Debut novel from Ms Coughlan set in late 1960s Dublin, with Nicoletta Sarto is a young ambitious reporter, keen to make a name for herself starting with a local paper, 'The Sentinel'

Faced with doing very little on Christmas Eve she gets a phone call concerning the body of missing actress Julia Bridges being found after 20 years, Nicoletta feels this could be a big opportunity as all the other reporters were in the pub!

She turns into a sort of detective, looking for clues, interviewing the deceased's contacts with many twists which I didn't quite expect. An interesting side story is how she is treated in a basically male environment - how things have changed luckily.

Possible 5 stars but the book was too slow at the start for me, but all in all very good.

Thanks to Net Galley and Simon and Schuster UK for the chance to read and review. the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed Where They Lie by Claire Coughlan and read it over the course of a day. I really liked the plot and it kept me on the edge of my seat to the very last page. I can’t wait to read more from the author in the future!

A powerful novel set around Dublin. Nicoletta is struggling in what was seen as a man’s world, to discover the truth about bodies disposed of in the past. It’s atmospheric and at times chilling, but everything is not as it seems!

“Some stories demand to be told”
Dublin 1943 - actress Julia Bridges last sighting was entering the house of Gloria Fitzpatrick, who is later found guilty of the murder of another woman, whose abortion she had illegally carried out. But it’s never been proved that Gloria had anything to do with Julia’s disappearance
Jump forward to 1960s Dublin and Nicolette, a reporter for The Sentinel, begins to investigate when a woman’s body has been found 25 years after she went missing, believed to have been murdered after she tried to have an illegal abortion.
It’s twisty and suspenseful, and loved Nicolette as a main character - determined to prove her worth in a man’s world.
I did personally find the ending was a bit too long and drawn out.
A very atmospheric winter read and a promising debut novel.
Thanks @claireelizabethco @simonschusteruk & @netgalley for the atmospheric, twisty read

I was attracted by the blurb for this book, but it did not live up to the hype for me. I failed to connect with any of the characters, particularly the central figure of the young, eager reporter Nicolette Sartro. The characterisation wasn’t strong enough, in my opinion. The storyline is incredibly slow to get going, and so many characters are introduced in the first chapters, thereafter referred to only by their surnames. I had to keep flicking back to find out who was the detective, who was the pathologist, who were fellow reporters. This seriously interrupted the flow of the narrative for me.
I was amazed at how many people with secrets to hide, were more than willing to speak to the young reporter, spilling their innermost thoughts eagerly, for Nicoletta to scribble in her notebook.
I didn’t find it atmospheric at all, just dark and depressing. I lost interest, I’m afraid. Just not for me, this one.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book.

Set in the 1960's Dublin ,Nicoletta Sarto is a reporter at an Irish Newspaper and is called out to cover a story of bones found in a garden. I did feel the story was very slow paced ,it felt like a very long read .There were lots of characters and I also found Nicolletta very irritating rushing around all the time ,but the book was atmospheric with a good story line .Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC

A compelling mystery set in two timelines - 1943 and 1968 - featuring an ambitious young journalist investigating a decades old mystery relating to the disappearance of an actress. The depiction of the two time periods is evocative, as is the underlying sense of mid-century misogyny that sits in the background of the two storylines. The story has a well structured plot and a likeable heroine in Nicolette Sarto.

With thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an advance copy.

Where They Lie by Claire Coughlan is an amazing, compelling story which left me stunned!

Set in 1968 over the Christmas period, usually a quiet time for The Sentinel newspaper, a call to the deserted newsdesk answered by a tenacious junior reporter Nicoletta Sarto sets in motion an investigation that unfolds dramatically.

What Nicoletta discovers rocks her very foundations.

This was my first introduction to Claire Coughlan but I will look out for more of her work as I enjoyed this one so much.

