The Playgroup is a fast-paced, extremely dark psychological suspense novel. Lenore moves to a small village with her young daughter with the hope of overcoming past trauma. When they arrive, Lenore finds The Nest, a co-op nursery run by Alice, Beth, and Georgie. It appears to be the perfect place to make friends and to keep her daughter safe. Then the unexpected happens - Florence is in a terrible accident and everyone blames Lenore, despite her not being there. What actually happened? Who is lying? How far will they go to keep their secrets safe?

The Playgroup is fast-paced with short chapters that keep the reader wanting to read "just one more." The story is told through four POVs - Lenore, Alice, Beth, and Georgie. Each character is struggling with personal issues and trauma. The decisions that the characters make effect everyone in the book. There are definitely dark themes throughout, including drug abuse, bullying, blackmail, and violence, The book also deals with both mental and physical illnesses and their impacts on both individuals and families. There were parts of the story that I found a bit unrealistic; however, overall, I found The Playgroup to be a decent read.

The Playgroup by Leah Mercer is a propulsive read that lured me in from the very start.

Four women, Lenore, Georgie, Beth, and Alice, are connected by The Nest, a prestigious nursery with a stellar reputation. But a shocking accident at the nursery will change all of their lives in a single horrific moment. These are women who are each harbouring secrets, and their shifting POVs offer a fully fleshed out picture of personal and professional circumstances that will lead them to their breaking points.

I have always enjoyed Leah Mercer's novels, and this latest is no exception. It is a quick, intense read that will keep you emotionally engaged from beginning to end. 4.5 stars

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for an ARC.

The Playgroup by Leah Mercer, published by Bookouture is a gripping thriller, that left me in nailbiting suspense, unable to put the book down.
Lenore, Beth, Geotgie and Alice are mothers of toddlers and attending playgroup that is more than it looks at first sight.
Complex, complicated full of unexpected twists and turns that had me guessing til the last page.

Thankyou netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read the playgroup in advance of release

This was a decent read. I did find that it was repetitive and didn't have much substance for the storyline

The twists were slightly predicatble but its worth a read if you like this genre

Thank you Bookouture and NetGalley for an early copy of The Playgroup. From the beginning, it was not believable with a husband letting his wife and daughter just leave so the wife can find herself. I couldn’t believe how the women turned on each other when the accident happened. The characters were very selfish but as the book continued, they all had a happy ending except for one person. It kind of went a bit sappy towards the end.

The playgroup was a joy to read. Another compulsive read from an author who seems to do no wrong. I absolutely devoured this one… You will want to clear your afternoon to read this one straight through, so riveting are the twists and turns. Recommended

I enjoyed reading this book. This is the first book of Leah Mercer that I have read and I loved it. It kept me on the edge of my seat. Not only is it a thriller but a story of a mother’s love and what she will do to prove that love. You will think you have figured out it but just wait because most likely you didnt until the end.

"The Playgroup" is about 4 women and one terrible accident. Lenore has already been through hell with severe post partum depression, Alice will do anything to keep up appearances about herself and her life, Georgie is trying to keep herself together which leads to addiction and Beth is running from her past which is catching up with her! I could not stop reading this book, it is written so well with so many twists and detailed information that keeps you hanging on. The chapters alternate between the 4 women, which I love because it gives the story more character depth and makes me turn pages faster to find out more about each one! And I won't give away the ending but I did not see it coming and made the plot come together!

This book knows how to hook you right from the beginning! I loved how detailed it was and descriptive!

The Playgroup is a fairly short, easy to read psychological thriller. It touches on some interesting themes including drug addiction, post-partum depression and chronic illness.
There were multiple twists leading you in all sorts of directions with a good final reveal.

Leah Mercer, The Playgroup, Bookouture, March 2024.

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.

The Playgroup begins with the familiar domestic drama/psychological suspense thriller themes: a mother who is coming to grips with a distressing past associated with her child and a caring concerned husband. However, soon the familiar red flags are replaced with much wider aspects of a thriller. Alice, Beth and Georgie and working at The Nest widen Lenore and Florence’s horizons.

