I couldn't read this as an ebook for some reason so will get it when it comes out! Sorry! (Leaving a 4 star review to be fair.)

This is a story of female friendship, family, motherhood and betrayal. Following two families; Linden and Stinson this had so much going on and in-between.

Jackie Stinsons friend is murdered and the novel is centred around this.

The story is told in short chapters from the POV of different characters, the police and the members of the two families involved.,

It was a compelling and unforgettable read that left a lasting impression and I’m eager to read more from the author

Once I got into this book, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

I love a gripping domestic drama and that’s what I was hoping for from this book. Although I was intrigued by the plot, all of the characters frustrated me and I would have liked certain characters to have had more screen time than they got.

Jackie is a mother of four boys, who finally has the body she has always wanted. She loved her best friend and next door neighbour Theresa as soon as she met her but she has also always coveted Theresa’s quiet perfect life. Perhaps that’s why she and Theresa’s husband have started a passionate affair. When Theresa winds up dead, everyone knows who killed her but what are the real reasons why?

There are some strangely tender moments in the book where each of the couples remember how they began. It talks about how love changes over time and yet how it also manages to stay the same. There was quite a bit of bittersweetness in the book but as all of the characters were terrible, I didn’t really find it all that sad!

After her death, Theresa’s husband Adam is haunted by her and the guilt of his betrayal. It is his comeuppance for behaving so badly towards her and honestly, I was here for his guilt. Theresa came out on top in the end, even beyond the grave, and she deserved to.

It is sexually graphic and not in a romantic, sexy way, so I found the sex scenes pretty uncomfortable to read. I could see why Jackie did the things that she did in her circumstances but she still made terrible decisions. I think she was supposed to be quite relatable though and I didn’t really get that.

Jackie also has a very serious eating disorder that she never seeks help for. She considers her hunger and weight loss to be positive things and it begins after she attends a weight loss group. I know that all of that will be really triggering for many readers, so it’s definitely something that I think you should be aware of before diving into the book. However, I did agree with the weight loss group leader’s comment that ‘loneliness, boredom, fear, anxiety and trauma’ are all hungers too. It was almost like she was telling Jackie to address the emotional problems in her life rather than shrinking her physical body and Jackie never took that advice.

Hot Springs Drive is a close-knit domestic noir with a small cast of characters. There is a lot of voyeurism, adultery and unsettling behaviour throughout the book and although, it was particularly intriguing because there wasn’t really a mystery because we know about the murder from the beginning and when the culprit is revealed, it wasn’t really that shocking. I think I’d have liked there to have been more twists and big revelations than there were, as it definitely fell flat as a domestic drama.

Hot Springs Drive is a nice street in a nice part of Suburbia . Two families live next door to each other. Theresa and Jackie become firm  friends , attending diet clubs together and spending time in each other's homes. As the years go by, their lives become more intertwined and life is generally good until it all goes very wrong.
Expertly told from multiple points of view I really liked how the author didn't shy away from the real dark gritty elements of the themes in this book. Postnatal depression, desire, betrayal, identity , eating disorders - there is no glamorous sheen added, no romance, no happy ever after. Both of these families' lives are torn apart and the destruction ripples throughout the lives of the children of the women who once enjoyed an easy friendship.

This book is a character study rather than a crime novel even though a murder is central to its narrative. It's a gripping dark tale, strongly written and captivating in a hard to look away from way.  I liked how the ordinary everyday can turn to horror. I liked the messiness , I liked the flawed characters and their flawed lives. 
A very real cautionary tale of what can happen when you are dissatisfied with life and the havoc that can wreck one's life and on the lives of those around them. 
4 stars.

I am looking forward to reading more from this author.

I went in to this thinking it was going to be a tense thriller with a plot that kept me guessing right until the very end, when in fact it read more like a character driven literary fiction. Now don’t get me wrong I do enjoy reading literary fiction but it’s not what I expected from this book.

There were far too many POVs, including a few from characters that wouldn’t even be considered side characters, they appeared once and then never again. There were also a lot of time jumps, but the time was never specified so that made it a little confusing.

