I was very intrigued by the plot of Five Bad Deeds and found it easy to get into from the outset. While the story primarily centers around Ellen, it features multiple viewpoints which just adds to the mystery of who exactly is making her life a misery and more importantly why. None of the characters are particularly likeable although I did feel quite bad for Ellen.

While I liked the concept of the five bad deeds, for a thriller, none of them actually felt that bad in my opinion and I couldn't but feel a little let down upon learning about these. I also found the grand reveal of the culprit and their reasoning a bit weak. Although I'm not sure if it was just my ARC or not, on the whole, the ending seemed a bit...meh?

While I did enjoy the book and the constant questioning of who did what, it really could have been a lot stronger.

I really like Caz Frear's books, but I read this a while ago now so my memory is a bit hazier than it should be. I do remember it being a good read, though, as protagonist Ellen's past deeds come back to haunt her. Ellen is quite an enjoyable character, even if some of her decisions, albeit well-intentioned, have been questionable and put strain on her relationships. The deterioration in her relationship with her teenage daughter was particularly memorable, perhaps because I also have a teenage daughter...

With threatening messages and malicious pranks afoot, Ellen's life is getting a lot more difficult.

Another enjoyable read from a very good writer.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC of this book in exchange for this honest review.

At the beginning I genuinely felt completely lost. I wasn't really grasping what was going on.
I considered stopping the book multiple times, which was unfortunate because I was so excited to read it since it sounded exactly like my kind of thing. The characters just seemed too petty and quite frankly unlikeable - I wasn't rooting for anyone.

I did love that it was multiple POV. But by the time I'd gone from reading the synopsis and actually reading the book I'd forgotten the main concept, and the plot did not help me remember, I just found it confusing. It was a very simple thriller / mystery in my opinion and didn't keep me on my toes wondering what was going to happen next. Maybe my expectations were too high which is no one's fault but my own. Unfortunately this book just wasn't for me.

I really enjoyed earlier works of Caz Frear and so I was looking forward to this one too

While it is not bad, the book is very slow paced and the ending left much to desire, it was not brilliant as I was hoping for

I did enjoy this book but I found it a bit slow in places. I didn't guess the ending though so that was a massive plus

New author for me but would read others. The cover did entice me in and I think I’d give that a higher rating than the book but I did love the book. Just felt a little lacking in places and yes the characters are unlikeable which isn’t a problem for me but it does lack pace at times. Good ending too!

As someone who enjoyed this author's previous work, I eagerly anticipated their new release. However, upon reading it, I found myself a little let down. While the use of multiple perspectives in the storytelling was skilfully executed, I struggled to connect with the characters and the story's pace was slower than I typically prefer.

Despite my disappointment, it's worth noting that the book explores many fascinating concepts. Themes of deceit, parenting, and the intricate complexities of society within communities are all touched upon, making this book a strong candidate for book clubs and other group discussions. With so many thought-provoking ideas to consider, readers are sure to find ample material for debate and reflection.

Although this ended with a ‘meh’ conclusion, it has not put me off picking up future releases by this author.

Five Bad Deeds is a messy relationship/neighbourhood tale in the style of Lianne Moriarty or Louise Candlish, Greed, envy and lust all play a role in the motivations of the person or people trying to bring down the novel's protagonist, Ellen, who views herself as a socially conscious, caring, mother, wife, sister, friend and neighbour. But after she's reported to the police and breathalyzed and other unpleasant events occur, it's clear she's the target of a malicious campaign. But by whom? She's only ever tried to help people, hasn't she?

As the title suggests, Ellen's actions haven't endeared her to everyone and she's going to reap the consequences of the havoc she's unwittingly caused in other people's lives.

A great, twisty tale with a relatable but flawed heroine.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC! Unfortunately, this book just did not work for me. I couldn't engage with any of the characters (they were all SO unlikable, which usually doesn't bother me, but Jesus can someone have one redeeming quality?!) I DNFed this about 20% in. Took me a solid four days to get that far, because I just kept putting it down and forgetting what I had read so far. I do think fans of domestic thrillers will enjoy this. It just wasn't for me.

Thank you for NetGalley for providing me with this book for review. My first read of this author and it won't be my last, what a rollercoaster of a read, plenty of twists and turns to keep me turning the pages.

This book has a fascinating sounding blurb which really suckered me in with wanting to know what was happening and what would be the result of those bad deeds that we had heard abut. Sadly this is just another domestic 'thriller' with mostly normal people reacting to events in their lives with one odd ball person who may kind of remind you of someone you do or used to know!
It was fairly slow paced with nothing really encouraging me to keep picking the book up once I had put it down again.
This would be a great book for those of you who prefer sedate 'thrillers' but I'm much more a blood and guts, extremely fast paced thriller reader so this just wasn't for me.

Ellen, a tutor and generally good person, is renovating her dream home and juggling the usual commitments when she starts receiving threatening notes from an anonymous sender. Why are they targeting her? Could it be the five bad deeds that have come back to haunt her?

This is the first book I’ve read by Caz Frear so I didn’t really know what to expect. I found that I really enjoyed the writing style and the different points of view. The characters, although unlikeable, are well written and I enjoyed the dark humour in some of their thoughts. The story flowed nicely and I enjoyed learning what the bad deeds were. There were a few twists and turns which I found entertaining. Although the overall story is a bit of a slow burn it worked well in this instance. This was definitely an intriguing revenge thriller and I will be reading more books now by this author. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in return for an honest review.

