Hide and Seek: The unmissable new crime thriller from the top ten Sunday Times bestselling author of All Her Fault

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Some of the characters are intriguing, they’re odd and eccentric and all play a part in unravelling the mystery of Lily Murphy and really add to creating a sense of community within the story. In 2018, Joanna loses her daughter in a game of hide and seek in the garden of her new suburban home. There were a lot of interesting characters but I did sometimes get confused over who was who but nevertheless it gives plenty of suspects to point the finger at. I couldn't stop turning the pages to find out what happened next as the gripping, clever plot twists and turns its way to a dramatic denouement.

This is very hard to put down, it’s very smart and keeps you guessing to the end, the characterisation is masterful although there are a bunch of them to get your head around.

Another cracking read from Mara who has a fantastic writing style that draws you in to the darker elements of suburbia.

Cora is the only daughter of Ines and Victor O’Brien, a couple defined by the wife’s Spanish nationality as well as her unpleasant demeanour. Part of me wonders how this entire community did not guess that Joanna was “involved” given how many questions she asked 🤣 went way further than new homeowner curiosity. There were a lot of characters in the book, and I did have difficulty remembering who was who at the start, particularly as each had to be remembered in their past and present situation, but I soon got to grips with them and I think the one-sitting read helped too.But whilst playing hide and seek in the garden with her daughter, she learns from a neighbour about the disappearance following a game of hide and seek thirty years earlier of three year old Lily who lived in what is now their house. However, the story is so intricately plotted and there are twists upon twists, which made for a dark, suspenseful read. There were almost three different plots happening, with the Joanna/Lila strand of the story adding to the tension, and even though I wouldn't describe this is a super pacy plot in itself, seeing the mystery unravel through different perspectives, and being faced with cliff-hangers on the end of most chapters, I was completely captivated. The story revolves around a young girl, Lily, who went missing when she was only 3 and was never found.

I am not sure I was fully convinced by the story’s conclusion either however the book kept my attention and I enjoyed the read. Just when you think Andrea Mara couldn’t possibly top her last book she goes and does it with this new story Hide and Seek. Andrea has this uncanny ability to create a layer of tension that imposes itself on the reader from the very first page and it does not relent until you get to that relief inducing last chapter.How this could be is somewhat clumsily explained over the running of the book, but is the only plot point that stretches the patience of the imagination, in a story with an excellent reveal, as has become Mara’s signature. Once they establish themselves and the plot began to knit together, Hide and Seek becomes unputdownable – while it took me a week to finish the first few chapters, I read the rest in two sittings.