Per farvela breve, perchè voglio che capite di cosa sto parlando (metteró la recensione sotto spoiler ovviamente), la protagonista Abi è ancora sconvolta dalla morte della gemella due anni prima. Si da la colpa della sua morte perchè c'era lei alla guida della macchina durante l'incidente. Sophie Collier came to Oldcliffe-On-Sea with her mother and brother when they ran away from Sophie's abusive father. Francesca (Frankie) Howe lived with her affluent mother and father in the seaside hotel that they ran. Frankie had never had a close relationship with her mother and preferred the company and attention of her dad, Alistair Howe. The beautiful, entitled, and popular Frankie took the less popular and plain Sophie under her wing and the girls were best friends throughout their childhood and adolescence. I haven’t got a studio at the moment,’ says Beatrice as she ushers me into her bedroom, propping open the door with a floral cloth door-stop. Pam, Jodie and Cass have disappeared into their own rooms to begin setting up, although I can’t imagine that Jodie will be selling the three-headed sculpture that I saw downstairs any time soon. Found this book to be an excellent read and I will definitely be recommending this book to my friends. I didn’t want to put it down. Every chapter revealed another hidden secret that had my mind racing with anticipation to the next chapter.” This was a gripping read from the very start. I instantly knew something was going on in the plot but it would only reveal itself in tiny pieces leaving you wanting more. I read it straight in three days and was quite sad when I had finished it. A very modern suspense thriller.”

The hot guy who was with Frankie last week is called Leon McNamara. He's half Irish, like me, but with chocolate-brown hair and the most amazing blue eyes I've ever seen. They are the exact same colour as my indigo Levi 501s." I’m an artist,’ she explains. By the two red spots that appear at the apples of her cheeks I can tell she’s new to this, that she’s not qualified yet to be calling herself an artist and that she’s probably a mature student. She tells me she has a studio in her house and she’s opening it up to the public as part of the Bear Flat Artists weekend. ‘I make and sell jewellery, but there will be others showing their paintings, or photographs. If you’re interested in coming along then you’re most welcome.’ I gave this book a star because it is an easy read and I did finish it. I decided to give it another star because I felt bad that this book didn't even grab me at any point. I will not be reading any further books by this author. The twists and turns in this outstanding psychological thriller will have you questioning what’s going on in every chapter’ FABULOUS Sorry it’s so soggy. Not a good idea to be dishing out flyers in the rain, is it?’ She doesn’t wait for me to answer. ‘You don’t have to buy anything, you can come along and browse, bring some friends.’ Her voice is silky, as sunny as her smile. She has a hint of an accent that I can’t quite place. Somewhere up north, maybe Scottish. I’ve never been very good at placing accents.

Customer reviews

After what happened in London, Kirsty needs a fresh start with her family. And running a guesthouse in the Welsh mountains sounds idyllic.

When she was just twenty-one years old, in early September of 1997 Sophie died after she fell from the town's decrepit Victorian pier - taking her secret with her...

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Add to that some extraordinarily fascinating characters, a really clever and intelligent plot, some perfect scene setting and a distinct tendency to sneak things up on you, this was a really terrific read. There are quite a few novels around this year that focus on siblings and family dynamic, this is one of the best I’ve read for sheer depth of perception and I really do highly recommend it. I miss you too,’ I squeak, then I force myself to make my voice sound cheerful. ‘How is it, living in Muswell Hill? Anything like Balham?’

