Synopses & Reviews
Little Face is a wonderful work, a brilliant use of mirrors and the writer's magic. Chilling, tantalizing, and ultimately fair and deeply satisfying.-Barbara D'Amato, author of Death of a Thousand Cuts
Hannah adapts to crime fiction with arresting aplomb: Her characters are vivid, the novel's challenging double narrative is handled with flair, and its denouement is ingenious.-The Sunday Times (London)
Outstandingly chilling.-The Spectator
Superb . . . good, old-fashioned spine-tingling stuff, but also a fine modern thriller.-The Times (London)
A terrifying mystery of manipulation, counter-manipulation and, finally, astounding revelation. It's a haunting story told with bewitching skill.-The Scotsman
Impressive.-The Mail on Sunday
The first time she goes out after their daughter is born, Alice leaves the two-week-old infant at home with her husband, David. When she returns two hours later, she insists that the baby in the crib is not her child. Despite her apparent distress, David is adamant that she is wrong.
The police are called to the scene. Detective Constable Simon Waterhouse is sympathetic, but he doubts Alice's story. His superior, Sergeant Charlie Zailer, thinks Alice must be suffering from some sort of delusion brought on by postpartum depression. With an increasingly hostile and menacing David swearing she must either be mad or lying, how can Alice make the police believe her before it's too late?
Sophie Hannah is an award-winning and best-selling poet in the United Kingdom. She has also previously published fiction. This is her first psychological crime novel. She lives in West Yorkshire with her husband and two children.
Review
The power this novel packs derives from narrators who play fast and loose with what they know. . . . A stunner.
The Boston Globe
Few authors play with reality and perception as skillfully as Hannah does. . . . riveting reading.
Mystery Scene
[Sophie Hannah] delves successfully into moral quandaries: what does motherhood mean? What should a mother do when she thinks her child is in dangerespecially if her own family doesnt agree? . . . Its Alices choices and their consequences that make Little Face so compelling.
The Washington Post
Review
“This is a dark exploration of the intricacies of control and desire, and what can happen when they turn horribly warped. This may be Sophie Hannahs best book yet.” - Tana French, bestselling author of
In The Woods and
Broken Harbor
“Sophie Hannah is a prodigious talent. I cant wait to see what she does next.” - Laura Lippman, author of The Most Dangerous Thing
“Hannah, who understands psychological mayhem as well as Ruth Rendell and maybe even Sigmund Freud, is best read with a crisis counselor on speed-dial. The tight plotting and excruciatingly precise clues make for a superlatively uneasy read.” — Kirkus
“Hannah takes domestic scenarios, adds disquieting touches and turns up the suspense until you're checking under the bed for murderers . . . it's this real-life research that helps make it so convincing - and so unsettling.” —The Independent
“Meticulously plotted . . . so dark and shocking.” —Associated Press
“This utterly gripping thriller should establish Hannah as one of the great unmissables of this genre—intelligent, classy and with a wonderfully Gothic imagination.” —The Times (London)
“The power this novel packs derives from narrators that play fast and loose with what they know. . . . The solution is a stunner.” —The Boston Globe
“Sophie Hannah has quickly established herself as a doyenne of the ‘home horror school of psychological tension, taking domestic situations and wringing from them dark, gothic thrills.” —Financial Times (UK)
“A master of intricate plotting, Hannah seamlessly melds the police procedural with a gothic-inspired whodunit.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Sophie Hannah has been rightly praised for intricate and accomplished psychological thrillers which dissect the dark side of human relationships.” —The Guardian (London)
Review
“This is [a] brilliantly executed psychological suspense with a complex plot brought to a horribly logical conclusion.” - Booklist (starred review)
Review
Praise for
Kind of Cruel
“Kind of Cruel is meticulously constructed, its characters are memorable, and its tone delicately balances the books deadly serious (and not for the faint of heart) storyline against some unexpected humor.” - The Seattle Times
“Calling this plot serpentine doesnt do it justice.” - The Toronto Star
