Three appearingly separate tales of three women, their scenario and problems. It is hard to see how they are connected but eventually they do. I found this book was quite put together in quite a blunt style and didn’t like the suddenly move to another character to another. The twist was not as expected and made a confusing conclusion. Not quite what I was expecting after enjoying other books by Harriet Tyce.

I can't resist a great psychological thriller and Harriet Tyce has delivered once again with A Lesson in Cruelty! Three distinct narratives that at first seem so separate you're not sure how they will come together - but that's the beauty. How they do is unexpected and keeps you on edge. I didn't see this plot coming at all, which always makes for a satisfying thriller - love to have the rug pulled out from under my feet every so often - a great read!

A roller coaster ride of a book. Parts 1 and 4 focused on Anna, Part 2 on Lucy and Part 3 on Maria. It was very slow for the first 4 parts but then wow Part 5 raced and brought all their stories together! The epilogue though....just felt a little unfinished.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

This is a great psychological thriller.
It’s a hard one to review as there’s a lot that leads up to the conclusion of the story that you don’t realise is significant at the time.
The story begins with Anna who is about to get out of prison after serving three years. She’s scared of what lies ahead and is considering ending her life until someone helps her.
There are then chapters about Lucy who is besotted with her university professor and becomes close to him.
Eventually the story pulls together and then it’s a gripping read as Lucy and Anna’s lives become connected.
It took me a while to get into this one but it’s a great read once it all clicks into place.
Thanks to Headline and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

A Lesson in Cruelty by Harriet Tyce and narrated by Candida Gubbins just took my breath away and so creepy when the narrator Candida whispers! It gave me goose bumps especially if you have your earphones in......You feel like you are there in the audiobook.

WHAT PRICE WOULD YOU PAY FOR THE PERFECT LIFE?

"But, No ones live is perfect everyday..........."

This latest book called “A Lesson in Cruelty” by Harriet Tyce was a brilliant audiobook/ book which tells of the lives of three women, Anna, Marie and Lucy and is set in Oxford and Northern Scotland.

Anna Flynn has just served three years in prison and is about to step out to freedom but her past will always haunt her every move she makes everyday. But, she is free now and has to try and live a normal life outside from the prison.

Lucy craves the attention of the only man she can't have, her alluring Oxford professor. But, He's married - not for the first time. Maybe she should be next in line? She will do anything to be the next wife!

And Marie who lives as a reclusive in Northern Scotland. She had been locked up for a long time and is not ready to be free and and to face others, but some rules are meant to be broken.


This book is well written and it is full of twists and turns throughout that had me sitting on the edge of my seat many times. All the characters were brilliant. The book starts off slow, then bang.......You are hooked and I could not turn my earphones off. I was hooked!

I highly recommend this book and especially the audiobook. The narrator was excellent especially the creepy whisper voice she does!

5 stars for this book and 5 stars for the Narrator!

Big Thank you to Netgalley, Headline | Wildfire for my copies of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fascinating psychological thriller from Harriet Tyce which I initially tried to listen to on audio, it is approximately 10 hours and 30 minutes long, but I gave up at 15%, due to the dire narration by Candida Gubbins with her overly unbearable emoting, and if I did'nt have the book as well, I would have never have been able to go on to see just how brilliant the storytelling is. It raises pressing issues afflicting the justice and legal system, and underlines the cruelty of the prison system and its failures when it comes to the goal of rehabilitating prisoners, many with mental health issues and complex needs. We are introduced to Anna, on the cusp of being released from prison, a ghost of the woman she used to be, bearing a burden of guilt that has her condemning herself to a mental life sentence with no reprieve.

Anna's last night turns out to be so harrowing that it pushes her further over the edge, but can this broken woman find the resilience within her to survive as ominous events test her further? In Oxford, after the death of her mother, Lucy begins an MSc at the university, drawn to a good looking criminology professor, in his late fifties, and his well known ideas when it comes to the justice system. She becomes steadily more and more obsessed with him, stalking him, certain he is the right man for her. However, he is married to his second wife, and they have a baby, but this does not prevent Lucy from insinuating herself into his life, taking on demanding research for him that he begins to find invaluable. There are references to the ancient sea monsters, Scylla and Charybydis, and who is is Marie, living a troubling, lonely and remote existence in Scotland?