What did he want?’ I’m trying to sound nonchalant but I know Nia won’t be fooled. She’s my best friend and she was there, she knows how much he meant to me. Local Girl Missing, Claire Douglas’ second offering, is a heart racing read. It is a novel that successfully intertwines friendship, secrecy, lies and jealously in a complex tale for readers to unravel. This is one fans of the thriller/psychological mystery genre will be sure to enjoy. I enjoyed this psychological thriller. The Sisters had an interesting mix of characters with various secrets and dark sides to them. This story kept me guessing throughout and eager to find out how it was going to end. She looks at me in astonishment for a second, before emitting her already familiar tinkly laugh. ‘It’s mine, of course. Well, mine and Ben’s. Come on, everyone’s downstairs.’ She leaves the door on the latch, so that she doesn’t have to keep answering it, she explains. Not that she wants to take it for granted that people will come. ‘It’s my first open studio,’ she says. ‘There are quite a lot of us in this street who are opening their houses up this weekend and a few in other streets, so all in all it should generate some interest.’ She seems jittery, excited, pink-cheeked and almost skips down the hallway. I follow, wanting to know who this Ben person is that she mentioned. If she’s married it might change things.I really had a great time reading this book and I highly recommend it. Well done Claire Douglas, you're a very talented lady! I was simply captivated by this book. The writing is very mature and the plot is creative, ingenious and very atmospheric with great vivid descriptions. I could visualise the seafront at Oldcliffe with its cafes and hotels, the tourists on the promenade enjoying the views. I could almost feel the rush of sea water as waves crashed on the seawalls. And I could clearly imagine the old mysterious pier shrouded by fog and battered by wind, rain and the waves. Mum and Dad live four miles away.’ I force a laugh but the irony isn’t lost on me. I’d been desperate at eighteen to go to university to escape my parents and the small town of Farnham in Surrey where we lived. And now look at me. Nearly thirty years of age and I’ve followed them, like a stalker, to this new city where they’ve come in a bid to try and rebuild their fractured lives. Not much chance of that with me hanging around, reminding them of what they’ve lost. On the other hand, I had a hard time with the final twist, finding it a little far fetched, even though I did appreciate the irony of the situation.

A chance meeting with a girl who bears a startling similarity to the lost twin sees Abi's life take an alarming turn in another direction. Is she moving on from her tragic past, or is this an unforeseen nexus, taking her closer to the past catastrophe that haunts her? Sophie and Frankie were best friends during their teenage years, until romantic entanglements came between them, but they eventually reconciled, and were trying to resume their friendship, but, one night, Sophie disappeared from the old Victorian, 'Oldcliffe-on-the-Sea', pier. Her body was never recovered…. Until now. Emilia Ward lives quietly in suburban London with her husband and two children. Just an ordinary wife and mother. But also a bestselling crime writer. When she starts writing her tenth Detective Miranda Moody novel, however, life takes a frightening turn: an incident straight out of one of her novels occurs in real life. Just an unsettling coincidence, she thinks. Until it happens again. Then someone she knows dies exactly like a victim in the book she’s still writing . . . I enjoyed this book immensely. It's told in the present by Frankie and in the past through Sophie's diary. The two are well distinguished in style, Frankie being dramatic, filled with simile, tending towards paranoia while Sophie's diary is more youthfully breathless though often dark in content. What I particularly loved was the clever way the author gradually altered my perception of the world they'd both inhabited twenty years ago. An excellent and unusual story.

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

I fell in love with the cover of this book the moment I saw it in bookstore , I read the blurb and I bought it ( PS:- NEVER JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER ) one fine evening (today) I was sitting and admiring my bookshelf when my eyes fell on this book and I couldn't remember a single thing about it!!!!!!! I’m fairly new to Bath so I don’t know many people.’ The words pop out of my mouth before I’ve even considered saying them. The sisters is a book revolving around Abi, the one remaining twin who survived after a tragic accident. Almost two years later and she still has not got over her survivor's guilt, and blames herself every day for her sister's demise. Unable to continue with her former life, she moves to Devon to be closer to her distraught parents. But the face of her sister continues to haunt her. Loved this book and actually read it in one sitting. Kept me guessing until nearly the end, which was tantalising in itself. Now wondering where this author will go next. Will definitely look out for anything else she writes. Hope she continues in an upwardly trajectory.”