Her Last Secret by Barbara Copperthwaite @BCopperthwait @bookouture #blogblitz

** advanced copy received via publisher **

I am absolutely thrilled to be hosting a stop on the blog blitz for Her Last Secret by Barbara Copperthwaite today! Many thanks to Barbara and Noelle Holten for inviting me and for the advanced copy!

Author : Barbara Copperthwaite
Title : Her Last Secret
Pages : 408
Publisher : Bookouture
Publication date : October 13, 2017

Some secrets you can never tell.

Everyone thinks the Thomases are the perfect family : grand London house, gorgeous kids.

They don’t know wife Dominique is a paranoid wreck.

They don’t know husband Ben is trapped in a web of deceit.

They don’t know daughter Ruby lives in fear of the next abusive text.

But someone knows all their secrets.

Can the lies that bind them destroy them all?

Holy crap! Okay, it’s official. I’m going to stand up and say it loud and proud : I am a Barbara Copperthwaite fan! After loving The Darkest Lies and Flowers for the Dead, I couldn’t wait to start reading this latest one and the author once again delivered a most outstanding, twist-y tale that had me utterly gripped.

The story starts on Christmas Day when police is called to a house by a resident reporting the sound of a gunshot. It’s clear quite early on something bad has happened but the who or the why remains a mystery for a little longer.

The Thomas family seems to have it all. Father Benjamin is a successful accountant. He and his family live in a million pound house in a nice neighbourhood in London. But Benjamin is in trouble, his wife Dominique isn’t the cool cucumber people think she is and eldest daughter Ruby is the victim of horrendous bullying. Soon, a chain of events is set in motion that will have devastating consequences for the entire family.

Barbara Copperthwaite always manages to come up with realistic and believable characters in relatable situations. None of the characters in Her Last Secret are particularly likeable. They’re stressed and harassed, flawed and damaged, seemingly vying for the worst-parent-of-the-year award and regularly made me want to punch them in the face. Yet, I couldn’t help but be completely invested in them. There’s one exception though, wee Mouse, or Amber as she’s called. I thought she was a truly delightful little bookworm and I adored her from the minute I met her.

Her Last Secret very much deals with the way people portray themselves, how they often wear a mask and hide their innermost feelings and turmoil. And also, the effect a web of lies, deceit and secrets can have on a family.

This psychological thriller is taut with suspense and intrigue. It’s quite dark, often disturbing and at times also incredibly sad. There’s an excellent and compelling plot which I thought was brilliantly constructed as we discover what happened in the week leading up to Christmas. This also leads to a rather long list of potential suspects and conclusions that kept me guessing until the end.

If Barbara Copperthwaite hadn’t already been on my list of go-to authors, she most definitely would be now! I thoroughly enjoyed this and I can’t wait for whatever she comes up with next.

Her Last Secret is available for purchase now!

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Goodreads

Barbara is the best-selling author of psychological thrillers INVISIBLE, FLOWERS FOR THE DEAD, THE DARKEST LIES, and HER LAST SECRET.

Much of her success is thanks to her twenty-odd years’ experience as a national newspaper and magazine journalist. She’s interviewed the real victims of crime – and also those who have carried those crimes out. Thanks to people sharing their stories with her, she knows the emotional impact of violence and wrong-doing. That’s why her novels are dark, realistic and tackle not just the crime but its repercussions.

When not writing feverishly, she is often found hiding behind a camera, taking wildlife photographs.

To find out more about Barbara, visit her website. You can also follow her on Twitter or her Facebook Author Page.

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