Woman with a Secret audiobook

Readers hooked on Sophie Hannah's crime fiction may understand what it is like to suffer addiction. Indeed you could call me me a punter. When each of Sophie Hannah's mysteries featuring the Culver Valley Constabulary appears I promise myself that I'll waste no time trying to solve the puzzle & just enjoy the bizarre characters & situations. Meanwhile a small voice whispers, 'This time she's not going to fool me. This time I'm going to pay careful attention to all the clues & figure the damned thing out.' Like someone addicted to drugs or alcohol pretending to think he's in control. Here I was totally jerked around trying to figure out the identity of Nicki's online lover, who uses the sobriquet King Edward VII. Why would anyone adopt the name of that rather ungainly monarch? As usual in a Sophie Hannah novel, Simon Waterhouse figures it out, tho' we're not told how & it was only after finishing that I realized how to solve it. (view spoiler)[Look up the address on p. 402 in Google maps & it'll be staring you in the face. (hide spoiler)] It's pretty clear that Nicki is anything but tightly wrapped mentally & she is only one of several characters in this story totally without integrity. Which as someone who now reads for the characters & the relationships keeps me from putting Sophie Hannah on my short list. There's simply no one amongst her characters that I admire & would want to emulate, anyone who haunts me or makes me want to live differently & better.

Coming April 24th from Hodder and StaughtonThank you kindly to Hodder and Sophie for arranging an advance reading copy.Stuck in a traffic jam, Nicki Clements sees a face she hoped never to see again. It’s definitely him, the same police officer, stopping each car on Elmhirst Road. Keen to avoid him, Nicki does a U-turn and makes a panicky escape.Or so she thinks. The next day, Nicki is pulled in for questioning in connection with the murder of Damon Blundy, controversial newspaper columnist and resident of Elmhirst Road.Nicki can’t answer any of the questions detectives fire at her. She has no idea why the killer used a knife in a way that involved no spilling of blood, or why ‘HE IS NO LESS DEAD’ was painted across Blundy’s study. And she can’t explain why she avoided Elmhirst Road that day without revealing the secret that could ruin her life. Because although Nicki is not guilty of murder, she is far from innocent . . .One of my favourite times of the year – time for a new Sophie Hannah book and time for me to head back into the world of Simon Waterhouse and co as they try and untangle yet another twisted web of murder. This year I was lucky enough to get an early look – so here we are a couple of sleepless nights later and I am done. And very happy.Nicki is hiding a secret, So when certain things put that secret in jeopardy her paranoia causes her to take an impulsive action – one that will set off a chain of events that will eventually lead to a cold blooded killer…Oh twisty turny wonderful tales – no-one does it better than Ms Hannah. Her extraordinary ability to write uncannily realistic yet psychologically deep characters then put them in a situation often of their own making is second to none….THEN she sends the equally extraordinary detective Simon Waterhouse in to untangle the ensuing chaos. Every time a little gem of reading joy especially for those of us who love a brain work out as we try to untangle things right alongside him.In this particular instalment we have a murder victim who was not particularly pleasant in life (although I kind of loved him) a woman who is hiding, mostly from herself, along with an eclectic cast of other suspects all misbehaving in various ways – not since Agatha Christie’s novels have I come across stories with such a flair for the dramatic all wrapped up in the often mundane routines of life…all with their very own “locked room mystery” atmosphere. Its interesting therefore that it IS Sophie Hannah who will bring us a new Poirot story. A perfect fit – if anyone is going to do it then they have the right person for the job.As always characters are key. Yes, Simon et al have their own ongoing story, but they are as always often very much in the background. Each new novel brings us new and compelling people to meet and judge and love or hate – the tales are always emotive for one reason or another, and provoke a response from the heart. As stated earlier I had a particular affinity for our victim here, but also Nicki, our main protagonist had me tearing my hair out…Ms Hannah puts you firmly inside the heads of these people and its often highly disturbing. Cleverly done.This is definitely my favourite so far and that really IS saying something because I have loved them all. And so we come to the outcome (no spoilers ahead do not fear) of my well loved game of Beat the Author. Ms Hannah has been close to beating me with several of her previous novels and I was reliably informed going in that this might be “the one”. Well I’ll start by saying that again, as usual, this was intelligent, fascinating and outstanding plotting from someone I would be happy to call the heir apparent to the Queen of Crime when it comes to compelling mystery writing. Who won? Me?Ha. Well. Yes. And No. I did untangle a lot of this very twisted tale but not all oh no. There was at least one part of the whole that I did not know until I was told. Now I had the main parts but Sophie Hannah is devious. Yay! Obviously I can’t tell you more – but once you have read it, do feel free to come back and ask and I’ll give you a breakdown. Ms Hannah thought at least a portion was unguessable but I think she does herself a disservice. There is no cheating of the reader here- looking back it was possible. I just did not. I call it a draw…Five Bright Shiny Stars and an entry into my Beat the Author hall of fame for this one. Fair is fair.Happy Reading Folks!