“Hannah spins a dark tale of a woman haunted by subconscious memories.” - Library Journal
“Addictive” - PW
“This is [a] brilliantly executed psychological suspense with a complex plot brought to a horribly logical conclusion.” - Booklist (starred review)
“Kind of Cruel is a top-notch psychological thriller that will provide many sleepless nights of reading for those who venture in.” - Bookreporter
“Nearly impossible to unravel until its final pages, Hannahs intricate, multi-voice narrative explores the elusive, malleable nature of memory as played out in a baffling criminal investigation involving some odd remembered words and the brutal death of a stranger.” - Brooklyn Daily Eagle
“An exploration of memory and the way trauma lives on in the present. Cool, calculating and utterly chilling, Kind of Cruel is another compulsive book from Hannah, to be gulped down with all the lights on and someone to grab when the sense of menace grows too great.” - The Observer (London)
“[Hannah] has outdone herself with Kind Of Cruel…Her trademark precision-layered structure creates a multi-dimensional maze that holds at its centre a revelation which is truly hair-raising, even by Hannah's standards.” - Independent on Sunday (London)
“An audacious puzzle of a novel that is impossible to second guess. There are clues on virtually every page but only when you reach the final chapter does it become apparent how they slot together….Crime novels are often dismissed in literary circles for not being literary enough. Yet Kind Of Cruel is exactly the intelligent, reflective and stunningly written novel that has “literary” critics swooning and judging panels lining up to reward. The fact that it has a police investigation at its heart is a plus, not a minus, and makes for one hell of a journey.” - Sunday Express (London)
Review
Praise for WAITING FOR WEDNESDAY:
“Waiting for Wednesday skillfully balances on a barely-there thread of a tightrope, straddling police procedural-psychological suspense territory while keeping its protagonist utterly human, flaws and all.”—The Boston Globe
"Theres enough backstory for this third Frieda Klein mystery to stand alone, but the greatest pleasure is in following the series from the beginning to see the evolution of Klein, a detective of the mind, who endures a rough patch here but makes it through the darkness. Another
compelling entry in this complex, suspenseful series."—Booklist (Starred review)
"Demanding the readers full attention, this richly detailed and intricate thriller weaves the story of Friedas life, past and present, into a compelling and suspenseful story. Fans of Elizabeth George will appreciate Frenchs attention to subtlety and detail."—Library Journal (Starred review)
“As a protagonist, Frieda Klein breaks all the rules.... Grounding Kleins complicated character is the authors sublime prose. The Thames is so real we can smell its stink; the dark city streets so vividly evoked we can see steam rising off the pavement after a rain. This is top-notch writing, sensual, deep, and wise.”—Mystery Scene
"Not only is the plot of this story intricately woven by this husband and wife team of writers, but the ending is one that will leave you gasping for breath!"—Suspense Magazine
“Another fabulous installment... Husband and wife Nicci Gerard and Sean French excel at creating rich and complicated characters... Plus the series just keeps getting better and better!”—No More Grumpy Bookseller
Praise for TUESDAY'S GONE:
"A fiercely intelligent, multilayered thriller."
—Kirkus
"Seamlessly mixes a foreboding tone and deliberate pacing with deft plot twists that should leave readers pleasantly chilled to the bone."
—Publishers Weekly
"Starts as a grim psychological thriller in the vein of Dennis Lehanes darker novels and turns into a fascinating puzzle in which character analysis holds sway. Highly recommended for fans of psychological suspense who enjoy a complex protagonist."
—Library Journal (starred review)
"The plotting is fast-paced with surprises galore, and characters literally come to life on the pages. . . . When readers are through, they will find themselves waiting impatiently for Wednesday to arrive!"
—Suspense Magazine
"If you are looking for wickedly inventive crime fiction, you need look no further than the writing team of Nicci Gerrard and Sean French . . . Unless you are into tension, paranoia and burning the midnight oil to finish a book, dont embark on reading Tuesdays Gone after suppertime!"
