Told through dual points of view and unreliable narrators this book was mysterious and interesting from the outset. Based in a small UK seaside town, Fran runs the caravan park, has some complex familial ties to contend with and the arrival of a Romany community and a new school teacher in quick succession add more confusion to her previously mundane life.

Disappointingly though, I ended up with whiplash with the twists at the end of the story and a very high level of conjecture is required to even have a smidge of a chance of seeing the ending out.

A common enough occurrence with thrillers and some will delight at the rollercoaster finish, but his one just wasn't for me

This book was a slow starter and took me a while to get into it. The characters are interesting and at first I hadn't a clue where the book was heading.
Told from the viewpoint of Fran, owner of a caravan park on the Norfolk coast, and Tad, an elder in the family of travellers who set up in the field next to the caravan park.
An interesting read.

I enjoyed the writing and slow early pace of this book and getting to know the characters. Then the ending seemed to contain so many unexpected and difficult to explain twists that I almost felt I'd completely misread the characters or had read two different books!
Thank you to netgalley and verve books for an advance copy of this book

The title of the book doesn't give away any clues to what this book is about. Fran owns a caravan park; s feels trapped and out of control.. Her sister, her partner and her niece have come to live with her which has driven a wedge between them; her son is in trouble at school and she is growing apart from her husband. Her only solace is watching the birds on the nearby beach. When gypsies move into the fields next to the caravan park, strange relationships are forged. Then, a body is found ... The sense of discord and disconnect is tangible in this book - a worthy but troubling read that stays with you after the final page is turned.

This is a wonderfully written book, with a lovely writing style and flow that make it incredibly easy to read.

The tone shifts ever so slightly as you work through the book, so gradually that you barely notice it until the big revelations start to come to the surface. Morton-Thomas also peppers through just enough hints of what's happening below the surface that all of the twists seem to fit, even when you're doing a double take at what you've just read.
All of the characters are uniquely understandable, all of them interesting and flawed in a different way. The two POV characters in particular are written so well that you almost kick yourself when the final reveal so clearly highlights all the places in which their perspectives skew what you have been shown.

The best way to describe it is as a sort of anti-thriller. There isn't one big question, but instead the reader is left with more and more questions and it's almost impossible to know what the central mystery is exactly, and yet you're still left on the edge of your seat waiting for the big reveal when everything comes together.

I'll definintely be looking out for more of Morton-Thomas's work, which is high praise given that this novel doesn't fit in with my usual fare.


I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Bird Spotting in a Small Town is a tense and atmospheric read, with the story being told from two points of view. Fran, a bird lover, runs a caravan park and is struggling with family relationships: her sister, niece, husband and son. Tad, an old Romany man, and part of a group that has set up in the field next to Fran's business.

I loved the writing style, the evocative descriptions, the pacing for a good 80% of the story.
However, towards the end the novel just seemed to go out of synch. An excessive amount of unforeshadowed twists were crammed in, some of them being just too unbelievable for the characters that had been brilliantly created earlier.

[SPOILERS HERE] Charlie helps to dispose of the body of his wife who has been killed by a boy he hardly knows and decides to take the blame. Really??? Tad also 'owns up' to the murder, despite knowing that he will get a life sentence, despite having no one else to care for his special needs daughter. It just didn't make sense. And then the revelation that Bruno is actually Sadie's half-sister - yet another unnecessary twist.
The last few chapters were just so poorly executed, out of character and unrealistic, which was such a shame as I so wanted to give the book five stars.

Please, please, Sophie Morton-Thomas, just write your next novel with one decent twist: your style is so brilliant that it doesn't need to be cluttered with a load of reveals at the end.

Thanks to NetGalley for a free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I found myself quickly enveloped in these characters - all richly presented and layered and an instant pull to delve in.

The setting of a small coastal town and a remote holiday park therein was a good location to draw readers into the semi isolation of such a life. This allows less outside intrusion and greater focus on the feelings and motivations of the characters.

I enjoyed the pace and questions that the story posed as it progressed and was especially fond of Jade wanting to know more about her. The progression was engaging and I felt compelled to keep going, working out the puzzle that was Sadie and the chaotic family life in that caravan.

I liked Fran's love of the birds - at one point she is accused of a near obsession but I didn't see it that way at all. Its a healthy interest while dealing with stress of her marriage, business and sister's family!

Overall, I enjoyed this, but I did not enjoy the ending. I don't want to spoil, so will avoid specifics, but I found the twist had little to no foreshadowing and the actions of Tad and Charlie very confusing. I expected at the last page for someone to step forward abd declare the truth....yet noone did. Why in earth would they do that?