There was very much of this - part psychological thriller, part murder mystery - that I liked very much, and it was a refreshingly different slant on a familiar basic story.. but some of it jarred a touch with me.The main premise surrounds the potential involvement of a woman in the brutal murder of a controversial journalist/columnist. Sections of the tale were narrated from the POV of this woman, and I found her a compelling and unique character, with her thoughts and deeds very interesting to follow (as damaged and messed up as she was). Other parts of the story from a more conventional slant - routine police procedural aspects - were a lot less special, slightly confusing and even boring in places. The tying up of the story didn't quite convince me either.So yes, I may read other Sophie Hannah novels, but I understand why I have heard she can be inconsistent.

The books starts with very interesting exchange between two strangers who found each other on the website where people tell/keep secret to/of each other.Nicki Clements, who has a loving husband and two kids is unhappy in marriage and tries to seek for an affairs to spice up her married life in Intimate Connection website. She falls in love with the man and becomes obsessed. Then, she is spotted by a police officer fleeing the crime area of a controversial newspaper columnist named Damon Blundy. This dark,psychological thriller takes you round and round. I almost felt I was dealing with a character very much similar to "Gone Girl". The story is very captivating and believable. The recent out break on the story of Ashley Madison website made this books very interesting. It is also scary to think, that social media and every kind of website out there is not only luring to young people but also many older people as well. More people are cheating online because it is easy and less guilty? It is very interesting to watch Nikki who claims how much she loves her husband and her children yet, she is ready to meet a stranger in a hotel room whom she does not know. Quite a book!!!

Depois de ter lido Os Crimes do Monograma, romance policial onde Sophie Hannah ressuscita Hercule Poirot, a curiosidade aumentou quando a Asa decidiu publicar um novo livro da autora, também ele policial, mas noutro registo.Apesar de ser editado pela primeira vez em Portugal, Um Erro Fatal é o nono livro de uma série chamada de Spilling CID. Talvez por isso não tenha criado tanta empatia com a polícia, que achei bastante confusa...A morte de um cronista famoso vai despoletar uma investigação desenfreada. Damon Blundy é sarcástico nas suas crónicas o que lhe traz muitos inimigos, dificultando muito o trabalho da dupla de detectives Simon Waterhouse e Charlie. A juntar a isso Damon tem dois casamentos falhados e um terceiro casamento que poderia não estar a correr tão bem quanto se possa querer parecer. A actual mulher dele não é o estereótipo de mulher ideal de Damon o que a coloca como uma das principais suspeitas do crime.Opinião completa: http://marcadordelivros.blogspot.pt/2...

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read this brilliant book.Simon and Charlie are back!!! Yay!!!! After reading all of the previous books in the series, I am over joyed to read the next one. I just love those two and the way these stories are so cleverly put together.As usual, we have a complex mystery. Internet emailing and obsessional behaviours combined with marital mayhem. A woman with a gift for telling porkies, who has an intimate relationship over email, sharing secrets with a stranger. A man murdered in his own home, full of anger and hurtful opinions. Who wanted him dead and why?This is a wonderful Sophie Hannah read that makes you wonder and guess. It was a pleasure to read!