Lenore has left James behind in their home in London in an attempt to demonstrate that she can care for Florence alone. She is determined to regain the independence and some aspects of her former life as a teacher, lost when she suffered severe ante natal depression after Florence’s birth. The Nest offers her a return to a modified career as a trained educator, and Florence a play group in a professional setting that Lenore believes is in both their interests. James’s concerns about childcare are mitigated by Lenore’s presence at The Nest.

Florence is hurt in a car accident close to The Nest, and the wider horizons offered by the community associated with the community village life and The Nest become fraught. Alice, Beth and Georgie’s stories become as much a focus as that of Lenore, James and Florence. What is the reader to think about the various machinations associated with maintaining The Nest’s reputation and the women’s stories, including Lenore’s poor recall of current events, and all too distressing recall of her past problems?

The weaving of the women’s stories, between their domestic dramas and professional concerns, is absorbing. Where should sympathy lie? Who is really at fault? Does a simple hasty reckless action hold the answer to Florence’s escape from The Nest or is something more sinister at work?

Leah Mercer’s ability to move sympathy, criticism and wholehearted anger at Alice, Beth and Georgie’s reactions to the accident, and questions about Lenore’s abilities to mother is one key to the way in which this novel maintains its tension. Another is Mercer’s skill in moving beyond the domestic to the tensions associated with professional occupations and, at the other end of the spectrum, even crime.
The ending is satisfying as Mercer brings together the strands of the women’s stories, with some predictable resolutions, and others that are not. Here, Mercer’s development of character, is skilful. When solutions to the women’s predicaments go beyond the predictable, they remain eminently plausible. Similarly, Mercer’s twists and turns have a logic rather than being confected with the aim of surprise overcoming good writing. When a psychological thriller achieves this, it is worthy of the description.

Well Where do i start?! I am a huge fan of this author since the very beginning of their writing journey, but hands down this is up there with the best, if not it’s the best book this author has written.

The twists and turns in this story are incredible and I feel like i have whiplash from being pulled all ways. Just when you think you have sussed out what’s going on… another curve ball happens!

I was gripped by this story. I wouldn’t say this was a light read, it is quite hard hitting and deals with some pretty traumatic stuff within it. It was excellently written with really well developed characters which all had their own agenda’s and secrets that they needed to protect. I was completely mesmorised by this story and I couldn’t put my kindle down and read this really really quickly. This is an extremely well written, fast paced, thriller where you just need to buckle yourself down and enjoy the ride that it takes you on.

Thank you NetGalley and Leah Mercer for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest Review.

Synopsis: Breath catches in my throat and terror grips me as my daughter’s favourite jumper slides into focus. Time slows. Helpless, I watch my precious little girl run into the road. Screeching tires slice through the quiet afternoon. Days from now, my friends will say the worst day of my life was all my fault…A bright and welcoming haven, the playgroup sits at the heart of the town, tucked away inside a red-brick building. The Nest should have been the safest place for my rosy-cheeked, pink-obsessed daughter, Florence. Run by mothers like me, I trusted my newfound friends – Alice, Beth and Georgie – to take care of my child. But now my choice has left Florence fighting for her life. My heart pounds thinking about what I will tell my husband, James. He stayed with me through the darkest times, and I thought some space would bring us closer. But as I watch our little girl sleeping in a hospital bed, I know our relationship may never recover from this. How can I tell James what really happened if I don’t know myself? I can’t shake the feeling the other mothers are lying to me; they know I’d never let Florence leave the nursery by herself. We’ve all got dangerous secrets we want to protect, but if they expose mine, will anyone, including my husband, believe me when I say I didn’t harm my daughter?

Review: WHAT DID I JUST READ?? This entire book was one wild ride! I started this book and was like eh for the first 10 % because it was dual POV and hard to remember names! After, getting past that 10 % I was addicted. I couldn't believe my eyes. I stayed up super late last night finishing it because I kept saying one more chapter, but literally the last 40 % was cliff hangers! I don't think my eyes could widen anymore than they did. I am obsessed with this book and how everything ended! I can't wait to read more by this author!

