Synopses & Reviews
A "breathtaking" (The New York Times Book Review) page-turner inspired by a shocking true crime, from the Edgar-Award winning author of Under the Harrow
"A better person would for-give him. A different sort of better person would have found him years ago."
Claire is a hardworking doctor leading a simple, quiet life in London. She is also the daughter of the most notorious murder suspect in the country, though no one knows it.
Nearly thirty years ago, while Claire and her brother slept upstairs, a brutal crime was committed in her family's townhouse. The next morning, her father's car was found abandoned near the English Channel, with bloodstains on the front seat. Her mother insisted she'd seen him in the house that night, but his powerful, privileged friends maintained his innocence. The first lord accused of murder in more than a century, he has been missing ever since.
When the police tell Claire they've found him, her carefully calibrated existence begins to fracture. She doesn't know if she's the daughter of a murderer or a wronged man, but Claire will soon learn how far she'll go to finally find the truth.
Loosely inspired by one of the most notorious unsolved crimes of the 20th century - the Lord Lucan case - A Double Life is at once a riveting page-turner and a moving reflection on women and violence, trauma and memory, and class and privilege.
Named a Must-Read by Entertainment Weekly, Bustle, O Magazine, BBC, CrimeReads, and PureWow
Review
"[An] engrossing psychological thriller . . . [that] builds to a shocking but satisfying conclusion. Berry tells this shattering story with surprising grace." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Elegantly written [and] artfully structured . . . As her story unwinds, Berry reaches deep into the psychic wounds and social repercussions of the crime." BBC
Review
"[A] standout...Beautifully paced and satisfyingly ominous." The Guardian
Review
"Breathtaking . . . as shocking as it is satisfying...Berry writes thrillingly . . . about women raging against a world that protects cruel and careless men. . . . As desperate and consumed as our messy heroine may get in the process, Berry always lets her hold onto her humanity." The New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice)
About the Author
Flynn Berry is a graduate of the Michener Center for Writers and the recipient of a Yaddo fellowship. Her first novel, Under the Harrow, won the 2017 Edgar Award for Best First Novel and was named a best book of the year by the Washington Post and The Atlantic.