I'm writing this review in the middle of the night, an hour after having read it's last page. I can't get over how perfect this book was, and I feel I must write this review before being able to find sleep. This makes it possible this review is clouded by some feeling of a thrill, but even if it is, that alone is spectacular and very rare. I rate very few books five stars, and even fewer I would call perfection to boot.But this book was perfection. And a perfect detective story at that. I've read perfect books before, but never in this genre. There was always something, sometimes a tiny thing, but always a thing that made it not quite perfecT. A lacking motivation, an unbelievable oversight, a too convenient coincidence, a far-fetched process. None of that here. This is the perfect psychological detective story. It's the first time I read one of this kind. It's been a circle of "WOW" (the gasp of admiration) for me. WOW when I saw the book cover, WOW when I saw the synopsis, WOW when I read the first pages. Asthe story kept going, I saw the meticulousness of this author: eye for details, references to those details now and then, some of them useless for the story but very useful for strenghtening my belief that by the end of the book, the WOW would still be there. And as opposed to almost any other detective story I read, it still was. Where even the greatest like Agatha Christie sometimes have to resort to the strength of their character (like Poirot) to make certain explanations more believable, Sophie Hannah needed no such thing in this book. Explanations came from the people thinknig their thoughts and doing their actions, and all were believable. The mystery was captivating, its solution even more so in its perfection. The psychological insights of this author are undeniable and a great strength in this book and are a big part of why it works so very very well. I want to recommend this book to everyone.A small additional anecdote:I first saw Sophie Hannah's name when I saw she was writing a book with Poirot, my favourite detective. I thought: Who in the hell does she think she is grabbing a character from the great Christie? Now I know. I may be too quick to judge since I only read this one book by her, but looking at the large volume she already wrote, the great quality of this book, I'm thinking she's well on her way to fill her footsteps and even more. The only thing that's stopping me right now from reading more of her works if a small worry. Somewhere I find it hard to imagine that a work of this quality could be repeated by the same author and I'd hate that disappointment cloud the experience I've had here. A small psychological quirk the author might even appreciate. But I know that one day I'll return to this Culver Valley series and keep the WOW's coming. And one day maybe even read Sophie Hannah's take on my favorite detective, if he hasn't been replaced by Simon Waterhouse by that time.

Sophie Hannah's latest release is unbelievably timely. Over recent months here in Australia I've been listening to shock jocks and reading columnists ranting about all sorts of things they can't possibly believe. And - in an increasingly online and interactive world - thought bubbles in the form of tweets and online comments become powerful and destructive. Nicki Clements is on her second trip to her children's school one day when she recognises a police officer who once saw her at her worst. Her actions to avoid further embarrassment set off a series of events which have the potential to ruin her life.They start by bringing her to the attention of police investigating the murder of a newspaper columnist whose vicious diatribes scored him a slew of enemies. The fact that she was once a regular defender of his work causes the police to be even more suspicious.Nicki admits herself, she has a long history of untruths and - though usually quite adept at the art of lying - finds herself struggling to explain her actions. The fact that she has a secret life which has, on occasions overtaken her reality, places her in more trouble.Although the police find Nicki's obvious lies concerning, they have no shortages of suspects in the death of Damon Blundy. Athletes, politicians, authors, other columnists, a wife and two ex-wives are thrown into the mix. And then there's the dichotomy of Blundy himself. Tyrannical in his writing and first two marriages, but inexplicably kind to his current wife - though even she senses he's playing the role of doting husband, rather than being his true self.Most baffling to the police are the circumstances of Blundy's death. Struck unconscious, bound and gagged, a newly-sharpened knife 'taped' to his face before being bludgeoned. There's no blood but writing on the wall in red paint, "He is no less dead."There's a lot at play in The Telling Error. Initially we're in Nicki's shoes and slip back into her mind every so often so we get a clear picture of her thoughts, memories and secrets. We also get to experience the investigation, particularly through the eyes of husband and wife team, DC Simon Waterhouse and Sergeant Charlie Zailer.I really enjoyed this latest offering from Sophie Hannah. The content and topic were particularly relevant and well... just a touch scary (in a confronting sense for those of us spending time online: writing and reading blogs and social media). There were also enough protagonists and suspects to keep us guessing throughout. I received an advance copy of this novel from the publisher for review purposes.

The Telling Error is the ninth in the Culver Valley series which features the extremely clever but somewhat odd Simon Waterhouse and his wife Charlie who solve the fiendishly complex psychology to explain an equally intricately planned crime.The book starts with a post on Intimate Connections website with a post entitled “Looking For A Secret”, the post then goes onto describe a murder-scene and appealing to the murderer who the author is certain is female. Who would post the question and would anyone be compelled to answer? This opening had me hooked, which is not unusual for one of Sophie Hannah’s books and I was like a fish on the end of the line until the last page.was like a fish on the end of the line until the last page.In The Telling Error a well-known controversial columnist Damon Blundy is found dead in mysterious circumstances and the police trail leads back to Nicki Clements. Nicky to be fair, doesn’t help matters by taking a detour to avoid a policeman she recognises, although as a reader you may have little sympathy when you read about her cyber secrets. Nicky is a misguided woman who seems to have a bit of a wimp of a husband who has turned to the internet for a bit of excitement which unsurprisingly threatens to blow her world apart. Nicky also reveals a worrying past where it appears she longs to be loved for who she is, but tellingly has been wary of revealing the truth to any of the normal candidates including her best-friend or her husband.One of the things the author does really well is an intricate plot giving a sense of satisfaction as the pieces slot into place revealing some fairly outrageous motives, in this book, just on the right side of believable. On another level this book examines the recent phenomenon of cyber relationships, long-kept secrets and sibling relationships. Even while describing unusual characters the author handles this with a surety which gives quite an insight into human behaviour while simultaneously entertaining the reader with a complex puzzle.Although the Police are constant throughout the series their own stories don’t over shadow the main action which means that anyone of these books can be picked up and enjoyed as a stand-alone read.I received an advance review copy of this book from the publishers Hodder & Stoughton in return for my honest review.

