The Last Truths We Told

When a group of university friends whose lives have frayed at the edges gather to read predictions they made when golden futures lay ahead, things quickly start to get sinister: it's a thrilling premise with heart-racing execution. Watt keeps you second-guessing as you race through to the chilling denouement. Thought-provoking and unnerving, this is a smart page-turner with killer secrets and dark twists, populated with characters who you'll love to hate. Absolute book club dynamite - a must-read!

Holly Watt has done it again! I absolutely love her books, she’s one of my favourite writers and I can see this one being HUGE. I was hooked from page one and could barely put it down!

I love novels about class reunions or meeting up with people from eons ago and this was the perfect blend of thriller and mystery. Holly’s a fantastic writer and I can’t wait to see what she does next because it’s always incredibly exciting!

A group of university friends from Cambridge, all clever and bright, have a dinner party and write down predictions about each other.
20 years later, they meet up for a long weekend, and the envelope is opened and the predictions read out.
Lots of history and memories are relived, and everyone's lives back then and now are slowly revealed.
Then things turn darker. How well do they really know each other? Is anyone what they seem or want to show the outside world?
And is a recent suicide possibly murder?
I was absolutely hooked and read through the night.
The characters are interesting and multilayered. What the world sees, what their friend sees, and what they feel inside are all different things.
The predictions take them back to when they were about to conquer the world and make all their dreams come true.
It is also one of those books that I finished and then read most of it again, now knowing what I know.

This is a fantastic new standalone thriller by the author of the brilliant Casey Benedict series. It's a simple premise - a group of uni friends made predictions about where they'd all be in twenty years, two decades ago, and are now gathering to go through their predictions, over the course of a weekend. But one of their number has recently died, and it seems there might be more to their apparent suicide than meets the eye...

Holly Watt manages the story expertly, delving into the secrets of the past while maintaining the pace in the present day with ease. It would be easy for a lesser author to rely too heavily on flashbacks, but Watt's storytelling is smoother and more sophisticated than that. I love her characterisation, its economical and astute, and the setting is well drawn. it's not easy to write a novel set over only a few days but Watt more than pulls it off. The tension builds across the weekend, with some fantastic set pieces taking place in the sprawling country estate where the friends are staying, and an exciting and satisfying conclusion.

The Last Truths We Told is a whip smart thriller perfect for fans of Lucy Foley, Ruth Ware, and Liane Moriarty. I loved it, and hope for more in the same vein from Holly.