I really wanted to like this book. It was very predictable and Playgroup isn't really the right name for it. It wasn't hard to read but it was everything seemed played out that I wasn't surprised by what happened.

This was such a original story which I don’t think has been done before and wow it was excellently written with well developed characters. It is a story about every parents worse nightmare there child is hurt while at nursery but you are getting the blame. It was full of lies deceit and lots of dark secrets. It had me gripped until the very end. Fantastic highly recommend. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my advanced copy.

“The Playgroup,” by Leah Mercer, follows four women connected with a nursery (in the US we’d call it a day care). Lenore has moved away from London to prove to her husband that she is a capable mother, after suffering severe postpartum depression. She gets a job at “The Nest,” the nursery, and becomes work friends with Alice (the owner who is also a London lawyer), Georgie (who has a daughter with MS), and Beth (who is recently pregnant). All four women have “hidden past secrets,” so when an accident occurs involving Lenore’s daughter at The Nest, the other three women band together to confuse Lenore on what really happened. I found this a very interesting book - how far will someone go in order to pin the blame on someone else. At times this book felt a bit too perfect with how things unfolded, but that’s expected for a rather short book (fewer than 300 pages). I’ve read books by this author before, so I saw one of the twists coming but that didn’t diminish my enjoyment of this book at all. I do agree with another reviewer that the title of this book isn’t quite accurate - it’s not a playgroup, but that’s a minor quibble. I found this book both enjoyable and a quick read - so I’d recommend it to those who like mystery/thrillers.

The Nest, a community run nursery co-op, should have been where little Florence was safest. Bur a responsible adult made a mistake and now the little girl is in the hospital with life threatening injuries. Accusations are flying. The depiction of the accident itself is absolutely chilling and although I was concerned to see that the chapters alternate between four different women, that didn't turn out to be a problem and it was always clear who I was reading about at the moment. All of the women are desperate to save their own hides, no matter who they have to blame to keep their own names clear. Everyone is hiding dark secrets and would do just about anything to keep them. This one is a fast paced page turner.

As a parent I really resonated with this one!, it is not afraid to tackle serious subjects like post partum depression. Each character was hiding something, a novel full of twists and turns. I really enjoyed it.

Alice is a lawyer who has also begun a nursery, which is called The Nest Nursery. Among the people that work for her are Georgie, Lenore, and Beth.

Lenore had an interesting story, one that I have seen with two of my daughters, and that is her recovery from post-partem depression. Lenore is working at the nursery and her young daughter Florence attends as well. One day the toddler is hit by a car and responsibility for the terrible accident could be on any of the four women, Alice, Georgie, Beth and even Lenore.

It soon becomes clear that everyone has something to hide. Pasts that they do not want to come to the light of day. Because of these secrets, any of the women could be responsible for the accident that gravely injured little Florence.

Something that really caught my attention while reading this book, is that not only did it deal with a woman who has recently experienced post-partum depression, it used the term gaslighting. I found that to be of great significance since everyone had something to hide, and gaslighting was clearly used when it came to laying blame.

As intriguing as this book was with all of the drama that was going on with each of the women, the title The Playgroup confused me. I did a search on my Kindle, and it was what I expected, the reference is "The Nursery" was used over 70 times, and The Nest, over 150 times, so I do wonder why either of those terms were not the name of the book as the phrase "The Playgroup" never once appeared in the novel.

This book came to a satisfying conclusion as some of the women's outcomes were surprising and the ending was handled well. But before the stunning ending there was an amazing twist. Leah Mercer is one of my favorite authors and I love how she kept the characters' secrets from each other as long as possible. I will definitely be reading her next novel.

Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

The Playgroup has introduced me to one of any parents worst nightmares. Heartbreaking, infuriating, and will keep you holding your children tighter.