Si pudiese le daba 10 estrellas. Es de esas novelas que no puedes dejar de leer, pero que al mismo tiempo no quieres que se acabe.

This is a story that is so much more expansive than the reader could ever imagine.Saying that it is about character a or b, doesn't seem appropriate either. As the plot has less to do with the particulars of what happened ( the murder of one Damon Blundy) and more to do with how the secrets kept by all suspected, led them to be suspected, convicted, or acquitted.Nicki Clements is a great many things: a mother, a wife, and a woman with a secret. A secret that makes her heart race in her chest, a secret that makes her burn with desire, a secret that causes her to make an ill-timed U-turn on a busy thoroughfare; not far from her home. A secret that makes her a prime suspect in a murder.What readers soon come to learn first and foremost about Nicki, and later to a lesser degree about other suspects in the offing of the controversial columnist, is that they and the secrets they carry all form a web...with Damon's killer at its heart.Sophie Hannah builds her story by introducing readers to the secret or secrets, before the character as person, becomes a factor. In doing so, the reader is induced into following said character down his or her rabbit hole. If for no other reason than to see how far it goes.Plot wise this leads to a story that is very detail heavy. It also creates a storyline that wanders quite a bit. These wanderings are well worth the trip in most cases however, because they often give the reader access to deeper thoughts. Those hidden reasons for things said or done.One example of this sort of 'circular thinking' would be the introduction of factors by Nicki's ex best friend Melissa, which suggest that Nicki's brother might have committed the murder. Though there is not the slightest hint of a connection between the two men. The author sets the reader on such a well defined path of circumstance, that the conclusion of his involvement can not be ruled out as a possibility. As if the solving of a murder is not a juicy enough steak for her audience to gnaw, there are also generous amounts of psychological sides to satisfy the appetites of those with a hunger to...Understand the effects of secrets on marriage, parent \ child relationships, as well as the relationship between the secret keeper and his or her secret.Thankfully, because there is so much emphasis placed on the interworkings of the players within the mystery, the group of inspectors solving it seem secondary to the overall conclusion. Driving this point home, is the fact that they don't come into play in any substantive way until well after 50% of the book. The inclusion of said law enforcement is mentioned in this review because it is the only clue to the reader within the story, that suggests the book is part of a series.While this is, on its surface, a book about the murder of a man who may or may not have had it coming. This is also an oftentimes glaring look at the human condition. How the need to feel connected, to be heard, to be acknowledged, or even to manipulate \ be manipulated can drive a person to unfathomable levels of depravity.Reviewer's Note:This book may be read as a stand alone, though it is part of a series.

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Listened to in audio format.Controversial columnist Damon Blundy had been found murdered in his own home. Damon had built up many enemies during his career including a disgraced athlete caught in a drug scandal, an author with who confessed to taking drugs and an female MP. Damon had been married three times, he once admitted he divorced his first wife because she snored. Despite his reputation his third wife claimed Damon revered here, but doubted him.Housewife and mother of two Nicki Clements found herself arrested after driving past his house three times in one day. In a panic Nicki faked an excuse which makes DC Simon Waterhouse suspicious. In the story we discover that Nicki was actually trying to avoid someone from her other world.First of all this book was read by favourite narrators David Thorpe and Julia Barrie. I'm glad to say Sophie Hannah is back on track after her disappointing last book The Carrier. In Woman with a secret the story is mainly about the investigation rather than Simon and Charlie Waterhouse.Nicki and Damon were fascinating characters. Although Nicki was a liar I did feel sorry she had such a treacherous best friend and unforgiving family. Damon was definitely a poisonous character both in person and on paper.Sophie Hannah`s plots can be quite complicated, I don't try to guess whodunit I just let the story sweep over me.I love this series. However if you are new to the Spilling CID I recommend you start with book one Little Face.

Mentiras que matan es una novela que te atrapa desde la primera página y no te suelta hasta el final, con un asesinato con múltiples sospechosos, dramas familiares, personajes con un psicología complicada y una narración que mantiene un ritmo dinámico durante toda su lectura.Reseña completa aquí: http://mividaenhojadepapel.blogspot.c...