Nicoletta is a young journalist in the 1960s reporting on the discovery of a body of a woman believed murdered 20 odd years previously. She is hoping to nail the job of women’s editor and so willingly gives up her Christmas break to investigate. She is an intricate character coming across initially as a bit insipid but there is more going on with her both personally and professionally.
Hints about her past are dropped in very casually but they did all come together in the end along with a surprising twist. The first third of the book was a bit too heavy on Dublin detail for me, very accurate and I could follow the routes she was taking in my head but for someone not familiar with Dublin it may have been too much. The story did pick up and as Nicoletta’s past intertwined with her present.
There are good characters in this story and I would love to see a series based on them but please don’t give her the women’s editor job. She could be a top investigative journalist.
Well worth a read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Where They Lie is the debut novel from Claire Coughlan. Set in Dublin in the 1960s, reporter Nicoletta Sarto is a junior reporter for a newspaper, The Sentinel. Skeletal remains are found in the garden of a house, believed to be those of actress Julia Bridges, who went missing over 25 years earlier. Julia was last seen with Gloria Fitzpatrick. Gloria was later put on trial for the murder of a woman whose abortion she facilitated. She died a few years later in an institution and so it appears the truth of what happened to Julia Bridges went with her. With Julia now found, the investigation begins anew. And Nicoletta is front and centre in the investigation to get to the truth of what happened.

As a reader I felt completely immersed in the story and setting. The characters were well drawn and engaging. Overall a great read, albeit a little slow paced at points. I really hope we will see more from Nicoletta Sarto in the future.

It’s almost Christmas 1968 in Dublin, Ireland and the night shift on the Irish Sentinel newspaper are waiting for stories to come in.
The last really big case had happened in the late 1950’s nearly ten years ago in which Gloria Fitzpatrick, an ex-midwife, was the last person sentenced to hang in Ireland. But instead, she was sent to an asylum for the rest of her life due to insanity. Gloria was on trial for the deaths of two women, Julia Bridges who tried to procure an illegal abortion, and Elizabeth Rourke. However, Julia’s body has never been found. There were also rumours about a baby selling ring at a local maternal nursing home. Gloria died in the asylum although there were rumours that it might have been suicide or murder as she may have known too much.
Nicoletta Sarto is one of the newspaper’s copy takers and desperately wants to become a reporter. She doesn’t want to end up working in her parents shop much to the annoyance of her mother Daniela. Nicoletta is having an affair with a married colleague and fears that she may be pregnant.
Finally, a phone call comes from Inspector David Morris of the Garda and he announces that a skeleton, still wearing a wedding ring, has been found in the garden of a house in a nearby suburb. It is believed to be the skeleton of the missing Julia Bridges.
So, Nicoletta, eager to prove herself, begins to seek out and interview people who were involved with Gloria’s case. But by doing so it begins to come closer to home as she discovers some of her mother’s past which had been unknown to her. They have always had a strained relationship with Nicoletta wanting to be independent and Daniela’s preference for her younger brother, Enzo.
But then another skeleton, is found in the same garden, and, although unconnected to Julia it ties in with one of Nicoletta’s sources. A housemaid in the large house attached to the garden who committed suicide after having a baby out of wedlock. Nicoletta digs deeper and deeper until finally the final shocking revelation is revealed and her life changes forever.
‘Where They Lie’ is the debut novel of an Irish writer, Claire Coughlan and I could easily see this becoming a series. Nicoletta was a determined, feisty and likable character who want to get on in life despite the limitations on women in the 1960’s. It was an interesting time in which to set the novel as, although it was a time of mini-skirts and free love, for women who did not want to be pregnant procuring an illegal abortion could literally be the death of them or they would have to give their babies up for adoption. The novel is also set at Christmas time which contrasted with the dark events that Nicoletta was investigating.
Although it was a good, well plotted book with plenty of twists, I did feel at times that it was too complicated and I wasn’t convinced by the neatly wrapped ending. I liked Nicoletta and her desire to make something of her life despite having experienced tragedy. But I couldn’t understand why she was wasting her time with her colleague. I did feel that there were too many characters and it was hard to keep track of them all in places. Also, there seemed to be a lot of drinking in that someone was always brewing up tea or drinking it or visiting a pub. Nicoletta also seems to enjoy gouging make up on her face which felt like an uncomfortable image.
Overall, I enjoyed the book and I expect to read more about Nicoletta in the future.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC.