My other gripe is with Bruno and Fran at the end. I was stunned by Fran's easy acceptance of such a preposterous decision. As his mother, I found her quite unbelievable at that point, but all the way through I had found her a solid character.

So a mixed review here from me, but I did enjoy this story overall, just found the ending left me confused as to motivations, especially regarding Tad - considering Jade!

Thank you to Oldcastle Books and Netgalley for a copy of this book for my honest review.

Sinister and atmospheric story set on the Norfolk coast. Complicated family relationships, a crime and a nest make for a compelling read.

Such a lovely book to read - wonderful characters and great twists and turns.
Very much enjoyed the descriptions of the birds, the beach and scenery.
I definitely did not expect some of the twists.
Highly recommended.

I loved this book. The claustrophobia that Fran felt built up throughout the story. It was obvious from the start that things were going to unravel. I felt for Fran at the beginning of the story but by the last third of it I knew she hiding something. I didn’t imagine what it was though. She seemed to be losing her grip on reality by then. Quite an intense read I would definitely recommend it.
Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and share this book.

I found this novel to be disconcerting from the beginning, although I couldn't put my finger on why. As the story progressed, the darkness and unease intensified. Sadly I felt the characters weren't totally convincing which left me feeling a bit let down as the story had been so unsettling.

Bird Spotting in a Small Town could be described as a slow boil story but I would actually have the gas turned right down and say it is more of a simmer.

If you are looking for action and breathless thrills then this book may not be for you but I would urge you to perhaps try to stretch your envelope and give this story a go as I do think it is worth the effort.

You will need to stick at it as the story barely ticks along at times but it is a slow build up; you need to read about the humdrum lives so you can feel and experience the same.

This book has been better than well written, I believe it has been crafted and honed to almost perfection. Because of this I would recommend Bird Spotting in a Small Town by Sophie Morton-Thomas as one for you to read but ‘stick at it’ and enjoy.

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC from NetGalley.co.uk in return for an honest review. Bird Spotting in a Small Town by Sophie Morton-Thomas Is due to be published 18th June 2024 by Verve Books.

•Dual POV
•Mystery, crime & Suspense
•Strange Occurrences
•Buried Secrets
•Small Town Mystery
•Atmospheric

The book is mysterious and suspenseful. It has dual pov. The characters are so mysterious. I liked the vibe of the book though some parts felt a bit predictable. The book has been written in first person.

There is a tangled family mystery with buried secrets and strange occurrence. The secrets could make or break the family. They are way too deep and heartbreaking. The whole small town setting worked so well here. There was a mystery of birds, murders and vanishing of people. Then at the end the truth unveils and the ending was so unpredictable and unsettling.

Thank you Netgalley, Author, and Publisher.

'The sun set a long time ago, leaving only a pinky-red swirl of a ghost in the sky, something that used to be.'

Bird Spotting in a Small Town is a subtle yet disquieting domestic noir which follows the events that occur over the course of a winter in a 'summer town' on the Norfolk coast, telling the story of what might happen in the opressive quiet of a tourist haunt when the visitors have gone. In summer, the town buzzes with tourists who flock to see the birds and enjoy the beaches, but now, in the dead of winter, it has a desolate, eerie atmosphere, which adds an unsettling undercurrent to this engaging thriller, and the bleakness of the setting is the perfect vehicle for this story.

The narrative unfolds through the parallel stories of Fran, the proprietor of a the local caravan park, and Tad, a Romany gypsy who has pulled up in the field adjoining Fran's site. The stories of the two characters and their families are nimbly interwoven over the course of a relatively short book, although the author hides many of the connections which bind the two sets of characters in plain sight until the very end of the novel.

Morton-Thomas adeptly juxtaposes figurative descriptions of the birds that fascinate many of the characters with the plainer prose she uses to describe the day-to-day events of the characters' lives. This really emphasised how bird spotting - particularly her relentess pursuit of the rare little tern - is escapism for Fran, a refuge from the life she feels weighed down by: the monotony of the tasks inherent with maintaining the caravan park; the increadingly strained relationships with her husband and her sister; her complicated feelings about her son growing up, and her sense that she has never truly fulfilled her potential.

Without giving too much away, Morton-Thomas plays with the trope of the unreliable narrator in unexpected ways, and I found this very effective.

Thank you to NetGalley and Oldcastle Books/Verve books for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book.

This atmospheric novel, set in a small isolated town on the North Norfolk coast, examines the darker side of rural life as well as the crumbling dynamics of one particular family.

Fran runs a caravan park, and has her hands quite literally full with the everyday tasks of cleaning and maintenance. But that still leaves her with more than enough headspace to worry about her increasingly distant husband, the behaviour of her son Bruno, and the strained relationship she has with her sister, who also lives at the caravan park.

