This is a real page-turner. Ali and Sean are con artists in France, and meet Lulu, a wealthy holidaymaker, with a strong resemblance to Ali. They hang out for a while, then there is a terrible accident, and Ali leaves Sean, and finds a place to lie low. What happens next is incredibly tense, as Ali has a lot of problems to contend with, will the people she is with realise that she is a fake? will Sean find her? Is Rob sincere, or does he have secrets too?
The other characters are all distinct individuals, and there is a lot of humour.
Highly recommended.

Sun Damage was a book I read in a day, I found it hard to put down this psychological thriller with a difference.
The main part of the book is set in Saint Cecile-sur-Mer, South of France, at an idyllic holiday let complete with pool and the family have hired Lulu to sort out the catering side so they need to do nothing but Lulu isn’t who she says she is and it’s getting harder to try and stop being found out. Lulu has a lot of secrets and her past is something she is now becoming embarrassed about but she needs to make sure her business partner, Sean does not find her as she is sick of her life with him, what he makes her do and more so the murder he has committed saying she will get the blame if she reports him to the police.
This book was a really good read, I liked how the chapters were split up, the characters were all neatly described in the first few chapters leaving you to be able to enjoy the book without getting lost amongst similar undefined characters. The writing style was easy to follow and kept at a good pace with a few things happening along the way that ramps the heart beat up. I liked how the writing made me back the criminal and only at the end did I realise I had been doing!
I would like to thank Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

From the blurb I thought this was going to be a closed room murder mystery. So, the con aspect was really unexpected, reminding me of the TV series 'Hustle', and Ali's unconventional life as a professional scammer totally captivated me. However, after such a strong start the plot kind of fizzled out and became more of a domestic drama with the guests all hiding secrets from each other - most of which also didn't really come to much. I was expecting and wanting more to happen, some sort of grand finale, super smart con or big twist. So in the end this was more of a 'like' than 'love'.

Set in the south of France, the story is told from Ali's point of view. When Lulu is murdered, Ali runs away with her things and takes on her identity. A chance to escape her situation. Everyone is hiding something, conning each other and some have blackmail on their mind. Although the ending is predictable I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Sean and Ali are con artists, with Sean very much being the controller. Ali has a conscience but Sean loves what they do and is cruel and relentless.
Eventually Ali runs from Sean and becomes involved with a group of so-called friends and family who are holidaying together but hiding secrets from each other.
The story is cleverly told with twists and turns. Ali's character, particularly, is very well developed.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Sabine Durrant/Hodder & Stoughton for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Ali has a complicated past as part of a two person con team. She arrives at the holiday house to work and hide. She finds the guests intriguing, discovering their secrets, whilst her past catches up with her.
We wonder how she will stay free, and whether she will turn her life around.
Perfect for fans of twists and turns. An exciting read

I’ve adored Sabine Durrant’s previous novels, so was excited for this one. It has a great setup 👌
Ali is con woman. She’s been through the foster system and somehow has fallen off the grid. She mets Sean and he takes her under his wings. They both meet Lulu, an English woman abroad in South of France who is the perfect mark for them. Until Sean accidentally kills her and then Ali escapes to get away from Sean by taking on Lulu’s identity...
This started off excellent. I loved Ali’s razor sharp observations of English people abroad and the way Durrant captures the tension between Ali, Sean and Lulu is masterful. However it’s when she pursues Lulu’s identity and ends up in a house rented to an English family abroad that the plot sizzled for me. We lost the pincer sharp voice and I felt Ali becomes complacent that it just didn’t work for me. There was no suspense or questions keeping me hooked beyond will Sean find Ali. It’s a shame but there was potential and glimpses of Highsmith’s Ripley here that unfortunately never materialised. I think because Ali is young, early to mid 20s, the stakes weren’t high for her. I kept thinking she could leave or go to the police, and the twist didn’t work well 😕 Had the protagonist been older or a WOC the stakes could’ve been higher and the POV could’ve been more interesting rather than the bland dish that we’re served. It’s 2.5/5 rounded to a generous 3 from me

I enjoyed this thriller, perfectly suited to a summer reading on holiday. Set in the south of France it captures all the heat, sun and food you associate with the area and the plot keeps you wanting to read on. Ali is a con artist in league with Sean but things suddenly get complicated and she has to go it alone. Plenty of moments of suspense and twists and turns. Well worth a read. Thanks to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for an advance review copy in return for an honest review.