Where They Lie is an atmospheric and rich crime novel, set in 1960s Dublin, a time when old attitudes about a woman's role in society were being challenged like never before. Nicoletta Sarto is a young ambitious journalist, keen to make a name for herself and break free of her familial expectations of working in the family shop for ever.
When she picks up a phone call about the body of missing actress Julia Bridges being found after 20 years, Nicoletta knows that this could be the start of something big. She devotes everything to investigating Julia's death, door knocking everyone linked to the case, chasing leads and following whispers of what might have happened to Julia all that time ago.

Julia's death is mixed up with the case of Gloria Fitzpatrick, a notorious midwife who was found guilty of manslaughter after helping a woman miscarry. Some police officers have been happy to pin everything on Gloria, and even 20 years later, still refusing to look any further for what might have happened to Julia. Nicoletta is determined to get to the bottom of what happened, probing into corners that were wilfully ignored at the time.

Claire Coughlan captures the feeling of the 1960s brilliantly, the pull between traditional values, where life feels like it hasn't changed for decades, set against the bustling 1960s where the world is changing at a rate of knots. There's plenty of period detail to get lost in, and the story carries the reader along to a satisfying conclusion.

3.5 stars rounded up

I do love crime novels where a newsroom is at the heart of the action and where the central investigator is a woman. Denise Mina did it really well with her Paddy Meehan novels and Val McDermid has returned to it with her ‘decades’ series featuring Allie Burns.

Now Claire Coughlan has taken up the cudgel for Irish newspapers and brings us Nicoletta Sarto, a young reporter at the Irish Sentinel. Ambitious, driven and competing with a colleague for the lead role in running a new women’s feature page, she throws everything she’s got at a story that has glamour, theatre, a disappearance and the bones of a child.

She is working alone on Christmas Eve when a call from the Garda comes in to say that a woman’s body has been found 25 years after she went missing. Julia Bridges was thought to have been murdered by Gloria Fitzpatrick, a known local abortionist.

Recognising this case as an opportunity to advance her credentials for promotion, Nicoletta begins to run down any and all leads she can find, never suspecting for a moment that this case will impact on her life as no other ever could.

I enjoyed the atmospheric descriptions of historical Dublin and the depiction of the women who had to take drastic action when they found themselves in trouble.

Coughlan does not shy away from Ireland’s terrible attitudes towards women not just in the historical parts of this story, set in 1943, but showing that most of them are still valid in 1960 – a time when the swinging sixties were approaching in London.

Nicoletta Sarto is a disappointment to her mother, who thinks working in the family’s corner shop is her destiny, and she’s having an affair with a married colleague, so she’s not perfect in anyone’s eyes. As she pursues the case she finds out more than she ever wanted to about the illegal abortion industry, causing her to bring some of her own secrets to the surface.

The power of men and the rampant sexism evident everywhere she looks, brings into focus the sheer impossibility of a single woman being able to make her own way in the world. It does make you realise just how hard it was for Irish women to live their own lives free from religious or just sexist persecution (and prosecution).

Verdict: Coughlan’s story shifts between past and present as the facts unroll and the truth slowly unveils. The reader is left with a deeply troubling, difficult story that is both powerful and affecting. The truth for Nicoletta means that nothing will ever be the same again. I did have some issues with the writing which, at times, is convoluted, but overall this is an atmospheric and impactful story which captures both time periods well.

It’s a busy and memorable Christmas period for persistent novice reporter Nicoletta Sarto as she chases up the leads in a dark murder mystery. Set in Ireland in1968, this novel has a dizzyingly large cast of characters.