It was incredibly sex heavy, which again isn’t usually an issue if I go in to a book expecting it eg a spicy romance but it’s not something I look for to that extent in a thriller or a lit fic. The adults were constantly talking about sex, thinking about sex or having sex, the kids were constantly thinking about sex, dreaming about sex or watching the adults have sex and then thinking about sex… it was a lot.

Overall this just wasn’t for me- unlikeable characters, an abrupt ending and not the thriller I thought it was going to be.

Read if you like character studies of horny suburbia

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a very interesting thriller. At the core of it is a bunch of unsatisfed, unhappy people with secrets and trauma, which, wouldn't you know, results in murder. I really enjoyed how this book didn't seem to shy away from the reality of marriage and being a woman in a marriage. The characters were completely three-dimensional, and while I don't believe anyone had that kernel that made me root for them, but I was definitely intrigued to see what happens next! Hunter definitely has a good grasp on human experience and it comes off very visceral in this book!

Is this a case of “It’s not you, it’s me?”

What I expected, was a gritty family drama with a few psychological twists that would mess with my head.

What I got, was a chapter by each of the numerous unlikeable characters detailing their sexual desires, specifically based around their neighbours, be they adults, minors or even their own mother.

With very poor characterisation,, no depth to the story, no tenable plot and monotone writing that lacked emotion, I just couldn’t connect with this book at all. Oh and fat phobia which was horrible to read.

1 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

This was an interesting read but I did enjoy it once I got used to the writing style of Lindsay Hunter.

We meet two opposite families, Theresa and Jackie meet on the day their children are born in the maternity ward. They become firm friends and soon live in close proximity next door to each other. They both start a weight club to try and shed their pounds.

One of the women ends up dead after having an affair with the others husband and then the story really picks up the pace and the reader is thrust into a compelling tale.

The story is told through many different points of views and I did find it some places quite confusing and having to go back and re-read pages but do not let this put you off picking up this novel. This novel will absorb the reader into the twisty underground world of people and how they work and think and really will draw you in.

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is a dark and deeply complex novel and while there is a thriller element there is a much deeper theme of control.

I loved this and it was so much more to this novel than your usual mystery.

I recommend it especially to anyone that needs a novel that you get sink your teeth in to.

Genuinely, absolutely, utterly incredible. I couldn't stop reading this book. I was reading a different book, and enjoying it, then I saw Roxane Gay tweet about this so I downloaded it and checked to see it had downloaded, read the first sentence and... here I am, other book forgotten, this one devoured. God this is good. Honestly, I can't even eloquently describe how good. I need a break from it, then I need to read it again, slower, with a highlighter and pens, to try and figure out HOW is this so good. I don't think I'll be able to figure it out though.

This is my first time reading any of Lindsay Hunter's work and I am blown away! I initially expected a standard, run of the mill thriller/crime novel (silly me), but Hot Springs Drive exceeded all my expectations. This novel delves deep into the intricacies of human desires and the darker aspects of suburban life.

The story is about Theresa, who makes a heart-wrenching discovery that her husband is having an affair with her best friend. The day after this discovery, Theresa's body is found.

Hot Springs Drive is not just a murder mystery - it's an exploration of motherhood and what it means to be a woman. It is also an exploration of the complexities of human nature, desire, and the hidden darkness lurking beneath the veneer of suburban tranquillity.

Lindsay Hunter uses multiple p.o.vs to burrow deep into the story and reveal the far-reaching consequences of desire. Each character, with their flaws and unique personalities, felt remarkably real and (alarmingly) relatable.

One of the book's standout qualities is the balance Hunter achieves between suspense and humour. Each p.o.v is full of tension, yet she expertly weaves moments of humour into the narrative, and I found myself hooked from the very first chapter.

Overall, Hot Springs Drive is a must-read for anyone seeking a gripping and thought-provoking read that delves into the depths of human desire and the tangled web it weaves.

Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to read this before its publication date - I thoroughly enjoyed it!