This novel was quite a surprise, as initially I thought I had chosen badly. The story is complex and the beginning rather alarming and brutal. However once over the scene-setting and moving on the story develops into a pretty good thriller based on scams, impersonations and deceit all set in France. The main character, Ali (aka Lula) becomes a likeable, sensitive and caring individual with gut and determination to put her crooked and wayward past behind her. It’s a fast paced novel and becomes impulsive reading. This is a far cry from my normal genre, but worth its read for entertainment and absorption.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Hodder & Stoughton, for the advance copy in exchange for a review.

I’m always happy to read a Sabine Durrant novel and ‘Sun Damage’ is up there with her best.
From the moment that con artists Sean and Ali meet wealthy Lulu Fletcher Davies, she is putty in their hands. Not only is she prepared to pay for meals and contribute to expensive boat hire but she clearly has plenty more money in the bank, and Sean and Ali are expert fraudsters. However, ‘the best laid plans’ … and soon Ali finds herself on the run.
Impersonating Lulu, she decides to take on the former’s summer job as cook and housekeeper at a remote villa in the south of France. Not an easy task as she’s no cook; she also has to pretend that she had this role the previous summer and so is a fount of local knowledge. Even when it appears that the guests trust her, she is always looking over her shoulder for Sean, her coercive, Machiavellian partner. Will he discover her? Will she suffer?
This is a perfect summer read. Sabine Durrant captures brilliantly the sun-baked countryside, the guests’ lassitude, the troubled undercurrents and tense relationships. Ali is clearly no angel but we root for her – she is self-aware, brave, determined and kind but Durrant never lets us forget that she is also manipulative and ruthless.
And the publication date – early June – what timing! I imagine that plenty of people will be glued to this novel on holiday, perhaps at a villa in the south of France. Will art mirror life? Let’s hope not!
My thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

I usually find myself enjoying Sabine Durrant's books and when I saw she had a new release, I jumped at the chance to read it!
This story had me interested from the start, as I wasn't expecting it to be involving con artists (something I don't think I've read about) and so that really made me pay attention.
I found this to be an easy read that flowed very well. The characters were well defined and it was clear throughout who was talking. Sometimes in books with multiple characters they all blur into one, not with this book!
I liked how the story was told from Ali's perspective as I found her to be likeable and engaging.
I did have one slight problem however. Right up until the last third, I felt I wanted more to happen plotwise. Apart from that, this was another great read for me from the fab Sabine Durrant. I will definitely be reading her next novel.

Fast paced, tense, twisty, unpredictable and gripping. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time I was reading this and it kept me guessing until the end. I loved it.

Heads up thriller fans!!
Anyone who loves twist filled books that hook you in at the first chapter then this is the summer read for you!

I'm so adoring my thrillers right now and this beauty was no exception.
Ali, damaged by a crap upbringing, has fallen into a life as a con artist. When an attempt to con a "mark" (who, by chance, happens to be Ali's doppleganger!) goes awry, Ali uses an opportunity to escape her current life ...... Cue a new temporary life as a hired chef at a french Gites!

Did this story keep me gripped? Yes!
Were there holes in the story? Of course... But I don't care! I was hooked and I loved the twists, turns and delicious summery settings...

I absolutely and whole heartedly recommend this compelling story as an ace beach summer read.

SUN DAMAGE is the perfect holiday read, not least because of how it is set against the languid backdrop of beaches and cafés, market towns and lazy lunches at a house share (with pool, of course) in the South of France. After so many years without such a getaway insight, I felt I was more transported with each quickly turning page.