Tensions are ramped up further with the peculiar disappearance of her brother-in-law on the same night that the new teacher at the local school also disappears. Meanwhile, the arrival of a set of Romany travellers who set up camp in an adjoining field don't improve matters either.

Yet, whether it is to simply escape reality, or a genuine obsession of some kind, Fran seems unable to focus on anything but the seashore birds that she turns to for solace and distraction. Her preoccupation with a nest holding eggs is stronger then the attention she gives to addressing most of the people and problems around her.

Meanwhile, there is another set of eyes taking note of the events in Fran's life as Tad, an older resident among the recently arrived Romanies monitors activities at the caravan park next door...

This book does a great job of exploring troubled family dynamics and the secrets that lie beneath them, as well as capturing the sense of suffocation small town life can engender at times.

The use of multiple POV works well here and Morton-Thomas delivers an absorbing story that lives up to that very intriguing book title. I would recommend it to literary fiction readers who like exploring darker themes in their reading. It gets 3.5 stars.

Several book genres come together and blur in this small town mystery. The sense of place is so well evoked and I liked the caravan park setting.

A dark and engaging novel. The pace was slow and steady, which suited the story. I'm not sure that the motives of some of the characters were very well developed, or that some actions were as easy or believable, which took away from the story for me somewhat. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Fran loves to walk the shore watching the birds in a small town in North Norfolk, easily losing track of time, and her son Bruno it has to be said. She seems distant, at times appearing absent to her responsibilities as a mother, but the care she takes over a nest of pretty tern eggs is almost like a substitute for Bruno.

Fran owns a caravan park, but she’s consumed by worries - the behaviour of Bruno, her distant and increasingly absent husband, and the relationship with her sister who lives on the caravan park, which is strained to ever increasing levels.

A Romany community sets up in the field next to Fran’s caravan park, from where elderly Romany, Tad, watches the comings and goings in the caravan park with great interest.

When a new teacher goes missing on the same night as Fran’s brother in law, all sorts of rumours start circulating, but it’s a long time before the truth reveals itself. All this going on and yet Fran is still more concerned about her birds than her husband and son.

There was quite a dark and sinister feel about the story with the atmospheric Norfolk coast making the perfect backdrop. There’s uncertainty and unease about which way this family based journey will end, and we get to experience different lifestyles through the small cast of characters, both on the caravan park and within the Romany community, which provided added interest. Strained relationships, crime, infidelity and childhood lies and secrets lead to a surprising but satisfying conclusion. A definite winner.

"Bird Spotting in a Small Town" by Sophie Morton-Thomas is a gripping psychological suspense novel that had me hooked from the very beginning. Set against the backdrop of a small, isolated town on the North Norfolk coast, the story revolves around Fran, the resilient owner of a caravan park. As she goes about her daily routine of cleaning the park, Fran's seemingly normal life starts to unravel. However, it's not just the mysterious disappearance of a new teacher at the local school and Fran's brother-in-law on the same night that adds tension to the narrative. What struck me the most was Fran's unwavering fascination with birds, as if there was a hidden significance behind her obsession. This personal touch adds depth and intrigue to the story, making it even more captivating.

Sophie Morton-Thomas masterfully constructs a small-town atmosphere filled with tension and secrets. As the unsettling events unfold, the sense of unease and mystery intensifies, leaving readers eager to uncover the truth behind the enigmatic occurrences in this tight-knit community. The narrative beautifully captures the essence of rural claustrophobia and the challenges of trust in such a setting, making it relatable and engaging.

In addition to the gripping plot, the novel delves into the complex dynamics of Fran's personal life and family relationships. This adds an emotional depth to the story, making the characters feel authentic and relatable. Fran's love for bird-watching on the shore becomes more than just a hobby; it becomes a metaphor for her own yearning to break free from the constraints of her life. This introspective element adds an extra layer to the narrative, making it both thought-provoking and captivating.

Overall, "Bird Spotting in a Small Town" is a dark and haunting novel that goes beyond being just a crime story. It explores the intricate lives and relationships of a complex family and a set of individuals, creating an intensely atmospheric read.

Sophie Morton-Thomas has crafted a truly compelling tale that will keep readers hooked until the very last page.

This is an unusual and original story very cleverly told. Once I got used to it I enjoyed the style of writing. It’s a difficult one to put in a genre with elements of family life, a murder, infidelity and the innocence (and lack of innocence) of childhood. It is interesting to see the comparison of two different styles of ‘caravan’ life and the loyalties of these different lifestyles.