A really compelling and complicated story but very interesting all the same. Told from multiple points of view, we gain a real insight into this marriage, friendship and secrets. Brilliant. Highly recommended xx

In her early thirties, Theresa meets Adam and they waste no time getting married and having Cece, who will be an only child. In the process, Theresa encounters Jackie - a mother of four - in the maternity ward, and sets off a train of events that will end in tragedy.

For a while, all is well. The two become fast friends and even work together to lose the baby weight. But as the mother of four rough and tumble sons, Jackie is always envious of Theresa's apparently happy marriage and her lovely daughter. And once Jackie achieves her new svelte body, she is able to seduce Theresa's husband, Adam.

Theresa discovers the affair - and is dead 24 hours later. Who did it seems clearcut, but is it really that simple? The truth is rarely pure and never simple, as we have famously been told...

This book is a rarely seen combination of literary fiction and domestic noir. It has some decidedly unsavoury aspects to it in terms of the characters' behaviour, but luckily a protagonist doesn't need to be likeable in order to be interesting. And this story does provide some insights into the underbelly of human nature. Worth reading if your stomach can take it.

Compelling, Tension Fuelled..
Between the idyllic gardens, over perfectly placed pickets and picture perfect homes lies something insidious. Perhaps you cannot put your finger on it, but it’s there nonetheless. Unsettling and perfectly executed domestic noir where lives collide with drastic and tragic consequences. Effectively relayed with multiple viewpoints, a tension fuelled propulsive plot and a cast of credible characters, this is a compelling read where the underlying vein of menace is never too far away.

Wow! To say this is jist a thriller or a domestic noir would be a disservice to the book. Its written in multiple povs and gives such a clear insight into friendship, secrets, lying, trauma, marriage and of course murder. It's very character driven but it still kept me invested due to how well the characters were brought to life an dthe secrets that were constantly being unraveled. It was a bit disturbing and unsettling but I guess that says something about how life like the writing must have been

Hot Springs Drive is where the lives of the Linden and Stinson families coincide, ultimately with tragic consequences.

It takes a while for Theresa to find the right person for her but at 32 she marries Adam Linden within a year of meeting him and at 33 she gives birth to her daughter Cece. However, it’s the day that Theresa meets Jackie that the story really begins. Fifteen years ago the pair meet on the maternity ward with Jackie eventually having four children and Theresa just the one. They become neighbours and good friends so much so that after gaining a lot of weight having her children Jackie encourages Theresa to go to Get Skinny with her. Jackie’s weight loss is dramatic as is the change deep within her. She begins a torrid affair with Adam and one day Theresa discovers them in flagrante. The following day Theresa is found dead in her garage, brutally murdered, the murderer still with crowbar in hand.

The story is told via multiple perspectives through which we get an all round view and a deep insight into the consequences of the murder. These different points of view are cleverly done as you might expect it to feel disjointed but it doesn’t. It’s extremely revealing, illuminating and somehow the author keeps the momentum flowing as you turn pages, sometimes stunned, sometimes sad and sometimes bewildered.

Although it’s impossible to deny its very well written, I’m not entirely sure how I feel about the book. I really like the genre crossover of domestic noir with literary fiction, it’s much more about the impact of Theresa’s murder than a murder/mystery especially as we learn who the murderer is slightly less than halfway It’s character driven, these are not necessarily likeable characters with a couple of exceptions but they are so well crafted they’re impossible to ignore and they drive the narrative. It’s quite shocking in places, not just the murder but other behaviours too and it positively simmers with tension as dirty secrets emerge from beneath shiny suburban surfaces.

The novel is incisive, it encompasses several themes such as friendship, motherhood especially via Jackie, sex, food and control as well as the obvious underpinning family dynamics and relationships. It’s different which is clearly a good thing and the author demonstrates a great deal of talent. I’m glad I read it but it does leave you feeling somewhat unsettled.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Dialogue Books for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Loved, loved, loved this book. A real page turner that keeps you guessing who is really guilty. Multiple narrators deftly manipulated, a fast paced plot and strong characters . I couldn’t put it down!