo, a police detective investigating her case soon finds, that a lot of secrets are hidden in all those people's lives.
This is a very very heavy and dark domestic thriller written and worked out in a perfect way!
I really enjoyed the narration a lot!
Thanks #NetGalley #Harper Collins UK, Avon for this advanced audio copy

This review is based on the audiobook. Firstly the narrator was fantastic!

The book itself is described as a thriller however I felt it fell short of that. It was however a great drama and I did really enjoy it. The suspense and questioning of what really happened was kept going through the whole book with a few surprises even I didn't see coming and I can normally guess endings quite easily! I didn't love any of the characters however and felt them quite lacking at times, especially the police / authority figures who frequently said they knew people were hiding things but didn't do anything about it! This was quite frustrating but I didn't dampen my enjoyment of the book too much.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for my advanced digital copy of the book in return for my unbiased review.

*This review is based on the audiobook.*

This book was touted as a thriller but in my opinion it really isn't, I don't know if it's because I've read so many thrillers but this just fell really flat; it's more of a domestic drama. None of the characters in this book are particularly likeable even the ones that you were supposed to be rooting for. There were a couple of twists that I hadn't guessed but by that point I just really didn't care, the "secret" wasn't interesting or exciting.

*Thanks to NetGalley, Harper Collins UK Audio and Debbie Howells for the copy of this book. All views are my own.*

I found this book quite disappointing. It started off quite promising and what I thought was going to be an exciting thriller, but instead it was quite slow and dragged out.

It touched on sensitive topics such as child abuse, domestic abuse, child suicide. Overall, I just found this book so very average.

I enjoyed listening to this story on audiobook.
I did find really frustrating though that even though the police knew some of the characters involved weren’t fully telling the truth, they never pushed them further.

All in all a good listen with a very surprising ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for letting me review this audiobook.

I enjoyed The Secret, the story was interesting although I can’t say it was gripping but it was well written. As to the narrators Claire Morgan; Helen Colby; Antonia Whillans they did a good job but they all sounded very similar so I couldn’t really tell who was who, so at times it was a bit muddled.

Narrator 5 stars
Great voice! Could easily listen to this narrator 100 times over

Story 3 stars
If you are someone that picks up a book a handful of times a year then I think this could easily to be 5 star read , but as someone who reads/listens everyday the first 50% fell a little short for me, but once it picked up it was pretty good (even though it was very obvious the direction in which it was heading)

I didn’t enjoy this book much. I thought it was going to be a decent domestic thriller but it developed into a police procedural and there was too much dull detail. I didn’t engage with the characters and didn’t care for the story.

The quaint village of Abingworth is cloaked with deception. Everyone has a secret and no one is to be trusted. Hollie and Niamh are best friends. After Hollie reveals one of her darkest secrets, she vanishes. Later when her body is discovered; many of the villagers suddenly go from being neighbors to suspects. What secret is worth killing for? Who is responsible for Hollie’s death? This mystery has many secrets, some of which are disturbing. The story was a little slow paced at the beginning, but picked up towards the end. The final twists were jaw dropping and unexpected. The narrators did an excellent job bringing the story to life with an added layer of intrigue. Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins Audio for my audiobook.

Holly and Niamh are teenagers and the closest of friends, they tell each other everything. Holly confesses that she has discovered a huge secret, swears Niamh to secrecy, and then vanishes. The village of Abingworth is shocked when her body is discovered, yet when the police question the locals, nobody seems to know anything. The police suspect foul play but the villagers stay silent, and the detectives know that one of them is not just a liar but a killer.
A gripping thriller. Howells creates the village setting of 'Abingworth' which is believable, then adds sharply defined characters. The pace is swift but sure footed, and ultimately Howells provides an ending that knocks you sideways.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.

The story was set well, but I really struggled with Andrew, I didn’t find him believable. I did enjoy the story and the other stories entwined were very compelling.
I kind of guessed the plot twist but it was definitely worth the read.

I enjoyed this psychological thriller which deals with many dark themes, such as emotional and physical abuse, child porn and blackmail. I found it to be a surprisingly compelling read. The fact that almost every character in the book seemed to have a burning secret added to the mystery and I enjoyed the police investigation coverage too.

The story is told from 3 different points of view, which keeps the story interesting - I was engrossed from the beginning to end.

Many thanks to NetGallery and HarperCollins UK Audio for allowing me a copy of the book - it is greatly appreciated.

This one wasn’t a bad read, I had read another Debbie Howells book a few weeks ago and that one was a bit lacklustre. This one definitely had a bit more going on but the middle of the book fell a little flat for me.

That being said I did quite like the ending and as much as it wasn’t unexpected, the way that it got found out was quite interesting. The setting of the small town was quite good too, everyone being in each other’s business all the time.

3.5/5

Hollie and Niamh Buckley tell each other everything, one day Niamh learns a secret from Hollie and swears to keep quiet about it. But when Hollie is found dead everyone is a suspect in the village of Abingworth.
Elise Buckley who works in an airline as one of the cabin crew has her own secret to hide – she also has a husband who has always have extra marital affairs – it’s also very well known to almost everyone in the village.
The cops have to find out what happened to Hollie and why was she killed – was it the secret which killed her?
An intense psychological thriller, started off very well – an awesome narration by Claire Morgan; Helen Colby; Antonia Whillans.
Thanks to Netgalley & HarperCollins UK Audio for the advance audio copy!

The Secret appealed to me with its promise of twists and turns, small village life and a missing girl..

This is the story of Niamh and her parents. Her Father is a Doctor and also a wife abuser. Her Mother is an airline hostess. Her best friend Hollie is an anxious and unhappy teenager with secrets. Hollie’s parents have problems. Hollie is constantly bunking off school and then she disappears..

The story is told through multiple narrative voices and this really helps build up the story and add perspectives which increased the mystery and added to the twists. The narrators had really strong clear voices. My only criticism was that they all sounded desperately miserable all the way through…It is not a happy story but the voices sounded particularly negative.

The book is full of twists and turns with one final unexpected twist and the tension builds and builds. This keeps the listener fully engaged and interested. The Doctor is a really awful character and you do find yourself absolutely hating him, fearing him and wanting him gone…I didn’t really like any of the characters and this slightly detracted from my experience. However, it was a well paced, twister which kept me wanting to know what had happened.

Trigger Warnings - domestic abuse.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK Audio for a digital copy of this audiobook.