Tyce skilfully creates and develops characters that initially appear to have little to do with each other, fuelling my intense curiousity as to what could possibly connect them. The tension and suspense begins to rise as we learn more of their lives and circumstances, there are surprising and shocking twists and turns that move the narrative towards the thrilling and explosive finale. I particularly felt for an Anna whose life was shattered after a terrible mistake. You will have to suspend your sense of disbelief, but this is a thought provoking thriller that I have no doubt will appeal to many fans of the author and others who love the crime and mystery genre. Many thanks to the publisher for the ALC and the ARC.

This is a very twisty tale, with three different viewpoints - Lucy who is obsessed by a local professor, Anna who is in prison for injuring her nephew while driving when drunk and Marie who is locked up on an island with an alcoholic woman.

The three viewpoints were rather irritating originally, as they seemed to interrupt the other stories which, in the cases of Lucy and Anna, were quite exciting and as a reader I was keen to see what would happen. Marie's tale, particularly when the two women are given the names of Ancient Greeks, just came over as odd.

Eventually of course the three tales intersect, but it all felt rather clumsy and contrived. And the final piece of the puzzle stretched credulity one step too far. Its a shame - the two individual stories could have made a great read, the author writes well and grips the reader's attention. Overall it just didn't really work for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, Headline and Wildfire for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

@currentlyreading__
Book 23 of 2024

Thank you to @NetGalley, @headlinebooks and the author @harriet_tyce for the advance copy of ‘A Lesson in Cruelty’ ahead of publication this month.

This was a complex book with seemingly disparate characters and plot threads given a spotlight and then the narrative changed and we were introduced to others. I liked the fact that even though I was enjoying each character’s individual story, when it became clear that they were all connected somehow, it was made all the more intricate.

We are firstly introduced to Anna, just released from prison after a sentence for dangerous driving, then Lucy, in love with her charismatic professor of criminology and Marie, living a reclusive life in Scotland. Three very different women and yet something and someone connects them.

If you like a plot to get you thinking and being challenged in your hypotheses, then this is for you.


#bookstagram #bibliophile #bookworm #book #booknerd #bookstagrammer #kindle #netgalley #harriettyce #alessonincruelty #thriller

I have no idea where to begin with my review of this book. I guess I could start by saying, please go in as blind as you can. Not much is as it seems.
We have Anna, an ex-convict, recently released who just wants her life back. We also have Lucy who is besotted with her Uni Prof, now that never ends well. And then there's Marie who is a bit of a recluse, living in the middle of nowhere with a companion.
More than that I can't really say without spoilers. But it is all connected somehow... you just have to read the book, suspend belief, and go with the flow. Sit back and relax, you're in for a bit of a wild, convoluted, interconnected ride, destined to thrill...
And I did, and I was, and it was great! Mostly, with just a few niggles and eye rolls along the way. But a lot of fun too. It's quite character driven too and the three main characters all manage to pull it off quite successfully. Especially given the nature of the complex plot they have to enact. I spent the first part of the book trying to second guess how these women, even IF these women would connect. And then, once it all started to come together, I was bombarded with hit after hit, shock after twist, all perfectly foreshadowed, kicking myself for what I didn't see coming!
And the ending, when it eventually came was sublime...
All in all, another winner from an author already cemented on my watch list, with a rather impressive back catalogue. Roll on next time. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Sadly a DNF for me and I loved the authors previous books
For me parts just did not make sense and i had no idea what was happening,ie the nettle soup etc the parts I did i found hard going
Look forward to the authors next book

An interesting read which I found strange to begin with. I learnt a lot about one person and found myself invested in what was happening to them when suddenly it switched to another and then another and I honestly had no clue what was going on and how it would all come together.

It did all merge together eventually though but I still found myself feeling confused and even more so by the very end.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book, although not my favourite from this author it was still a good read. Characters were well written and storyline was good. Multiple timelines threw me a little and I struggled to get into it properly but that was on me. Thanks for the opportunity.

Three women leading totally separate lives, that is until they collide. Anna has just been released from prison after a sentence for drink driving, Lucy is in love with her university professor and Marie is living on a remote island in Scotland. The story is told from each of their perspectives as it builds up until the three stories entangle each other.