The spine of this story is a con gone wrong, a sort of grifters musical chairs, with our narrator no longer where or, indeed, who she should be when the music stops. Trapped on holiday pretending to be someone else, she ducks and weaves to avoid being found out. But, since this is a con story, even the most careless reader will have worked out that there is at least one more (although probably several) cons up sleeves. To say nothing of the banquets of blackmail opportunities being served up.

As one of con artists points out, the whole game turns on how good you are at playing on the psychology of others. One thing is steadfastly clear – with the novel, as with all her earlier ones – this is an arena Sabine Durrant excels in – justifiably holding onto the title she inherited from Barbara Vine. She’s still unrivalled as the queen of psychological fiction.

With many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for letting me have an advanced copy of this title.

Another winner from Ms Durrant. A well written twisted thriller set under the fierce heat of a French summer, it's a great book to relax into and enjoy the web of deceit unravel before your eyes. Plus it's great fun trying to work out who is conning who and how!
thank you to netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for an advance copy of this book

This is the story of two grifters, their latest mark and the constantly shifting balance of power between them. Ideal for fans of slow-burn thrillers who like reading typical Sabine Durrant characters - well-drawn, ambiguous and in same cases despicable. The writing evokes the sultry heat of the Mediterranean superbly.

This was actually an unusual thriller that I have read, in which I read in one sitting!

The story takes place in France. Ali and Sean comes across a woman named Lulu. Sean is a conman and Ali seemed to be the one who is stuck with Sean. Then Lulu was murdered and Ali suddenly runs away with Lulu's things. Then people mistake her as Lulu and that's when the story begins--Ali tries to hide her identity as well as running away from Sean.

I have honestly not read a good thriller like this at all. It was really intense, fast paced and gripping that literally, I was kept at the edge of my seat, while reading the book. Will someone identify Ali and will Ali get caught? What if Sean catches Ali? I mean literally, my heart was thudding as I went through reading, what is going to happen to Ali is someone finds out about her real identity. The author has managed to grip the reader into the story and did a good job of drawing the reader into the story!

Ali herself is an interesting character and the story is mainly told from her perspective. Not only that--each of the character in the book has some sort of secret that no body wants anyone to find out. The ending though expected was really gripping. I read in the reviews that the book has some similarities with a TV show called The Serpent which is based on real life events. I have not watched the TV show but then reading this book made me feel like I was watching an interesting TV show that I did not want to miss any episode of.

This is the first book I have read from this author and I am actually looking forward to read more thrillers from this author--if you are looking for an unputdownable thriller that will keep you awake all night, then this book is one for you--worth five stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Hodder for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

I was so excited to read this book. I love Sabine Durrant's writing and this was definitely one of my most anticipated books this year. I'm glad to say that it didn't disappoint, I absolutely loved it!

I will say that the blurb is a little misleading - I thought it would be a mystery that equally focuses on the nine guests in the villa with multiple points of view but the story is really about grifter Ali and you know that she is the 'criminal' from the start so it wasn't what I was expecting going in but perhaps it was even better.

Sabine's writing style is just lovely to read, it feels very natural with just the right amounts of description, humour and witty observations. The dialogue feels realistic as well which is a big thing for me as it is hard to get right.

There are quite a lot of characters which can sometimes mean we don't get to know them all well enough but I thought that they were all very vivid and felt like real people. The plot itself is really interesting and clever - there are a lot of secrets to uncover, some relevant to the main story arc and some not, but all good fun to read. I didn't see the ending coming and I was really satisfied with the way the story ended.

I do agree slightly with some other reviews that the first section before we get to the villa is a bit longwinded, but it allowed us to get to know main character Ali well and from that point onwards the pacing was really good.

Overall this is the easiest 5 stars I've awarded so far this year, absolutely fantastic book!

Wow, this was the perfect vacation read! It brings to mind Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie due to similar setting and temperaments set ablaze. Highly recommended!

This is a good twisty thriller but with a very slow and lengthy start. I felt like giving up at the beginning as I couldn’t engage with the characters but I am glad I persevered as it definitely picked up pace. A good book overall.