It reveals the tangled threads of relationships, both past and present, and how they might link to the case, and it shines a light on society’s treatment of women during that time period, and the desperate steps they might go to when faced with an unwanted pregnancy.

The action centres around the disappearance of actress Julia Childs and the shock discovery of her bones 25 years later which points the finger of blame at Gloria Fitzpatrick. She was the last person to see Julia alive and was implicated in the murder of another woman who took advantage of her services.

Gloria received a sentence to a facility for the criminally insane, where she apparently committed suicide. There her story ends, until Nicoletta’s rooting around revives it again, and comes uncomfortably close to home, which feels a little contrived.

The way Nicoletta succeeds in getting information out of people so easily is rather unbelievable, yet they all eventually yield to her dogged perseverance and desire to get the missing pieces joined together.

The constant use of her full name is a bit clunky and slightly jarring. It seems strange that her family, colleagues and boyfriend don’t use a more familiar, shortened version sometimes.

On the whole, this is a well written, intriguing story with several twists and turns and a satisfying ending, hence its many glowing reviews. However, the jarring elements make it a less convincing read for me. Grateful thanks to Simon & Schuster UK and NetGalley for the ARC.

This was a fabulous read !

Nicoletta Sarto, a junior reporter on the Irish Sentinal -uncovers more than she bargains for when investigating the remains of an actress found in the garden of a property near Dublin.

With twists and turns on every page it's a cracking thriller !

Thankyou NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review

i enjoyed this as a bit of a different premise that was really well executed and a great thriller. I raced through it to find the well written ending. Fully recommend

I enjoyed Where They Lie, it was a good cosy thriller. I was gripped at the start, then started to get bored around half way through. It felt a bit too long and drawn out and my interest waned. I'm glad I continued to read right to the end though, because the story turned out to be much more than I was expecting. Overall, an enjoyable read.

I found this book to be quite heavy going, but this could be because of other things going in on my life. It jumped from from one character to another and back again. However, the last few chapters brought everything together.

I enjoyed this historical mystery story and it is set in Dublin in the 60s. A journalist for the Sentinel, Nicoletta Sarto, is looking at an old case. An actress disappeared in 1943 and her skeleton has just been discovered. Sarto along with another journalist, is looking into the case and it brings up far more than she would have ever expected.

This is such a good story and one that flitted back and forth. I really enjoyed getting to know Sarto and also learning more about the case as she did. It was a slower meander through a mystery which I thoroughly enjoyed and it was nice to read a slightly slower-paced story compared to the frantic ones I have read recently. I felt the pacing of the story fitted so well with the setting as Sarto is reliant on public transport, landline phones, and other people giving her a lift and where research has to be sought out rather than internet searches. It was quite refreshing, to be honest.

Sarto is a single woman trying to make her way. She is in a good job with the chance of promotion. She is not overly loud or flamboyant but, is studious and it seems that once she gets her teeth into a story she likes to follow it to its conclusion. Some of this book does mention illegal abortions and this is very much within the history of the time. While it is not a nice thing to read about it is something that did and still does occur. It has been dealt with well and is within keeping with the storylines.

The gradual emergence of details for the actress Julia Bridges makes for intriguing reading. It seems that people didn't know her as well as they thought and when Sarto starts digging into Bridge's past she finds more mystery than she would have expected.

This is such a wonderful book and one that once I got into found to be addictive. The author has brought a few twists and some unexpected turns that I did not see coming. Things from the past do have a habit of coming back and this one is no exception. It was an atmospheric read and one that is a bit more than just a cosy mystery given some of the subject matter.

This is one for those who like a twisted, enigmatic historical fiction story. Once for fans of crime and investigative mysteries and I would happily recommend it.

Dublin 1968, novice reporter Nicoletta Sarto is drawn initially into an investigation into the death of Julia Bridges, whose skeleton was found some 25 years after her disappearance. As Nicoletta digs deeper she discovers links to illegal miscarriages and a world she really should not explore.
This twisting mystery is an achievement of setting, time and place.
A dark story with some vividly described characters of their time.