I was originally drawn into this book as I have enjoyed previous books by this author and the blurb sounding interesting. However, I feel with three strands the plot was so disjointed it didn’t make a lot on sense and wasn’t an easy book to get in to. The story was actually really strange and none of the characters were easy to follow or invest in. I was hoping that the ending would redeem this book and the way the three women came together would tie the plot together. Sadly, it didn’t and just added to the whole confusion I had about this book.
Not a book that I would recommend, unlike the previous books by this author.

This is a very intricate story, very cleverly plotted!

I started reading with no expectations, without reading the blurb, and I felt lost for a while... which I have to say was a great feeling, because my brain went wild trying to come up with theories on how the different subplots could be connected. I didn't come even close to the truth.
When things started to fit together it was a great feeling, to be able to revisit events in the light of the connections added a new dimension to an already very good story.

Where the book fell a bit short in my opinion is that some of the twists (especially the last one) were a bit far fetched, and I was hoping for something a bit different, less coincidental. I was hoping Kelly's story would be developed a bit more, because I got very invested in that at the beginning.

All in all, a book I would recommend to people who love thrillers.

When I say this novel is head-turning and page-turning, I mean only positive things. My head spun at the intricately pitched plot which sees the reader introduced to Anna – who’s spent three years behind bars and is now released – Lucy – wanting the attention of her Oxford professor – and Marie – the recluse, who isn’t ready for freedom. Their stories blend but not in the ways you’d expect, as Harriet skillfully creates a story that keeps you on your toes throughout. There’s also plenty of twists and turns to make you question your allegiances to the characters… because there will be allegiances. If you haven’t read any of Harriet’s books, make it a 2024 goal to do so. There’s such character development in all of them and of course, being in the psychological thriller genre, will make you feel a bit unsettled in an entirely satisfying way.

Thank you to Netgallery and the publisher for this ARC. The publication date is the 14th April. Harriet Tyce does it again this book was extremely captivating and really hard to put down I loved it!

My favourite character was Anna as I felt sorry for her initially at the start of the book. The book focuses on Lucy, Anna and Marie who all have their own story to tell I was very invested!

Overall, a skilful plot with many tiers and turns! 😊

A Lesson in Cruelty by Harriet Tyce ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A fabulous book. Great writing. At the beginning you follow 3 separate stories, Anna Lucy and Marie … and just wonder how this is going to come to together…. But it does! And you don’t see it coming …. It twists and turns, it’s a book you need to concentrate on but I loved it. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all books by this author.

This is a stunning thriller, I am in awe of the way the story, which seemed to be 3 separate stories, were seamlessly wove together with such impact.
I have loved all of this authors books, they never leave you short and are written with such style.
This book starts with Anna who is in her last night of prison when her new cellmate commits' suicide - Anna is wracked with guilt as she feels she wasn't there for the woman emotionally who was on her first night of prison.
From this story fans out to encompass Anna's attempts to get to the bottom of why the woman left her mobile phone under Anna's pillow the night she died.
Twisting, turning, shocking
This is a thrilling top notch read.

This book stumped me at first, when I started reading, following Anna’s story I was so invested, but then it switched to Lucy, the plot didn’t align and there was no direct link- ok well maybe it will. Then we are introduced to Marie, at this point I thought I was reading three separate short stories as I simply could not imagine how it could come together.

Ha, how silly of me. In true Harriet Tyce fashion the plots intertwine in a way I could never have conjured in my own mind. The fact the story switched between these three ladies benefitted in character development, I as the reader had no question about who they were or their motivations.

Once I got the flow of the book and started to understand the link I was beyond invested and practically read this book in one sitting.

If you want a read that’s going to give you all the twists possible, this might just be for you!

This is one of those books that is difficult to review, because I have no strong feeling one way or the other about it.
I have read two other Harriet Tyce books, Blood Orange (which was a five star read) and It Ends At Midnight (which was a two star read) and this one fell right in the middle.
One thing I did like about this book was how the story was told in parts with each part following a different character until they all collided together. I liked this because you really got to know each of them individually. Because of the way it was told, at times I did feel like I was reading a short story collection.
All three characters were well defined and because they all had a different story to tell, it kept things interesting and made me keep reading.
The writing style had me invested, I liked all three women and I was intrigued as to how they were going to be drawn together.
When that happened it did feel slightly unbelievable and over the top. It also felt slightly overly complicated to me which felt unnecessary.
This was an enjoyable read that I did like but I didn't love.