A book of rather strange threads - Jude's first serious teenage love that fizzles, her angst and "getting over it", to her having become a successful A&E doctor and apparently, with a happy engagement approaching her wedding. Liam had moved on too but never seems to have been successful or driven to any sort of career. They meet unexpectedly and he asks a favour - he will tell all when they meet up at a cottage in Norfolk and not to let anyone know she's going. Surely BIG bells would ring even given their background ten years or more ago? She goes - paying with his credit card. He's found dead and then there are plenty of complications for Jude. She never quite tells the police the whole story, her fiancé is not amused and, as for Liam's friends, a bizarre bunch more at home in the 60s than anywhere more recent. Her life unravels not helped by herself I'm afraid. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

Since Nicci French’s engrossing Frieda Klein series, I’ve found their standalone novels a little more unpredictable quality-wise. ‘The Favour’ begins promisingly. Junior doctor Jude is on the cusp of marriage; after a night shift she finds that Liam, her ‘bad boy’ first boyfriend, whom she hasn’t seen since she left school, is waiting for her to ask a favour – and a very strange favour it is too. Jude accepts and, from then on, her predictable safe life becomes anything but.
Given the moral hold that Liam has on Jude, revealed later in the novel, it’s possible to accept that she might decide to grant his request. However, ‘The Favour’ fails to engage when Jude becomes more and more caught up with Liam’s housemates. That these odious, and yet quickly forgettable, characters seem to have a hold on Jude is very hard to believe. It’s also clear pretty quickly that Jude has been used poorly by Liam so why she has a burning desire to comply with his legal instructions, particularly when her kindly, supportive family is encouraging her not to, is puzzling.
As always, Nicci French has written a page turner but this story did not work for me on a psychological or emotional level.
My thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster UK for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

Big Nicci French fan and was able to attend an online talk during lockdown when they were most likely writing this book which makes it even more special to me... "The Favour" is full of "don't do it" moments but of course Jude says "yes" to her childhood sweetheart and then you spend the rest of the novel trying to work out the motives of her involvement in his alibi and possible implications.

This was a slow-burn suspense full of dread. It was like being in a nightmare. Jude is a successful doctor, engaged to be married. Everything is going swimmingly. Then her first love, Liam, shows up at the hospital to ask her for the titular favor and keeps her fiance in the dark. Obviously she shouldn't be meeting her first boyfriend in an isolated country cottage but she feels like she owes him after an incident that occurred 11 years earlier which barely affected her, but which derailed Liam's life. Things go off the rails when Liam doesn't end up meeting her and instead the police inform her that he has been murdered, and she is a part of the investigation. Jude becomes entwined in Liam's life and his strange lifestyle and group of friends. You just want to yell at her to stop sinking further into this mess.

This was a good premise but for me it lacked anticipation and whilst I’m happy for a book to stretch credibility I found some elements of this just too unbelievable. I could appreciate why Jude agreed to do a favour for Liam as the reason was too obvious for me but I found her very naive in agreeing to take his car and wallet etc. I could understand her obsession with finding out what happened to Liam and therefore keep visiting his house but I couldn’t take to the residents there it was all too messy. The murderer was a surprise as was the reason why he was killed not to mention the reason for the favour in the first place.

In the summer between the end of A levels and the start of university Jude Winter falls madly in love with Liam Birch. After an accident Liam simply ghosts Jude.

Eleven years later and Jude is now a doctor, engaged and soon to be married to Nat, when Liam suddenly reappears. Liam asks Jude for a favour, to drive his car to a remote cottage and he will join her later and explain everything. Jude feels that she can't refuse Liam's request. Later it's not Liam that turns up at the cottage but the police to inform her that Liam has been murdered. Everyone is convinced she was having an affair with Liam and her life begins to unravel.

Writing team Nicci French have produced one of those stories that hooks the reader and gradually draws you in, you keep turning the pages wanting to know more. Although this is a murder mystery it's far more about the characters populating Liam's life. We see very early on that Jude is entranced by the bohemian lifestyle they appear to live, a lifestyle which is in complete contrast to her own organised and normal life. Jude is obviously asking herself those "What if Liam and I hadn't split up?" questions and wondering where her life would be now.

I was very conflicted by the character of Jude Winter. Intelligent, driven and committed. A successful doctor and about to be married. I couldn't come to terms with why she would agree to carry out a favour for someone she hadn't seen in eleven years (although we do find out why as the story progresses). Liam wasn't "the love of her life" or "the one that got away", he was simply the boy she was in love with at one stage in her life and now she's moved on. I was even less impressed with her attraction to the people Liam used to live with. Yes they were very different to her normal friends but she seemed to be more repulsed by them than attracted to them, yet she couldn't stay away from them.