—BookPage
"Tuesdays Gone is one of those great, great books in the mystery genre wherein the more you know, the less you know—peel back one stratum and you cannot shovel fast enough to get into the next, which reveals anything but what you expected. French takes the novel on a number of unexpected twists and turns, not the least of which relates back to Blue Monday, which, as it turns out, didnt quite end on its last page."
—Bookreporter.com
Praise for BLUE MONDAY:
“Fast-paced and spooky…it leaves readers with the promise of intriguing tales to come.”
—People (****)
“A neat puzzle with a satisfying resolution and a terrific twist at the end.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“A superb psychological thriller . . . With its brooding atmosphere, sustained suspense, last-minute plot twist, and memorable cast of characters, this series debut will leave readers eager to discover what color Tuesday will be.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“With its smart plot, crisp prose, and a stunning final twist, this is psychological suspense at its best. Absolutely riveting.”
—Booklist, starred review
“This is psychological suspense done right. The authors pace themselves and build the tension slowly while carefully developing each of the players. For fans of Tana Frenchs and Lisa Gardners moody, dark, twisty thrillers.”
—Library Journal
“Complex and flawed, Frieda Klein is a refreshingly human protagonist, an intriguing debut for a truly unique character.”
—Tami Hoag, bestselling author of Down the Darkest Road
“A searing psychological thriller in the rich vein of Kate Atkinson and Laura Lippman, Blue Monday is powerful and gripping—a page-turner with heart and soul. Psychotherapist Frieda Klein is an enormously appealing new series hero.”
—Joseph Finder, bestselling author of Buried Secrets
“Unrelenting . . . unnerving . . . unforgettable. Psychological dynamite.”
—Alan Bradley, bestselling author of The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
“Nicci French creates a haunting and complex psychological puzzle about memory and heredity, with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing until the very end. This gripping thriller certainly bodes well for the future of the series and I look forward to reading more about unlikely heroine Frieda Klein.”
—Camilla Läckberg, bestselling author of The Ice Princess
“A fabulous, unsettling, and riveting look at motives and memory and relationships. And what drives people to do the unthinkable.”
—Louise Penny, bestselling author of A Trick of the Light
“Nicci French is undeniably at the top of British psychological suspense writing.”
—The Observer (UK)
Synopsis
Alice leaves her two-week-old infant at home with her husband, David. When she returns, she insists that the baby in the crib is not her child. With an increasingly hostile David swearing she must either be mad or lying, how can Alice make the police believe her before its too late?
Synopsis
A creepy, fast-paced psychological thriller from the author of The Wrong Mother and The Other Womans House
Its every mothers worst nightmare. When Alice Fancourt leaves her newborn daughter at home with her husband for the first time, she comes home to a horrifying discovery: her child has been swapped with another baby. In near hysterics, Alice rushes to call the police, but soon discovers that no one, not even her husband David, believes her. When the police arrive, Detective Simon Waterhouse is drawn to the lovely Alice but doubts her story and suspects that she is suffering from postpartum depression. Meanwhile, David is growing increasingly hostile and Alice begins to fear that her babys disappearance may be linked to his first wifes untimely death. Can Alice convince the police before its too late?
The first book in Sophie Hannahs acclaimed Zailer and Waterhouse series established her as a new master of psychological suspense. For fans of Tana French and Tess Gerritsen, Little Face is a chilling look at the lengths to which a mother will go to protect her child.
Synopsis
Kind, cruel, kind of cruel.” Amber thinks its just nonsense, a side effect of being hypnotized for the first time. But when shes arrested for a brutal murder two hours later, those four words are the key to clearing her name
if only she could remember where shed seen them. Amber Hewerdine suffers from chronic insomnia. As a last resort, she visits a hypnotherapist, doubtful that anything will really change. Under hypnosis, Amber hears herself saying, Kind, cruel, kind of cruel.” The words awaken a vague memory, but she dismisses the whole episode as nonsense. Two hours later, however, Amber is arrested for the brutal murder of a woman shes never heard of, and the only way she can clear her name is by remembering exactly where shes seen those words.