Ellen is a good person. Okay, she knows she can go on a bit when talking about renovating her dream home, and she could try harder with her teenage daughter, but she is confident that, on the whole, she is a good friend, wife, mother and teacher. But someone has other ideas; someone who is sending threatening notes to Ellen's home and orchestrating malicious 'pranks'. Can she work out who her anonymous enemy is and stop them before her reputation - and her family - is in tatters?

A shocking opening sets up the arc of the story perfectly: the reader knows - or thinks they know - how the story is going to end and that the plot will now focus on discovering the 'how' and the 'why' of it all. The cleverness of this set-up lies in the way it frames the character of Ellen and thus colours how the reader perceives her from the outset, and it's one of the more effective choices in the book.

Ellen is a decently nuanced character, especially as we learn more about her and her history. She's struggling to balance the competing needs of a teenage daughter and toddler twins, she's stressed about the renovation she's sure will finally give her the perfect family home she longs for, she craves getting back to work but feels guilty for not being totally fulfilled by motherhood alone, and above all, she can't shake the feeling that
she doesn't deserve her comfortable life and will never truly be accepted.

Unfortunately, however, the rest of the characters are over-the-top versions of the people that tend to populate this kind of story set in a well-to-do small town, and all of them are totally self-centred and awful. This made it difficult to buy into the story, as everyone was so irritating and unlikeable. Five Bad Deeds also features one of my least favourite literary stock characters, the teenager (in this case, Ellen's daughter Orla). It perplexes me how many authors are able to write fiction with a largely teenage cast and portray them with subtlety and warmth, yet as soon as an adolescent shows up in a book about adults, they exist only to behave obnoxiously and make withering remarks, making it hard to take them seriously as characters.

The titular 'bad deeds' which serve as the narrative engine of the story are largely underwhelming, to the point where I kept thinking, 'Is that it?' I understand that for the plot to work there have to be multiple plausible suspects with an axe to grind against Ellen, but the motivation of some of the characters stretches the bounds of credulity and actually really detracts from their characterisation in some instances.

Nush, for example, is an oxymoron of a woman - an ambitious, highly motivated and successful entrepreneur whose identity is almost entirely bound up in her failed marriage because the plot needs it to be, not because it makes any sense for the character, and her potential reason for contriving to bring Ellen down is even more unlikely. Other characters' motives are similarly thin. In fact, though Ellen has her flaws, she is genuinely altruistic in her actions and I felt sorry for her that no one in her life seems to appreciate her. The ending was surprising, but mainly because the groundwork had not been laid to make the denouement pay off.

Overall, in spite of these issues, Five Bad Deeds is an engaging thriller, which held my interest all the way through and had enough potential for me to look out for Caz Frear's next stand-alone work.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book.

Not sure if I got a bad download copy but I couldn’t read this - every bit of dialogue was chopped up into different lines making it really hard to follow, couldn’t get to the end of chapter 1 unfortunately!

It was OK just not for me. I didn't particularly like the characters or the way it was told from multiple points of view. It kept my interest long enough to finish it but wouldn't rush out to read more by this author, sorry

This one was just not for me,the characters were very unlikable aand the storyline dragged and by the end I just didn't care what happened.I hope other readers enjoy more than I did.
Thanks to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster UK for the ARC.

This story is told via multiple points of view with the characters bring not so likeable -
Whilst the story is a slow burner it is entertaining

Ellen Walsh is a teacher, mother, wife and good citizen but someone thinks she has done something very bad - if only she knew what it was.

Ellen juggles raising a teen and two toddlers with her husband while redecorating her dream home. Life is going well but then a note arrives indicating someone knows her darkest secret and they may be out to get her. Other suspicious things occur, that leave you wondering what on earth Ellen has done. This along with her 'friends' who quite frankly seem like frenemies at times. While this one took me a little while to get into, as it was a slow burn for me, I enjoyed the twists and turns throughout and Frear remains an auto-read/buy author for me. I can't wait to read more by her. 
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster UK for the gifted review copy.

Unfortunately this book just wasn’t for me, I struggled to finish it and nearly gave up a few times.
That’s not to say it wouldn’t be interesting for you depending on what you like.
Written from different perspectives but I found I didn’t like any of the characters although a great deal of thought was put into tying it together.
Thank you for an advanced copy of this book.

I started Five Bad Deeds expecting it to be the next in Caz Frears’ Cat Kinsella series, which I really enjoy, but found it was a standalone, albeit one with some familiar themes (fractious sibling relationships, main characters with hardscrabble upbringings). And, by and large, I did really enjoy Five Bad Deeds, with one caveat which I’ll come on to.

The plot is propulsive and I found my alliances and sympathies switching. And although I consistently felt that characters were too hard on Ellen and blamed her for their own failure to communicate, it was interesting to see how actions can be interpreted differently by different people.

However, given that I felt other characters were hard on her, I also felt that (and don’t read further if you want to avoid spoilers) the book wasn’t hard enough on her in regards to the storyline with her pupil. The final pages, which seem to leave open some potential for them to get together, left me feeling icky about the whole book and coloured my opinion of it.

3.5 stars- I usually round up but in this case am rounding down because of the above.