About two-thirds of the way through I began to lose interest as I felt Jude was going round in circles, intent on punishing herself for having failed Liam in some way. Towards the end, as the murderer was revealed, the pace did pick up and the story was even finished with a slightly sinister tone.

Publishing on October 13, you have to wonder what you’d do if in the same circumstances as protagonist Jude. She and Liam enjoyed a brief but life defining relationship – and a life changing event – the summer before she was due to begin university. So a decade later, when Jude is a successful doctor and preparing to get married, and Liam pops up asking for a favour, she finds she just can’t say no. Well, history and all that, right? She does what is asked, even though there’s a tiny sliver of doubt, but Liam will come through. Until the police contact her to say that Liam has been found dead – and her split second decision to help him out means she’s not heavily involved in a murder investigation. Oops. Realising how along she is, Jude has to trace the life Liam enjoyed since their union, and isn’t totally impressed at what she discovers. As always, the pace pushes the plot along, and you’ll be jumping from character to character, believing their motives before changing your mind. Clever and well worth a read.

3.5 stars
Possible spoilers

Just a little favour? Seems easy enough.
Before you know it, your whole world is turned upside down...

I enjoyed this, I think especially the parts in the house, which seemed to have a weird hold over everyone, and where obviously things just weren't right.
There were plenty of small twists along the way (I say small, as they weren't shocking, they fit perfectly in the story) that made it a page turner throughout.
Nicely done again from the French team.

This was a big disappointment for me, having enjoyed many of the 'Nicci French' writing team's earlier novels (Killing Me Softly, Beneath the Skin, Land of the Living) and their more recent stand-alones The Lying Room and The Unheard. The Favour has a compelling opening: high-flying doctor Jude is accosted at work one day by her former boyfriend Liam. Liam's life went wrong when they were teenagers, after they were both involved in a car crash, and Jude hasn't seen him since. Now, Liam wants to ask Jude for a simple favour, and she doesn't feel she can say no - but this favour turns out to have unexpected consequences when the police turn up at her door.

Neither the plotting nor the writing of The Favour worked for me. Other reviewers have suggested that this is less a thriller than a character-led novel. Unfortunately, it doesn't deliver on either front. The writing is consistently poor; I was actually quite surprised given the quality of many of French's other books. The dialogue is wooden and the prose either empty and awkward or over-egged, like the description of the car crash in the prologue. I never felt that we found out much about Jude, who seemed to move through the novel like an automaton tugged by the strings of the narrative. But neither did The Favour make up for this with a gripping plot. Literally nothing happens until the rather unsatisfactory ending. The police, far from being suspicious of Jude, are rather sympathetic. Jude hangs around with some of Liam's arty friends. It's suggested she might be under threat, but no sign of this ever materialises. To top it all off, I guessed the midpoint 'twist' early on. Where's the thumbscrew writing of French's earlier thrillers?

I can only hope this is an unfortunate blip; fingers crossed that French's next book is better.

I will post my review to my blog and Goodreads nearer the publication date.

A gripping page turner of a thriller, which I recommend highly, both for the well drawn characters and the plot. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for giving me a copy of the book.

The second I saw that this was available, I ran to my kindle! And that is where I stayed until the book finished. What can I say?! As a long term fan of the authors, I had high hopes! And obviously I wasn't disappointed. When it comes to intelligently written, complex thrillers..... Nicci French is top of their game. Reading one of their books is like watching an 8 part series on netflix, it socks you in and refuses to let you go again until you've gotten to the very end. The overall premise was unique and original. I love how normal these stories are, there are no exotic millonaires or fancy smart homes or luxury holidays.... its just normal people, living their lives and then things go pear-shaped. The characters are so well rounded and well formed. These are people you can see so so clearly and who you get such a strong feel for. You empathise with them, you can understand their motives, it's all so relatable a d that's what makes it so intoxicating. And so chilling. The tension is built from the start and there is always that vibe that you're just missing the bigger picture ever so slightly, until it's all revealed. There are soany twists and turns that you won't know which way is up. And the writing style is just a delight to read. There's no filler paragraphs to up the word count or pointless dialogue, everything just flows and has a nice natural progression to it all. It's just another amazing piece of work from Nicci French!! A must read!