Kind of Cruel is the latest page-turner in Hannah's Zailer and Waterhouse mystery series, and will enthrall Hannahs ever-growing readership.
Synopsis
Sophie Hannah’s latest gripping Zailer/Waterhouse mystery debuts as a Penguin Hardcover Amber Hewerdine suffers from chronic insomnia. As a last resort, she visits a hypnotherapist, doubtful that anything will really change. Under hypnosis, Amber hears herself saying, “Kind, cruel, kind of cruel.” The words awaken a vague memory, but she dismisses the whole episode as nonsense. Two hours later, however, Amber is arrested for the brutal murder of a woman she’s never heard of, and the only way she can clear her name is by remembering exactly where she’s seen those words. Kind of Cruel—the latest page-turner featuring Detectives Charlotte “Charlie” Zailer and Simon Waterhouse—will enthrall Hannah’s ever-growing readership.
Synopsis
Kind, cruel, kind of cruel.” Amber thinks its just nonsense, a side effect of being hypnotized for the first time. But when shes arrested for a brutal murder two hours later, those four words are the key to clearing her name
if only she could remember where shed seen them. Amber Hewerdine suffers from chronic insomnia. As a last resort, she visits a hypnotherapist, doubtful that anything will really change. Under hypnosis, Amber hears herself saying, Kind, cruel, kind of cruel.” The words awaken a vague memory, but she dismisses the whole episode as nonsense. Two hours later, however, Amber is arrested for the brutal murder of a woman shes never heard of, and the only way she can clear her name is by remembering exactly where shes seen those words.
Kind of Cruel is the latest page-turner in Hannah's Zailer and Waterhouse mystery series, and will enthrall Hannahs ever-growing readership.
Synopsis
Brilliantly executed psychological suspense” (Booklist, starred review) from the bestselling author of The Wrong Mother
When Amber Hewerdine consults a hypnotherapist as a desperate last resort, she doesn't expect that anything much will change.
She doesn't expect it to help with her chronic insomnia.
She doesn't expect to hear herself, under hypnosis, saying words that mean nothing to her: 'Kind, cruel, kind of cruel' - words she has seen somewhere before, if only she could remember where.
She doesn't expect to be arrested two hours later, as a result of having spoken those words out loud, in connection with the brutal murder of Katharine Allen, a woman she's never heard of . . .
Kind of Cruel is the 7th book in Hannahs acclaimed Zailer and Waterhouse series. Charlie and Simon have just gotten married, but domestic bliss is proving rather illusive, not least because Charlie ends up in Simons investigation as a witness. Charlies sister Liv is still sleeping with Gibbs, making Simons work life complicated and irritating Charlie to no end. And Simons boss and adversary, The Snowman, is still being generally horrible. Featuring all the Spilling PD characters fans know and love, Sophie Hannahs trademark dark, twisty plot will keep readers guessing until the very end.
Synopsis
Another compelling entry in this complex, suspenseful series.” Booklist (starred review) In the third volume of the bestselling Frieda Klein Mystery series, the brilliant but troubled London psychotherapist returnsonly to journey into a darkness from which there may be no return.
Ruth Lennox, mother of three, is found dead in a pool of her own blood. Detective Chief Inspector Karlsson calls Frieda, hoping she can offer a new angle. But when it emerges that Ruth was leading a secret life, her family closes ranks. Still reeling from a recent attempt on her life, Frieda starts down a dangerous path that seems to lead to a serial killer who has long escaped detection. Is she getting closer to unraveling either case? Or is Frieda just the victim of her own paranoid, fragile mind?
About the Author
Sophie Hannah is the author of the international bestsellers The Dead Lie Down, The Wrong Mother, and The Other Woman’s House. In 2004 she won the Daphne Du Maurier Prize for Suspense Fiction, and she is also an awarding-winning poet. She lives in Cambridge, England, with her husband and two children.